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Newport smelter company quiet as Pend Oreille officials end agreement

A pickup parked in Newport, Washington, contains a sign opposing a proposed silicon smelter in this March 2018 photo. Appellate judges ruled Tuesday the sale of more than 170 acres of land to build the smelter near Newport was legal, though the project remains on indefinite hold after a zoning change to allow construction was rejected last year. (Becky Kramer / The Spokesman-Review)
By Amy Edelen amye@spokesman.com(509) 459-5581

A proposal to build a silicon smelter near Newport is at a standstill after Pend Oreille County officials terminated an agreement with PacWest Silicon that would have extended utility service to the site.

The Pend Oreille Public Utility District sent a letter to PacWest Silicon CEO Jayson Tymko in December, stating it will terminate a “cost reimbursement agreement” by Saturday due to lack of communication from the company about plans to extend electricity to the proposed smelter site.

Because the Pend Oreille PUD has not heard from PacWest Silicon in six months, it refunded $315,700 of the company’s $500,000 deposit.

Pend Oreille County Commissioner Mike Manus confirmed that PacWest Silicon has been unresponsive to communication initiated by the county about the project for several months.

The company has also been unresponsive to the Washington State Department of Ecology – the lead agency on the project – and hasn’t complied with health risk assessments required by the Washington State Department of Health, Manus added.

“They have to rezone the land. They have to make a deal with the PUD to get power there. They have to get a conditional use permit. There are major hurdles to go through,” Manus said, referring to the project.

Gov. Jay Inslee wrote a letter to Tymko in October asking for an update on the project and raised concerns with the lack of communication from PacWest to the community, tribes and local governments.

“Recent media coverage and conversations with community members lead me to believe that PacWest may be re-evaluating whether to move ahead with the project,” Inslee wrote. “But I, like those who live near the proposed smelter, are left to wonder what the future holds.

“The state awarded your company a strategic reserve fund grant with an understanding that you would create 200 jobs and make $200 million in capital investment in Washington state,” Inslee continued. “It was also our understanding that this project would supply materials to the solar panel industry and that you would provide more information about the end use of silicon and possible carbon offsets for the project.”

The Washington State Department of Commerce awarded a $300,000 development assistance grant toward the project in 2016.

Tymko told The Spokesman-Review in September the company has already invested over $25 million into the project and isn’t going to walk away.

Tymko did not respond to a request for comment Friday morning.

PacWest Silicon and its parent company, Edmonton, Alberta-based HiTest Sand Inc., have been attempting to a build the silicon smelter since 2016 on a 188-acre site south of Newport and the Pend Oreille River, adjacent to the Idaho border.

PacWest Silicon indicated the $325 million smelter would generate new tax revenue, add more than 150 jobs and attract other private investment in the community.

The smelter, according to the company, is estimated to produce up to 73,000 tons of silicon metal annually, with a portion to be used in solar panels.

The proposed smelter has been met with opposition from the Kalispel Tribe and residents in Pend Oreille and Bonner counties, who raised concerns about pollution emitted by the facility, among other things.

Responsible Growth*Northeast Washington, a group opposing the smelter, filed an appeal to stop the county from changing the zoning of the proposed smelter site, which is currently zoned as public land and doesn’t allow for industrial development.

Although Responsible Growth lost the appeal in September, Pend Oreille County commissioners denied a comprehensive plan amendment three months later that would have redesignated around 65% of land in the county from public to rural land. That change, if approved, would have potentially opened up the land to private development.

Responsible Growth is also moving forward with a lawsuit over the Pend Oreille PUD’s sale of the smelter site to PacWest, arguing the company failed to follow proper procedures for the disposal of public land.

A Spokane Superior Court judge dismissed the lawsuit, but the group is appealing that decision in the Court of Appeals at a Jan. 30 hearing in Spokane.

Attorney Rick Eichstaedt, who represents Responsible Growth, said the group will continue voicing opposition to the smelter in public and legal forums.

“Until the company actually says, ‘You’re right, this isn’t the right place to pursue (the smelter),’ the local groups are staying on it,” he said. “But until PacWest says, ‘We are going to pursue other options,’ you have to stay diligent.”