Smelter permitting phase underway

SANDPOINT — The permitting phase is underway for the proposed silicon smelter south of Newport.

“The process has now started,” Phyllis Kardos of Responsible Growth Northeast Washington, which is challenging the smelter proposal, said during a Citizens Against the Newport Silicon Smelter meeting on Thursday.

The process to which Kardos refers is a review under Washington’s State Environmental Policy Act being conducted by the Washington Department of Ecology.

The silica smelter’s developer, PacWest Silicon, is seeking to accelerate the SEPA process by launching a public scoping process for an environmental impact statement prior to submitting any applications for licenses or permits for the facility.

“Based on discussions with Ecology, PacWest believes that the lead agency (Ecology) and the applicant (PacWest) are in agreement that it is appropriate to prepare an EIS for the proposed project,” Jayson Tymko, president and CEO of PacWest, said in a June 29 letter to the department.

The facility would occupy approximately 70 percent of a 188-acre site and consist of several sheet metal-clad buildings, the tallest of which would be 157 feet. The steepest slopes on the site would have to be leveled from approximately 15 percent to 2-3 percent to accommodate the processing plant and attendant infrastructure.

The smelter would receive quartz, low-sulfur blue gem coal, charcoal and wood in order to produce 99-percent pure silicon using electrically heated submerged-arc furnaces. All raw materials except wood chips will be delivered to the site by rail.

PacWest acknowledges the facility will contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, but points out that it will also provide a carbon offset.

“The facility is expected to consume electricity, and to generate GHGs, but it should be noted that at least half of the silicon produced is expected to be used in the creation of solar cells that would generate carbon-free electricity,” Tymko said in the Department of Ecology letter.

Demonstrable support for the project because of more jobs with decent paychecks is colliding with determined opponents who contend the facility jeopardizes air and water quality.

Gayla Sweeney of CANSS said nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide will compromise air quality over the plant’s 50-year lifespan. She said the smelter would also produce acid rain, which in turn effects wildlife.

“Think of 50 years of buildup of acid rain in the soil,” she said.V

PacWest estimates that 400 construction jobs would be created over a two-year period and the plant would employ up to 150 people. The company estimates the smelter would create more than 700 indirect jobs.

“Who would get the jobs. That’s the question,” said Kardos. “My experience tells me they’ve got their workers already.”

Kardos said PacWest already has a retinue of professionals and the facility will draw its labor pool from Bonner, Boundary, Spokane and Stevens counties. The project is also within a hundred miles from Canada, which means PacWest can import its own labor under the terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Information about the permitting process can be found under the regulations and permits section of the Department of Ecology’s website (ecology.wa.gov).

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.