“Project Desert” would have brought about 200 jobs to the county with an average salary of $56,000, according to the Port of Chehalis
To secure the renewal of its regional general permit required for the filling of wetlands on Port of Chehalis property, the port is required to submit three additional items to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to keep the process moving forward.
The permit lapsed in September of last year and could result in the loss of projects currently underway at the port if it is not renewed soon.
Randy Mueller, CEO of the port, told commissioners on Thursday that he expected to receive a letter from the Corps further outlining the information it still needs after a meeting between the Corps, the state Department of Ecology and the Quinault Indian Nation, among others.
The port will need to update its cumulative impact analysis to include up-to-date information on fisheries in the Chehalis River Basin, water quality issues and information from the draft programmatic environmental impact statement released last year that evaluates four alternatives to reduce flooding in the area.
The port is also required to add an addendum to define its geographical area, as well as justify why the port is asking to use more wetlands credits at its Pleasant Valley Mitigation Site, which are used to offset development in wetlands elsewhere.
Mueller explained that in the first regional general permit, the port asked for credit to fill 25 acres of wetlands, in the end only using about 7 acres of credit. For this permit renewal, the port asked to increase that number to 40 since it wants to have the ability to use all of the credits it currently has.
Mueller said the information had already been drafted, but he wants to wait for the official letter from the Corps before getting too far ahead in the process.
“We keep reminding the Corps that we have a client on the line and a potential transaction” that’s dependent on the renewal of the permit, Mueller said.
One of those, dubbed “Project Desert,” would bring 200 jobs initially, and 300 would be available within five years. The biotech company would provide local STEM jobs. Currently, the Port of Chehalis is one of three finalists for the project.
Another project states the port has the permit, so the contract as of now is contingent on having that permit. That project is known as “Project Sighthound” and would bring 300 jobs at first and 700 at full buildout.
The Quinault Indian Nation and the Environmental Protection Agency both submitted concerns during the public comment portion of the RGP renewal process, in part leading to the longer than expected amount of time to grant the renewal.
