Kalama Manufacturing & Marine Export Facility SEPA

This site provides information about the environmental review of the Kalama Manufacturing & Marine Export Facility project under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) by the Port of Kalama and Cowlitz County as co-lead agencies. The Port is the nominal lead agency, responsible for complying with the duties of the SEPA lead agency. The County has assisted the Port in compiling and assessing information on all environmental aspects of the proposal.

Current project status:
A Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS) for this project is being prepared to provide additional analysis and consideration of mitigation for emissions of greenhouse gases from the project. The DSEIS scoping comment period was open from January 30 to March 1, 2018, and is now closed. The next document available for public review and comment will be the Draft SEIS.

About the Project

Kalama Manufacturing & Marine Export Facility

NW Innovation Works is proposing to construct and operate a methanol production plant in an industrial park owned by the Port of Kalama. The plant would manufacture methanol from natural gas. Natural gas will be delivered to the methanol plant by a new lateral distribution pipeline to be constructed by Northwest Pipeline GP. As part of the same development, the Port is proposing a new deep draft marine terminal facility to load methanol onto ships.

What is SEPA?

SEPA stands for the State Environmental Policy Act. The SEPA review process provides a way to identify possible environmental impacts that may result from construction and operation of a proposed project. Information gathered during the review process helps agency decision-makers and the public understand how a proposal will affect the environment. The information can be used to change a proposal, to reduce likely impacts, or to condition or deny a proposal when adverse environmental impacts are identified. Public and agency input is an important part of the SEPA process.

Under state law, state and local agencies are required by SEPA to consider the likely environmental consequences of a proposed project before acting on any permits or approvals requested to construct and operate the project. Learn more about SEPA from the Washington State Department of Ecology.

Project Status

A Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS) for this project is being prepared to provide additional analysis and consideration for mitigation for emissions of greenhouse gases from the project. The Draft and Final EISs and related documents remain available in the Project Library.

Preparation of the SEIS

An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is an evaluation and analysis of alternatives that describes potential environmental impacts and measures to reduce or eliminate those impacts.

The Supplemental EIS will supplement the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) published by the co-lead agencies on September 30, 2016 with additional analysis and consideration of mitigation for Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions attributable to the project.

The Supplemental EIS also will identify any substantial changes to project design and engineering since publication of the FEIS and will evaluate whether these changes would affect any analysis or conclusions set forth in the FEIS.

The previously prepared Draft and Final EIS documents are available in the project library.

The Supplemental EIS will include a GHG life cycle analysis covering the following sources of GHG emissions:

GHG emissions attributable to construction of the project;
Onsite direct GHG emissions from the project;
GHG emissions from purchased power, including consideration of the potential sources of generation that would satisfy the new load;
GHG emissions potentially attributable to the project from natural gas production, collection, processing and transmission;
GHG emissions from the shipping of methanol product to a representative Asian port; and
GHG emissions associated with changes in the methanol industry and related markets that may be induced by the project's methanol production.