Tacoma, WA —

Today, a federal district court vacated the federal permits required for the Kalama Methanol Refinery, sending the proposed project back to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) for a full, transparent environmental review. The Court found the Corps had failed to consider the cumulative impact of greenhouse gas emissions caused by the proposal and ignored the new regional pipeline the project would require. The Court also found that the Corps illegally failed to consider the methanol refinery’s costs to the public — even while the Corps relied on its purported benefits. Due to multiple failures, the Court invalidated federal Clean Water Act permits for the methanol refinery.

“The Corps’ permit approval violated the law,” said Paulo Palugod, an Earthjustice attorney representing the parties in court. “Kalama Methanol would release at least 2.6 million metric tonnes of greenhouse gases into our air each and every year for 40 years, yet the Corps thought it could skate by on a limited analysis of only a piece of the project. The Court said no.”

Washington Environmental Council, Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club, and Columbia Riverkeeper brought this legal challenge in the federal district court for the Western District of Washington. The groups are represented by nonprofit law firm Earthjustice. 

“This project would do tremendous harm to our community, our river and to our climate,” said Sally Keely, a resident of Kalama and a math professor. “We applaud this court decision, and we urge our state and federal leaders to reject this huge polluter in our town.”

“Washington simply cannot build a clean energy future by investing in dirty energy. The urgency of our climate crisis demands the highest level of scrutiny based on science and impact — this project would have harmed the health of our planet for today and generations to come,” said Alyssa Macy, CEO of Washington Environmental Council and Washington Conservation Voters. 

“It’s absurd to think that a massive fracked-gas refinery wouldn’t pose a catastrophic risk to the fragile Columbia River ecosystem,” said Jared Margolis, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “These dirty fossil fuel monstrosities only accelerate climate change, and we can’t continue to allow companies to pretend otherwise. We’re relieved the court rejected the permits for the project, but rather than send it back to the drawing board, state and federal leaders should pull the plug now.”

“This fracked gas-to-methanol facility would be a disaster for water, wildlife, and the climate, and it should never have received federal approval,” said Sierra Club campaign representative Stephanie Hillman. “We will continue to fight to ensure that this dirty, dangerous facility is never built.”

Photos and Video:

• Youth Climate Activists, various locations (September 2019, Balance Media).
• Power Past Fracked Gas Rally, Olympia, WA (February 2019, Ale Blakely).
• Power Past Fracked Gas Rally, Kalama, WA (May 2019, Alex Milan Tracy).

Resources:

• Court Opinion Rejecting Federal Permits for Methanol Refinery
• Filed Complaint
• Environmental Assessment for Kalama Methanol Refinery
• Biological Opinion on Endangered Species 
• Clean Water Act Section 404 Permit for Kalama Methanol Dock
• Columbia Riverkeeper’s Comments on Federal Permits for Kalama Methanol