A5
THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 2020
Conservation groups ask
judge to reject permits
for methanol plant
By MALLORY GRUBEN
The Daily News
Columbia Riverkeeper
and several other conserva-
tion groups last week asked
a federal judge to reject mul-
tiple permits for a proposed
$2 billion Kalama methanol
plant.
The groups fi led for sum-
mary judgement in a law-
suit challenging the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers’
approval of the permits
in 2019. Columbia Riv-
erkeeper alleges that the
Trump Administration ille-
gally approved the permits
because the Corps did not
complete an adequate envi-
ronmental review of the
project.
“To evaluate the green-
house gas emissions impacts
caused by the Kalama Proj-
ect, the Corps primarily
relied on initial and draft
supplemental state environ-
mental reviews, despite the
fact that a state adjudica-
tory board, state court, and
the Washington Depart-
ment of Ecology found
these reviews inadequate.
… By failing to produce a
full (environmental impact
statement), the Corps got it
wrong,” Columbia River-
keeper wrote in the brief.
The court case dates back
to 2019, when the Corps
fi rst approved the Clean
Water Act and Rivers and
Harbors Acts permits for
the plant. That approval fol-
lowed a review process by
the Corps’ regulatory offi ce
that included an opportunity
for public comment.
Based on an environ-
mental assessment, the
Corps found that the meth-
anol project would not
have a signifi cant impact
on the environment, and it
approved the permits April
19, 2019.
The conservation group
fi led a lawsuit against the
decision Nov. 12, 2019, on
the basis of an inadequate
environmental assessment.
“The Corps considered
less than half of the esti-
mated greenhouse gas emis-
sions caused by the project
in its environmental review
— the one million tons each
year that will come directly
from the refi ning process
in Washington State,” the
group wrote.
According to Columbia
Riverkeeper, the Corps did
not consider emissions from
increased natural gas pro-
duction and transportation,
shipping methanol to China,
the use of methanol for fuel
and the production of olefi n
(a type of petrochemical that
can be used to make plas-
tic.) Also, the Corps should
have completed a full envi-
ronmental impact statement,
but it “ignored many of the
project’s impacts” to use a
“truncated” environmen-
tal assessment instead, the
group wrote.
Northwest Innovation
Works wants to build the
methanol plant at the Port
of Kalama to convert nat-
ural gas to methanol to be
shipped to China to make
plastic. The company says
the plant would create about
200 permanent jobs, gener-
ate millions in local property
and sales taxes and train a
new generation of workers.
An environmental analy-
sis by the port and Cowlitz
County said the plant would
result in a reduction of mil-
lions of tons of greenhouse
gas emissions by offset-
ting coal-based methanol
production in China. Envi-
ronmentalists — Colum-
bia Riverkeeper included
— say those estimates are
based on “unsubstantiated”
theories.
The project, which was
fi rst proposed in 2014, also
is stalled at the state level
so the Department of Ecol-
ogy can complete its own
environmental impact study.
Ecology rejected earlier
studies from the port and
county, citing an insuffi cient
analysis.
The Corps has until Sept.
25 to respond to the motion
for a summary judgement.
Corps spokesman Tom
Conning said the Portland
District does not comment
on ongoing litigation.
“We remain fully com-
mitted to protecting and
maintaining our aquatic
resources and to protecting
the navigable capacity of
our Nation’s waters through
fair, fl exible and balanced
permit decisions,” Conning
said.
Thousands allowed to bypass
environmental rules amid virus
By ELLEN
KNICKMEYER, CATHY
BUSSEWITZ, JOHN
FLESHER, MATTHEW
BROWN and MICHAEL
CASEY
Associated Press
Thousands of oil and gas
operations, government facil-
ities and other sites won per-
mission to stop monitoring for
hazardous emissions or other-
wise bypass rules intended to
protect health and the envi-
ronment because of the coro-
navirus outbreak, The Asso-
ciated Press has found.
The result: approval for
less environmental monitor-
ing at some Texas refi ner-
ies and at an Army depot dis-
mantling warheads armed
with nerve gas in Kentucky,
manure piling up and the
mass disposal of livestock
carcasses at farms in Iowa
and Minnesota, and other
risks to communities as gov-
ernments eased enforcement
over smokestacks, medi-
cal waste shipments, sewage
plants, oilfi elds and chemical
plants.
The Trump administration
paved the way for the reduced
monitoring on March 26 after
being pressured by the oil and
gas industry, which said lock-
downs and social distancing
during the pandemic made
it diffi cult to comply with
anti-pollution rules. States are
responsible for much of the
oversight of federal environ-
mental laws, and many fol-
lowed with leniency policies
of their own.
AP’s two-month review
found that waivers were
granted in more than 3,000
cases,
representing
the
overwhelming majority of
requests citing the outbreak.
Hundreds of requests were
approved for oil and gas com-
panies. AP reached out to all
50 states citing open-records
laws; all but one, New York,
provided at least partial infor-
mation, reporting the data in
differing ways and with vary-
ing level of detail.
