To: Tacoma City Council, Tacoma Mayor Strickland, Port of Tacoma Commissioners, Washington State Department of Ecology, The Washington State House, The Washington State Senate, and Governor Jay Inslee
Say NO to the huge methanol refinery proposed for the heart of Tacoma
The 3.4 billion dollar methanol refinery, proposed by NW Innovation Works (owned by the Chinese government) is estimated to use 10,000 gallons of fresh water each minute and enough electricity to power 320,000 households. Also used in the chemical process are huge amounts of fracked natural gas pumped in via pipeline. The sole purpose for this methanol would be to make more plastics in China. Meanwhile our recycled plastics are not reused by the industry, and most end up in landfills. Methanol is highly volatile at room temperature and methanol refinery explosions are a real danger. Nearby residents and the ICE detention center are located within a potential blast zone. The chemical refinery would also release about 1,000 gallons of waste water per minute and toxins such as arsenic, lead and formaldehyde into our air.
Our region has already spent billions to clean up after dirty industry. Let’s not allow them to pollute our sensitive environment on the Salish Sea again.
The Pacific Northwest has experienced its worst drought in history. It has been forecast this will be the new normal. Let’s protect our most important and valuable resource - fresh water - and let's not sell it off at fire-sale prices. Contact your city, Port of Tacoma, state and national representatives and the Washington State Department of Ecology and tell them NO to the largest chemical refinery in the Northwest - NO WATER FOR METHANOL!
Our region has already spent billions to clean up after dirty industry. Let’s not allow them to pollute our sensitive environment on the Salish Sea again.
The Pacific Northwest has experienced its worst drought in history. It has been forecast this will be the new normal. Let’s protect our most important and valuable resource - fresh water - and let's not sell it off at fire-sale prices. Contact your city, Port of Tacoma, state and national representatives and the Washington State Department of Ecology and tell them NO to the largest chemical refinery in the Northwest - NO WATER FOR METHANOL!
Why is this important?
Natural resources such as water and gas belong to future generations as well. We cannot simply burn it all up, sell if off cheaply and trash our planet with more plastics. Building a huge chemical refinery within an urban center holds too many dangers for our safety, air and water and the well being of our sensitive natural environment.