Five Northwest and national environmental groups have asked the Washington Pollution Control Hearings Board to suspend an air permit for an industrial-scale wood pellet plant in Hoquiam, Washington. The groups argue that construction and operation of the facility should be put on hold until the legal challenge is resolved.

The Olympic Region Clean Air Agency issued the air permit to Pacific Northwest Renewable Energy (PNWRE) in May, allowing the company to construct the first industrial-scale wood pellet plant in the region. PNWRE plans to produce more than 440,000 tons of wood pellets annually and operate the facility around the clock. The pellet plant would sit adjacent to Grays Harbor National Refuge and just over a mile from Hoquiam schools.

“The errors in the PNWRE air permit mean that it seriously underestimates hazardous air pollution,” said Ashley Bennett, Earthjustice senior attorney. “We think the Board will recognize the need to put the brakes on this project until it can be fully reviewed.”

Friends of Grays Harbor, Grays Harbor Audubon, Twin Harbors Waterkeeper, NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), and Wild Orca, represented by Earthjustice, challenged the air permit. The groups assert that the permit grossly underestimated the amount of harmful pollutants that the proposed wood pellet plant would release, including fine particulate matter (wood dust), volatile organic compounds, and other hazardous air pollutants. This pollution can cause and exacerbate respiratory health issues like asthma.

“Just this week, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences funded a new study to assess how wood pellet plants similar to the one proposed by PNWRE have impacted air and noise pollution for Mississippi communities,” said Rita Vaughan Frost, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). “We expect this major new study will offer regulators exactly the information they need to make the informed decision to reject PNWRE’s proposal and protect Washington’s communities and environment.”