Almost all those request-
ing waivers told regulators
they did so to minimize risks
for workers and the pub-
lic during a pandemic —
although a handful reported
they were trying to cut costs.
The Environmental Pro-
Paul Sancya/AP Photo
The Marathon Petroleum Corp. refi nery in Detroit.
‘THERE’S NOBODY WATCHING. A
LOT OF STUFF IS GOING WRONG.
AND THERE’S NOBODY TO FIX IT.’
Penny Aucoin | resident of New Mexico’s oil-rich Permian Basin
tection Agency says the waiv-
ers do not authorize recipients
to exceed pollution limits.
Regulators will continue pur-
suing those who “did not act
responsibly under the cir-
cumstances,” EPA spokes-
man James Hewitt said in an
email.
But
environmentalists
and public health experts
say it may be impossi-
ble to fully determine the
impact of the country’s fi rst
extended, national environ-
mental enforcement clem-
ency because monitoring
oversight was relaxed. “The
harm from this policy is
already done,” said Cynthia
Giles, EPA’s former assis-
tant administrator under the
Obama administration.
EPA has said it will end
the COVID enforcement
clemency this month.
Refi nery giant Marathon
Petroleum, already strug-
gling fi nancially before the
pandemic, was one of the
most aggressive in seeking
to dial back its environmen-
tal monitoring. On the same
day EPA announced its new
policy, the Ohio-based com-
pany asked Indiana offi cials
for relief from its leak detec-
tion, groundwater sampling,
CLATSOP
POWER
SPORTS
Kunde places third in junior tournament
The Astorian
Seaside’s Curtis Kunde
continued his hot streak on
the golf course with a third-
place fi nish in the Persimmon
Junior tournament held Mon-
day at the Persimmon Coun-
try Club in Gresham.
Last week, Kunde took
part in three other one-day
events, fi nishing third, 10th
and second in tournaments at
Salishan, Florence and Coos
Bay.
In Monday’s Persimmon
Junior, Kunde highlighted his
round with a two-under par
34 on the back nine to fi nish
with a two-over 74.
Nicholas Nautiyal, who
will be a senior at Ore-
gon Episcopal, topped the
fi eld of 38 golfers by fi r-
ing a three-under par 69.
Sam Schul (Centennial High
School) was second with a
73, while Kunde tied Jon-
athan Scott (Sprague High
School) for third.
After four bogeys on the
front nine, Kunde bounced
back with two birdies over
the fi rst three holes on the
back nine. He had pars on
the 13th, 14th and 16th, then
scored an eagle on the 17th
hole.
SEVENDAY FORECAST FOR ASTORIA
TODAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
Kunde was back in action
Tuesday at the Quail Valley
Junior in Banks.
He posted a three-over par
39 on the front nine (bogeys
on the fourth, sixth and sev-
enth holes), then carded a
41 on the back to fi nish in a
three-way tie for 13th.
Nautiyal and Gavin Swart-
ley were atop the leaderboard
after the fi rst nine holes, both
with three-under 33 s.
With seven birdies on
the day, Nautiyal ultimately
scored his second victory in
two days with a four-under
par 68, ahead of Aaron Buck
(71).
SUNDAY
MONDAY
spill prevention, emissions
testing and hazardous waste
responsibilities at its facilities
statewide. Indiana declined
to issue a comprehensive
waiver but agreed to consider
individual requests.
“We believe that by tak-
ing these measures, we can
do our part to slow the spread
of the COVID-19 virus,”
Tim Peterkoski, environ-
mental auditing and pro-
cesses manager for Marathon
Petroleum, told the Indiana
Department of Environmen-
tal Management.
Marathon also pushed for
and was granted permission
to skip environmental tests at
many of its refi neries and gas
stations in California, Michi-
gan, North Dakota and Texas.
Spokesman Jamal Kheiry
said Marathon sought broad
regulatory relief early in the
pandemic, when it was uncer-
tain how long lockdowns
would last or how its opera-
tions would be affected. But
the company continued emis-
sions monitoring and other
activities and usually met
deadlines, he said.
Penny Aucoin, a resident
of New Mexico’s oil-rich
Permian Basin, said since the
pandemic, she and her hus-
EQUIPMENT , INC.
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TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
REGIONAL FORECAST
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
Seattle
70 52
Partly sunny
70 54
68 52
Partly sunny
Mostly sunny
68 53
69 54
Sunshine
Clearing
72 54
Mostly sunny
67 53
Partly sunny
Aberdeen
Olympia
71/52
79/56
Wenatchee
Tacoma
Moses
Lake
UNDER THE SKY
TODAY'S TIDES
Astoria through Tuesday
Tonight’s Sky: Sunset now
before 8:00 p.m. PDT.
Astoria / Port Docks
Temperatures
High/low ................................ 69/57
Normal high/low .................. 69/53
Record high .................. 91 in 2016
Record low .................... 43 in 1992
Precipitation
Tuesday ................................... 0.00”
Month to date ........................ 0.46”
Normal month to date ......... 0.84”
Year to date .......................... 38.92”
Normal year to date ........... 38.03”
Forecasts and graphics provided by
AccuWeather, Inc. ©2020
Time
9:47 a.m.
