Oregon approves key permit for controversial biofuel refinery on Columbia River
Oregon environmental regulators gave a key stamp of approval to a proposed $2.5 billion biofuel refinery along the Columbia River despite continued opposition from environmental groups and tribes over potential impacts to the river and salmon.The NEXT Energy refinery, also known as NXTClean Fuels, plans to manufacture renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel at the deepwater port of Port Westward, an industrial park on the outskirts of Clatskanie in Columbia County. Biofuels are considered renewable because they are produced from plants and organic waste products such as cow manure or agricultural residue.The Department of Environmental Quality on Tuesday approved a water quality certification for NEXT, allowing the Houston-based company to move forward with the project. The certification – marking the final comprehensive state review – is a requirement for the refinery to secure a federal permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.The state agency previously twice denied NEXT’s application for the certification, in 2021 and 2022, “due to insufficient information to evaluate the permit application.” More recently, the company secured state approvals for a removal fill permit and air permit in 2022 and county land-use permits in 2024.Proponents hail biofuels for their ability to reduce carbon emissions as a stop-gap measure before the transportation sector can move to full-on electrification as climate groups advocate. Countries across the world, including the U.S., individual states like Oregon and cities such as Portland have bet on biofuels to reduce carbon emissions from cars and trucks via fuel blending mandates that require a certain percentage of biofuels to be mixed with traditional fossil fuels.Environmental groups have raised concerns in recent years about the impacts of biofuel production, storage and transportation, including deforestation, the displacement of food production and the significant greenhouse gas emissions from various biofuel sources.The Port Westward refinery plans to produce up to 50,000 barrels per day – or more than 750 million gallons a year – of renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel. The fuels will be shipped offsite via pipelines, trucks and railcars to markets worldwide.Environmental groups this week said state regulators “caved in” to pressure from the building trades, putting the river and people’s well-being at risk from possible spills.DEQ spokesperson Michael Loch declined to directly comment on that statement.“DEQ carefully reviewed NEXT’s application for a 401 water quality certification and determined that the proposed project meets the state’s water quality standards,” Loch said.NEXT has said it plans to make the biofuels at Port Westward from used cooking oil, fish grease, animal tallows and seed oils. It already has an agreement with a Vietnamese company to import fish grease, company spokesperson Michael Hinrichs said. And it’s in discussions with other companies for used cooking oil and animal tallows from Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, Brazil and Canada, he said.Conservation groups in Oregon dispute those promises, pointing to the company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.“NEXT’s documentation shows that the majority of its feedstocks will be from corn and soybean oil, which are purpose-grown feedstocks with a higher carbon footprint, and will be shipped to the facility on long trains,” said Audrey Leonard, a staff attorney with Columbia Riverkeeper, a Portland-based environmental group focused on protecting the river that has fought the project for years.Columbia Riverkeeper and other opponents of the project also argue the refinery could damage water quality in the Columbia and its tributaries, including several area sloughs, and degrade local wetlands in the event of spills from the refinery and its railyard caused by accidents or a major earthquake.The proposed refinery would be built on unstable soil behind dikes that are next to high-value farmland and salmon habitat, Leonard said. Renewable fuels are just as flammable as fossil fuels, she said.In addition, the proposed refinery would use large volumes of fracked gas, a fossil fuel, in the production of renewable fuels, resulting in significant greenhouse gas emissions, Leonard said. NEXT’s air permit allows over 1 million tons a year of greenhouse gas emissions from the fracked gas operations to produce the fuel at the refinery. For comparison, the average petroleum refinery emits 1.2 million tons per year and Intel’s two campuses are authorized to emit a combined 1.7 million tons of greenhouse gases per year.The region’s tribes also have sent letters opposing the refinery, saying it will degrade water quality and negatively affect juvenile salmon and other aquatic species.“This project is a massive step backwards from the years of effort to improve aquatic habitat,” wrote Aja K. DeCoteau, executive director with the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission which manages fisheries for local tribes.Other groups have expressed support for the project and see it as a climate change solution that will reduce emissions and pollution.“On our way to a zero-emission future, we must do everything we can to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and toxic air pollution in the short term through strategies like rapidly expanding the use of renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel,” wrote Tim Miller, the director of Oregon Business for Climate, a nonprofit group focused on mobilizing industry support to advance climate policy in Oregon.Now that the refinery has the water certification in hand, the Army Corps of Engineers will issue a draft environmental impact statement for public review later this year and will evaluate whether to issue a federal water quality permit for the project.NEXT still must secure two state stormwater permits, though those are routine and typically filed after approval of the federal permit.The company is also developing a second biofuel refinery in Lakeview, 100 miles east of Klamath Falls, after acquiring an existing never-opened facility in 2023 from Red Rock Biofuels when that company went into foreclosure. The Lakeview plant will use wood waste from local forest thinning, logging and wildfire management activities to make renewable natural gas, known as RNG. The company has yet to announce when the plant will launch.— Gosia Wozniacka covers environmental justice, climate change, the clean energy transition and other environmental issues. Reach her at gwozniacka@oregonian.com or 971-421-3154.Our journalism needs your support. Subscribe today to OregonLive.com.
