Washington’s Department of Ecology is escalating its cleanup strategy for a once-prosperous pulp mill outside of Aberdeen, while its latest owner continues to push back against regulators.
The first order of business is finding out just how bad pollution spread from the Cosmo Specialty Fiber mill, about 100 miles southwest of Seattle, is. State environmental regulators know the place is leaking acid and other toxics, sometimes in residential neighborhoods or into the Chehalis River, but they say the true scope of the contamination remains unknown.
State officials held a public meeting at Gray’s Harbor College, not far from the pulp mill, Tuesday evening to bring residents up to speed on their progress. They also fielded questions from residents worried for their long-term health and whether regulators can actually hold the corporations responsible for the pollution accountable.
The defunct mill’s current owner, Richard Bassett, has proved a difficult partner for state and federal officials, increasingly defiant as he struggles to reopen the site while arguing about the conditions there. Regulators tightening their grip on the site have repeatedly tanked much-needed investment deals, he said.
Whether he can reopen the mill or not, Ha Tran, Ecology’s project coordinator for the site, said Bassett and past owners will be expected to clean up the site in Cosmopolis. At the moment, they’re in the early stages of understanding the scope and severity of contamination.
This order from Ecology and $2.3 million in fines levied against the company are the two most significant developments since The Seattle Times reported on the languishing site in April.
Now Bassett and the former owners must study the site and draft a cleanup plan, according to an order issued by Ecology last month.
These types of mills might bring jobs and economic stimulus, said area resident Richard Vessey at the meeting, but they also bring smog and pollutants.
“How important is your health to you?” Vessey said. “Is it No. 1? Is it No. 10?”
State and federal documents obtained by The Seattle Times show that the mill, which closed in 2022, is leaking acid. Other hazardous substances have been left unsecured without water, electricity and security, giving rise to the risk of a “potential catastrophic release,” the Environmental Protection Agency’s acting regional administrator wrote in January.
Not only is the mill itself a problem, but a 42-inch-wide wooden pipeline running 2.5 miles between the facility and a series of sludge ponds near the Chehalis River is also leaking, state documents show. Over the past decade, at least 16 leaks have been found along the pipeline, including some in residential neighborhoods. The causes of the leaks have not yet been investigated, nor have they been fixed.
In addition, outflows from the ponds into the Chehalis River have shown elevated levels of dioxin and furans. These cancer-causing compounds are among the “dirty dozen” of highly toxic chemicals listed by the World Health Organization.
At the meeting, area resident Jennier Adkison said she worries about long-term cancer rates and other health issues from the chemicals leaching into the environment around the mill.
Another local, Philip Jurasin, said that back when the mill was running, he’d see massive plumes of black smoke rising. Repeatedly, blobs of foam would settle around the community, and once, one “as big as this room” landed in his yard. He and others expressed concern that state laws would struggle to force Bassett to pay his bills, let alone clean up contamination.
“Is anybody really going to hold these people accountable?” Jurasin said.
Bassett, a British investment banker who bought the mill in late 2022, disagrees with the overall assessment of his property. He has big plans for the site, which was once the largest business in Cosmopolis and would produce a product essential for everyday items like aspirin, phone and computer screens, fabrics and cosmetics. He’d want to put a power plant on the site, essential as the demand for energy increases across the region.
Contrary to the fines and penalties issued by regulators, Bassett argues his mill has been able to follow environmental laws. He still needs tens of millions in seed money to restart the place. Once it’s running, he can afford the improvements and to pay his bills.
But regulators keep derailing his plans, Bassett said. The EPA and Ecology have killed numerous investment deals, and he has no reopening date in sight. In a series of text messages, he pushed back on the notion of site remediation.
“There is no clean up,” Bassett wrote. “That is only a situation that arises in the event that the EPA has killed the mill.”
How can there be anything significant to clean up when it hasn't been running for two years?" he later added.
He expressed optimism that with new EPA leadership, under President Donald Trump’s administration, investors will have more confidence in his project.
The Trump administration has led a sweeping deregulation effort, taking particular aim at environmental laws and efforts to understand and guard against climate change.
State and federal regulators have repeatedly cited and fined Cosmo Specialty Fibers over the years for environmental violations. The mill was the only company that failed to turn in its greenhouse gas allowances last year, which were due for many of the state's top climate polluters.
Bassett has appealed several state fines issued to him and has not yet paid the outstanding amounts, which now total into the millions, Ecology spokesperson Brittny Goodsell confirmed.
Tran acknowledged the concerns she heard from residents but noted she doesn’t have much more data to provide on the severity of contamination. That’s what the current process is designed to provide.
Ecology has listed Bassett’s company and the Weyerhaeuser Company as responsible for the cleanup effort. It will also, soon, list one other past owner, The Gores Group, as a party to the effort.
Weyerhaeuser built the mill in 1957, before the country’s strongest environmental protections existed, Tran said.
For its part, Weyerhaeuser, which closed the mill under its oversight in 2006, acknowledged its responsibility to support the cleanup effort.
"Weyerhaeuser is concerned about the current condition of our former pulp mill in Cosmopolis," spokesperson Mary Catherine McAleer said in an emailed statement. "We are committed to working closely with state and federal agencies — as well as the local community — to resolve any risks the site may pose to public health and the environment.
Currently, Bassett and Weyerhaeuser are required to study the site to determine where the contamination is and how bad it is. They must then compare ways to keep that contamination from harming people or the environment and draft a cleanup plan.
The process is expected to take years, Tran said. If the state finds that the contamination is posing a more immediate threat, the cleanup could be expedited.
The public comment period for early stages of the plan will remain open until Sept. 16.
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