9:06 p.m.
5.6 3:28 a.m.
7.5 3:07 p.m.
Cape Disappointment
9:42 a.m.
8:48 p.m.
Source: Jim Todd, OMSI
Hammond
SUN AND MOON
Sunrise today .................. 6:30 a.m.
Sunset tonight ............... 8:03 p.m.
Moonrise today ............. 4:55 p.m.
Moonset today ............ 12:41 a.m.
Full
Last
New
First
9:43 a.m.
8:58 p.m.
Warrenton
9:42 a.m.
9:01 p.m.
0.0
3.3
5.6 2:56 a.m. -0.1
7.7 2:43 p.m. 2.9
5.9 3:12 a.m.
7.9 2:51 p.m.
0.1
2.9
10:24 a.m. 5.9 4:29 a.m.
9:43 p.m. 7.8 4:08 p.m.
0.0
2.4
Knappa
Depoe Bay
Sep 1 Sep 10 Sep 17 Sep 23
5.4 2:40 a.m.
7.5 2:22 p.m.
0.0
2.8
9:00 a.m.
8:03 p.m.
5.7 2:14 a.m.
7.9 1:52 p.m.
0.1
3.6
City
Atlanta
Boston
Chicago
Dallas
Denver
Honolulu
Houston
Los Angeles
Miami
New York City
Phoenix
San Francisco
Wash., DC
Today
Hi/Lo/W
Fri.
Hi/Lo/W
92/76/c
74/62/t
94/74/s
88/73/t
96/62/c
89/76/s
95/78/t
91/68/pc
92/81/t
90/74/t
112/89/s
73/57/s
93/77/s
89/75/t
78/67/pc
89/69/t
98/80/s
83/60/t
90/77/pc
94/78/t
90/64/s
93/80/t
87/73/t
110/87/pc
77/58/pc
93/76/t
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy,
c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms,
r-rain, sf-snow fl urries, sn-snow, i-ice.
82/49
Kennewick Walla Walla
87/58 Lewiston
90/53
89/56
Hermiston
The Dalles 89/55
Enterprise
Pendleton 81/45
86/53
88/56
La Grande
84/44
83/53
NATIONAL CITIES
High (ft.) Time Low (ft.)
Pullman
88/51
79/54
Salem
84/54
Yakima 89/54
Longview
70/52 Portland
81/57
Spokane
85/59
79/48
80/52
Astoria
ALMANAC
band have spent days beg-
ging regulators to investi-
gate surges of noxious gas or
hisses that they feared could
signal a dangerous leak from
one of the many oil and gas
companies operating near
their mobile home.
“There’s nobody watch-
ing,” Aucoin said. “A lot of
stuff is going wrong. And
there’s nobody to fi x it.”
Maddy Hayden, New
Mexico’s
environmen-
tal spokesperson, said her
agency stopped in-per-
son investigations of citizen
air-quality complaints from
March to May to protect staff
and the public but stood ready
to respond to emergencies.
Almost
every
state
reported fi elding requests
from industries and local
governments to cut back
on compliance. Many were
for activities like delaying
in-person training or submit-
ting records by email rather
than paper. Others, however,
were requests for temporary
exemptions or extensions
on monitoring and repairs
to stop the fl ow of harmful
soot, toxic compounds, dis-
ease-carrying contaminants
or heavy metals, AP found.
Regulators, for example,
waived in-person inspections
at parts of a former nuclear
test site in Nevada, switching
to drive-by checks.
North Carolina allowed
Chemours Co., which is
cleaning up dangerous PFAS
industrial compounds in
drinking water, to pause sam-
pling of residential wells
because it would require
entering elderly residents’
homes.
Saint-Gobain, whose New
Hampshire plant has been
linked by the state to water
contaminated with PFAS
chemicals, has requested
delaying
smokestack
upgrades that would address
the problem. The company
says the delays are necessary
partly due to problems the
company’s suppliers and con-
tractors have faced because
of the coronavirus.
Corvallis
84/53
Albany
83/53
John Day
Eugene
Bend
85/50
84/49
85/48
Ontario
92/56
Caldwell
Burns
87/41
90/52
Medford
91/56
Klamath Falls
85/48
City
Baker City
Brookings
Ilwaco
Newberg
Newport
Today
Hi/Lo/W
84/40/s
74/55/s
67/55/pc
83/53/s
65/48/pc
Fri.
Hi/Lo/W
87/44/s
77/57/s
67/56/pc
86/53/s
65/50/s
City
North Bend
Roseburg
Seaside
Springfi eld
Vancouver
Today
Hi/Lo/W
70/53/s
87/55/s
69/53/pc
84/49/s
81/56/s
Fri.
Hi/Lo/W
68/53/s
90/56/s
70/55/pc
88/50/s
84/56/s