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THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JUNE 15, 2021
Developers call off Kalama methanol project
By TROY BRYNELSON
and DAVID STEVES
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Developers appear to be calling it quits
on a long-planned and controversial pro-
posal to build a $2 billion methanol plant on
the banks of the lower Columbia River.
The Port of Kalama announced Friday
that the developer, NW Innovation Works,
had terminated its lease, eff ectively ending
the project. It would have converted fracked
natural gas into methanol to be shipped to
Asia.
Like many industrial fossil fuel plans
in the region in recent years, the plant had
fomented debate over whether it could
deliver jobs and economic vitality to
Kalama, which straddles Interstate 5 about
40 miles north of Portland — or whether its
potential to spew greenhouse gases caused
more harm than good.
In a statement, port offi cials laid blame
on state regulators and Washington Gov. Jay
Inslee for “killing local, sustainable jobs just
when the need is the greatest.” The port had
claimed building the facility would have put
1,400 builders to work in construction, then
provide 200 jobs to onsite employees.
“Jay Inslee stood on Kalama’s water-
front to tout the climate benefi ts of the proj-
ect, then turned on us when he ran for presi-
dent,” said Port Director Mark Wilson in the
statement, referring to Inslee’s short-lived
campaign for the 2020 Democratic presi-
dential nomination.
Meanwhile, opponents cheered the sep-
aration. Diane Dick, a Cowlitz County res-
ident and activist, said she felt “ecstatic”
after years of fi ghting. She also fought a pro-
posed oil-train terminal at the Port of Van-
couver, which halted plans in 2018, and said
she continues to fi ght a proposed coal termi-
nal in Longview.
“I think the tide has turned on allowing
greenhouse gas-emitting projects to go for-
ward,” Dick said.
First proposed in 2014, the methanol
refi nery would have turned fracked natural
NW Innovation Works
The site at the Port of Kalama where NW Innovation Works had proposed a 90-acre methanol plant.
‘I THINK THE TIDE HAS TURNED
ON ALLOWING GREENHOUSE
GAS-EMITTING PROJECTS TO GO FORWARD.’
Diane Dick | Cowlitz County resident and activist
gas from Canada into methanol. The metha-
nol then would be shipped to China to make
plastics. Proposed plans also included a
3-mile pipeline for transporting natural gas.
With NW Innovation Works’ pitch that
methanol could replace other, more car-
Oregon will allow homeless
to sleep on public property
By NICOLE HAYDEN
The Oregonian
Oregon communities must rewrite local
rules to allow Oregonians to sit, lie, sleep and
keep warm and dry on public property in most
circumstances.
House Bill 3115, which passed the state
Senate last week and is en route to Gov. Kate
Brown’s desk, is a response to a 2018 land-
mark homelessness case that impacted most
western states with an intent to better support
individuals experiencing homelessness.
While local governments should already be
following rules set forth by the case known as
Martin v. Boise, the bill, written at the behest
of House Speaker Tina Kotek, forces cities to
offi cially change any ordinance language still
on the books to be in line with the court deci-
sion. It passed the Senate 28-10 on a largely
party line vote, with state Sen. Betsy Johnson,
of Scappoose, the lone Democrat to vote “no.”
In its ruling, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals said governments cannot criminal-
ize conduct that is unavoidable as a result of
experiencing homelessness. To punish a home-
less individual for sleeping outside when there
aren’t enough shelter beds would be compa-
rable to punishing that individual for the fact
that they are homeless, a consequence the court
described as a cruel and unusual.
Alison McIntosh, policy director for the
Oregon Housing Alliance, said in a letter sup-
porting the bill that Martin on its own doesn’t
provide clarity about what public property peo-
ple are allowed to sleep on. Also, she said, cit-
ies have worked around Martin by enforcing
“no camping” rules on some public property
while not enforcing it on other public land.
“This does not solve the problem, though,
for either people experiencing homelessness or
bon-emitting fossil fuels emitted elsewhere
in the world, the project initially garnered
support. In 2015, Inslee told a crowd he
felt the project “bodes well for Washing-
ton’s future.” By 2019, however, he came to
oppose it and other fossil fuel proposals.
Around the same time, new informa-
tion started to cast doubt on the project’s
promise. Oregon Public Broadcasting fi rst
reported in 2019 that the company had sug-
gested to potential investors that its metha-
nol could be sold as fuel in China, contra-
dicting its public statements the methanol
would be exclusively used to help make
plastics.
Had the plant been built, regulators said
it would have been one of the top 10 green-
house gas emitters in Washington state. In
December, the Washington Department of
Ecology found it would have fumed almost
1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into
the air each year.
The project ran into regulatory diffi culty
a month later. In January, the Washington
Department of Ecology denied a necessary
shoreline permit, citing the greenhouse gas
emissions. The denial ultimately led to NW
Innovation Works’ recent decision, the com-
pany said in a statement.
“In light of the recent Washington
Department of Ecology’s decision to deny
the (permit), the regulatory environment has
become unclear and unpredictable,” NW
Innovation Works said in a statement. Julie
McIvor, a marketing coordinator, told OPB
on Friday the company would not answer
follow-up questions.
Still, both the port and the company had
appeared prepared for a long push. Days
after the permit denial, the two agreed on a
three-year lease extension for the company’s
offi ces at the port, The Daily News reported.
Environmental groups applauded its
apparent demise. The Center for Biological
Diversity wrote in a statement the plant was
“a disaster waiting to happen.” Brett Van-
denHeuvel, executive director of Colum-
bia Riverkeeper, said activists will continue
to battle fossil fuel projects in the Pacifi c
Northwest.
“Our region will continue to be threat-
ened by fossil fuel projects, I have no doubt,”
he said. “They want to continue to frack and
drill and mine. And, you know, our commu-
nities are here to stand up to that.”
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R.J. Marx/The Astorian
A person sleeps in the Seaside Civic and
Convention Center parking lot in November.
law enforcement,” she wrote. “It does not pro-
vide people experiencing homelessness clear
guidance about where they can or cannot sit or
sleep.”
McIntosh said the bill is a step in the right
direction.
While the Martin case could be overturned
in the future, the new law would still protect
unsheltered individuals sleeping on public
land.
The bill also goes a step further than the
court case with the addition of the demand to
allow people to engage in activities necessary
to “keep warm and dry.” This could include
things like pitching a tent on public property to
stay protected from severe weather.
Cities have until July 1, 2023, to update
their ordinance language.
Under these new rules, cities can still decide
what is considered reasonable enforcement.
This means a city could prevent someone
from sleeping on one piece of land if it clearly
makes other public land available for individ-
uals experiencing homelessness to sleep on.
If a city wants to completely prohibit people
from sleeping on public land, the city must fi rst
provide enough housing or emergency shel-
ter beds for every person who is experiencing
homelessness within that jurisdiction.
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