Citizens for a Healthy Bay Supports Lease Cancellation for the Proposed Methanol Refinery

TACOMA, WA – Citizens for a Healthy Bay (CHB) strongly supports Northwest Innovation Works’ (NWIW) decision to walk away from building their methanol refinery within the Port of Tacoma.

Given the lack of basic information forthcoming from NWIW, CHB believes that the cancellation of NWIW’s lease with the Port of Tacoma is the best solution for both our community and the health of our waters. CHB’s Executive Director, Melissa Malott, states “NWIW has not demonstrated that they can be a good partner in the Port of Tacoma, so we don’t want them here.”

As a watchdog for Commencement Bay and surrounding waters, Citizens for a Healthy Bay looks forward to continuing discussions with the Port of Tacoma, the City of Tacoma, and other stakeholders as to the future of the Kaiser Aluminum site, a valuable Brownfield property.

We are grateful for the level of citizen engagement around this issue and the leadership shown by community members, and we are committed to continuing the dialogue about Tacoma’s vision for a sustainable future.

Citizens for a Healthy Bay looks forward to continuing our role as a disseminator of clear and scientifically accurate information, and a broker for straightforward conversations with policymakers, industry representatives, government agencies, environmental groups, academia and community members. We will continue to play that role in future issues and development projects that potentially threaten the health of our waters and natural resources.