Oregon environmental regulators gave a key stamp of approval to a proposed $2.5 billion biofuel refinery along the Columbia River despite continued opposition from environmental groups and tribes over potential impacts to the river and salmon.
Oregon environmental regulators gave a key stamp of approval to a proposed $2.5 billion biofuel refinery along the Columbia River despite continued opposition from environmental groups and tribes over potential impacts to the river and salmon.
The NEXT Energy refinery, also known as NXTClean Fuels, plans to manufacture renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel at the deepwater port of Port Westward, an industrial park on the outskirts of Clatskanie in Columbia County. Biofuels are considered renewable because they are produced from plants and organic waste products such as cow manure or agricultural residue.
The Department of Environmental Quality on Tuesday approved a water quality certification for NEXT, allowing the Houston-based company to move forward with the project. The certification – marking the final comprehensive state review – is a requirement for the refinery to secure a federal permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The state agency previously twice denied NEXT’s application for the certification, in 2021 and 2022, “due to insufficient information to evaluate the permit application.” More recently, the company secured state approvals for a removal fill permit and air permit in 2022 and county land-use permits in 2024.
Proponents hail biofuels for their ability to reduce carbon emissions as a stop-gap measure before the transportation sector can move to full-on electrification as climate groups advocate. Countries across the world, including the U.S., individual states like Oregon and cities such as Portland have bet on biofuels to reduce carbon emissions from cars and trucks via fuel blending mandates that require a certain percentage of biofuels to be mixed with traditional fossil fuels.
Environmental groups have raised concerns in recent years about the impacts of biofuel production, storage and transportation, including deforestation, the displacement of food production and the significant greenhouse gas emissions from various biofuel sources.
The Port Westward refinery plans to produce up to 50,000 barrels per day – or more than 750 million gallons a year – of renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel. The fuels will be shipped offsite via pipelines, trucks and railcars to markets worldwide.
Environmental groups this week said state regulators “caved in” to pressure from the building trades, putting the river and people’s well-being at risk from possible spills.
DEQ spokesperson Michael Loch declined to directly comment on that statement.
“DEQ carefully reviewed NEXT’s application for a 401 water quality certification and determined that the proposed project meets the state’s water quality standards,” Loch said.
NEXT has said it plans to make the biofuels at Port Westward from used cooking oil, fish grease, animal tallows and seed oils. It already has an agreement with a Vietnamese company to import fish grease, company spokesperson Michael Hinrichs said. And it’s in discussions with other companies for used cooking oil and animal tallows from Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, Brazil and Canada, he said.
Conservation groups in Oregon dispute those promises, pointing to the company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
“NEXT’s documentation shows that the majority of its feedstocks will be from corn and soybean oil, which are purpose-grown feedstocks with a higher carbon footprint, and will be shipped to the facility on long trains,” said Audrey Leonard, a staff attorney with Columbia Riverkeeper, a Portland-based environmental group focused on protecting the river that has fought the project for years.
Columbia Riverkeeper and other opponents of the project also argue the refinery could damage water quality in the Columbia and its tributaries, including several area sloughs, and degrade local wetlands in the event of spills from the refinery and its railyard caused by accidents or a major earthquake.
The proposed refinery would be built on unstable soil behind dikes that are next to high-value farmland and salmon habitat, Leonard said. Renewable fuels are just as flammable as fossil fuels, she said.
In addition, the proposed refinery would use large volumes of fracked gas, a fossil fuel, in the production of renewable fuels, resulting in significant greenhouse gas emissions, Leonard said. NEXT’s air permit allows over 1 million tons a year of greenhouse gas emissions from the fracked gas operations to produce the fuel at the refinery. For comparison, the average petroleum refinery emits 1.2 million tons per year and Intel’s two campuses are authorized to emit a combined 1.7 million tons of greenhouse gases per year.
The region’s tribes also have sent letters opposing the refinery, saying it will degrade water quality and negatively affect juvenile salmon and other aquatic species.
“This project is a massive step backwards from the years of effort to improve aquatic habitat,” wrote Aja K. DeCoteau, executive director with the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission which manages fisheries for local tribes.
Other groups have expressed support for the project and see it as a climate change solution that will reduce emissions and pollution.
“On our way to a zero-emission future, we must do everything we can to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and toxic air pollution in the short term through strategies like rapidly expanding the use of renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel,” wrote Tim Miller, the director of Oregon Business for Climate, a nonprofit group focused on mobilizing industry support to advance climate policy in Oregon.
Now that the refinery has the water certification in hand, the Army Corps of Engineers will issue a draft environmental impact statement for public review later this year and will evaluate whether to issue a federal water quality permit for the project.
NEXT still must secure two state stormwater permits, though those are routine and typically filed after approval of the federal permit.
The company is also developing a second biofuel refinery in Lakeview, 100 miles east of Klamath Falls, after acquiring an existing never-opened facility in 2023 from Red Rock Biofuels when that company went into foreclosure. The Lakeview plant will use wood waste from local forest thinning, logging and wildfire management activities to make renewable natural gas, known as RNG. The company has yet to announce when the plant will launch.
— Gosia Wozniacka covers environmental justice, climate change, the clean energy transition and other environmental issues. Reach her at gwozniacka@oregonian.com or 971-421-3154.
Our journalism needs your support. Subscribe today to OregonLive.com.