Published on June 12, 2017

NWIW(North West Innovation Works approved two more methanol projects in Kalama. Washington State Department of Ecology issued a shoreline conditional use permit for the plant itself and a water quality certification for a 3.1-mile natural gas pipeline to feed the methanol plant. the three permits mean Northwest Innovation is nearing the final stages of permitting, three years after the Chinese-backed company announced its plans for a project at the Port of Kalama. Port officials still are awaiting on federal permits for a dock it needs to build along the Columbia River.

“We’re excited about this. We appreciate everybody’s efforts in providing an exhaustive, thorough process and we look forward to moving on to the next steps of our project,” Vee Godley, president of Northwest Innovation Works, said Thursday.

The plant will convert natural gas into methanol, which would be shipped to Asia to manufacture plastic for consumer products. The project would generate 1,000 construction jobs, 192 permanent jobs with an annual $21 million payroll and $36 million in local and state taxes, according to the final environmental impact statement.