Opposition heats up over proposed wood pellet mill in western Washington

Environmental groups and residents are pushing back against a wood pellet production facility proposed on the south end of the Olympic Peninsula, the second plant of its kind approved in southwest Washington.

Conservation groups are challenging an air quality permit for the proposed wood pellet mill, arguing the approval is based on faulty data and that the plant will cause more pollution than its backers claim.

Friends of Grays Harbor, Grays Harbor Audubon, Twin Harbors Waterkeeper, Natural Resources Defense Council and Wild Orca filed an appeal over the project’s permitting last week with the state’s Pollution Control Hearings Board.

The appeal was filed against the Olympic Region Clean Air Agency, which approved the application, Pacific Northwest Renewable Energy, the company behind the plant, and the city of Hoquiam, where the facility would be located. The environmental groups are asking that the approved permit be canceled until the emissions calculations and environmental impacts are updated.

https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2024/06/20/opposition-heats-up-over-proposed-wood-pellet-mill-in-western-washington/