The state Shoreline Hearings Board found fault with permits for the planned $1.8 billion methanol plant and called for more analysis of greenhouse-gas emissions.
By Hal Bernton, Seattle Times staff reporter • Originally published September 19, 2017 at 6:00 am | Updated September 19, 2017 at 7:03 am
A state hearings board has found flaws in an environmental-impact study used to gain key permits for a proposed $1.8 billion methanol plant in Kalama and ordered additional reviews.
The state Shoreline Hearings Board found that the study failed to do a complete analysis of greenhouse-gas emissions that will be produced by the plant, and ordered Cowlitz County and the port of Kalama to conduct additional research.
The decision was triggered by a permit appeal filed by environmental groups that had opposed the project to use North American natural gas as a feedstock to produce methanol, a chemical that would be shipped to China for use in the plastics industry. MORE>>