Paper Mill’s Green Energy Effort Faces NIMBY Opposition

By Seattle Business Magazine April 7, 2011

Plans by a Port Angeles paper mill to run its facility on energy from logging waste, a move encouraged by the state, has been stymied by opposition from environmental groups including the Sierra Club, the Wall Street Journal reported this morning.

Nippon Paper Industries, which wants to invest $71 million in a biomass-fuel system that its managers say is necessary for the its Port Angeles mill to remain profitable, is faciing opposition from environmental groups who say that there won’t be enough wood waste available locally and that this will force the mill to truck in wood waste, causing pollution and traffic congestion.

The mill, a subsidiary of a Japanese company, which is partnering with the state’s Department of Natural Resources on the project, was expecting to receive almost $20 million in federal stimulus money. The mill, which employs more than 200 workers, says there is plenty of wood waste available in the area.

Port Townsend Paper Co. is also running into opposition to a similar plan to invest $55 million in a cogeneration project.

At a time when jobs are scarce and the nation sorely needs to reduce its dependence on imported fuel and to cut greenhouse gases, it seems odd for environmental groups to be fighting an effort that will not only protect jobs but be a net positive for the environment.

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