Wikipedia

Cosmo Specialty Fibers

Cosmo Specialty Fibers is a defunct pulp mill in Cosmopolis, Washington, United States. In the past, it used sulfite processing to extract cellulose from wood pulp.

Map
Coordinates46°57′09″N 123°45′54″W / 46.95250°N 123.76500°W / 46.95250; -123.76500
OwnersWeyerhaeuser (former)
The Gores Group (former)
Richard Bassett

History and ownership

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Grays Harbor was a hub of Washington's logging industry. This shingle manufacturing plant in nearby Aberdeen, Washington, is representative of boom times in the early 20th century (c. 1929)

Originally, it opened as a saw mill in 1888, owned by the Grays Harbor Mill Company.[1]

During the 1920s, Grays Harbor was by some metrics the biggest lumber port in the world, shipping out over one billion board feet of lumber by water in 1924.[2]

It was bought by lumber giant Weyerhaeuser in 1957 who transformed it into a pulp mill. It continued operating under Weyerhaeuser until 2005 when it announced plans to close following a 52 percent drop in earnings.[3][4]

In 2010, it was purchased by a group consisting of a British investor, Richard Bassett, and a California investment firm, The Gores Group.[1] Bassett had previously tried a similar tactic at a pulp mill named Neucel Specialty Cellulose in Port Alice, British Columbia on the north end of Vancouver Island. Neucel was bought by a Chinese rayon textile company Fulida over the course of 2010 to 2011.[5] Neucel laid off hundreds of workers in 2015 and completely shuttered in 2019. In 2020, Neucel went bankrupt with a debt of CA$272 million.[6] By 2023, the provincial government had spent at least CA$ 90 million on environmental cleanup at the site.[7]

The Cosmopolis mill was restarted on May 21, 2011.[8] It continued operation for a little less than a decade, before shutting down in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, it briefly reopened before closing again. Immediately afterward, Bassett assumed full ownership from the Gores Group, with plans to renovate the mill into a biorefinery with an on-site data center.[1]

The mill was historically one of the biggest sources of income for local residents and revenue for local government. During full operation, it employed around 200 workers.[1]

Pollution and regulatory action

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In the 1980s, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife investigated the impact of the plant's pollution in the Chehalis River on decreased coho salmon spawning.[1]

Confirmed contamination incidents[9]
Date Contaminants Duration/amount
October 27, 1979 liquid chlorine
December 1, 1979 magnesium oxide Duration: 5 hours
February 6, 1980 red liquor 1,000 gallons
Feb 1995 sodium hydroxide Groundwater pH exceeded 12.0
January 6, 1998 acid pH as low as 1.0
September 12, 2023 wastewater

A November 2017 sediment study found high levels of dioxins and furans near the mill.[9]

In April 2024, the federal Environmental Protection Agency intervened to prevent a "potential catastrophic release" of harmful chemicals. EPA ordered Cosmo Specialty Fibers to provide 24-hour security, fire suppression systems, and maintain power and water service. On September 17, 2024, the EPA was notified that the facility had lost power.[10][11][12]

In 2025, despite being closed down in 2022, the Washington state Department of Ecology fined it $2.3 million for leaking corrosive chemicals out of its storage tanks, polluting the Chehalis River, failing to report emissions, and failing to surrender emissions allowances. In both 2023 and 2024, it was the only entity in Washington state to not comply with its Cap and Invest greenhouse gas emissions obligations.[13][14][15] Bassett has appealed the fine, arguing that the allowances were charged when the plant was not operating. According to Ecology's interpretation of the statute, emitters are charged based on historical emissions, which the mill had surpassed. However, emitters that fall below 5,000 tons of CO2e for three years in a row become exempt in future years.[15][16][17]

Fines levied by Ecology[9]
Category Amount Statute(s) WAC regulations
Dangerous Waste $499,350 Washington Hazardous Waste Management Act RCW § 70A.300 WAC 173-303
Water Quality $677,325 RCW § 90.48 WAC 173-224
Air Quality $142,602 Washington Clean Air Act RCW § 70A.15 WAC 173-401-930

WAC 173-401-620 (2)(f)

Cap-and-Invest $687,992 Climate Commitment Act WAC 173-446
Emissions Reporting $280,700 Washington Clean Air Act RCW § 70A.15 WAC 173-441

Ecology has announced a plan under the Washington Model Toxic Controls Act (RCW § 70A.305) to have Cosmo Specialty Fibers and Weyerhaeuser, the "potentially liable parties", conduct a cleanup feasibility study.[18][19]

References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Swanson, Conrad (April 13, 2025). "Cosmopolis on the brink: How a rural WA town illustrates an American crossroads". The Seattle Times. Retrieved April 10, 2026.
  2. ↑ "Red Harbor: The IWW in Grays Harbor, Washington - IWW History Project". depts.washington.edu. Archived from the original on September 20, 2025. Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  3. ↑ staff, Seattle Times (December 23, 2005). "83 lose jobs as Aberdeen sawmill closes". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on April 21, 2026. Retrieved April 10, 2026.
  4. ↑ Allison, Melissa (October 22, 2005). "Timber giant planning to close 2 mills". The Seattle Times. Retrieved April 10, 2026.
  5. ↑ reports, Staff (February 10, 2011). "Chinese company purchases Neucel". North Island Gazette. Archived from the original on April 13, 2026. Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  6. ↑ "Dormant Northern Vancouver Island pulp mill declares bankruptcy, owes $272 million". North Island Gazette. Archived from the original on April 20, 2025. Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  7. ↑ Knox, Jack (February 4, 2023). "Jack Knox: Port Alice moves on from mill, but public still paying". Times Colonist. Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  8. ↑ Friederich, Steven (June 8, 2011). "Cosmopolis pulp mill shipping first product". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on April 13, 2026. Retrieved April 10, 2026.
  9. 1 2 3 "Cleanup Search: Weyerhaeuser NR Company - (2375)". apps.ecology.wa.gov. Archived from the original on January 20, 2026. Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  10. ↑ "Cosmo Specialty Fiber: Facility Closure; Cosmopolis, WA | IncidentNews | NOAA". incidentnews.noaa.gov. Archived from the original on April 15, 2026. Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  11. ↑ "Site Profile - Cosmo Specialty Fibers - EPA OSC Response". response.epa.gov. Archived from the original on September 27, 2024. Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  12. ↑ US EPA, OA (September 17, 2024). "EPA is securing chemicals stored at shuttered Cosmo Specialty Fibers facility in Cosmopolis". www.epa.gov. Archived from the original on April 21, 2026. Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  13. ↑ Swanson, Conrad (December 15, 2024). "WA's top climate polluters hand in emission allowances — except one". The Seattle Times.
  14. ↑ Environmental, Its Intersections with; Issues, Political (April 13, 2025). "How a missing detail in a WA press release turned into a tale of modern America". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on April 12, 2026. Retrieved April 10, 2026.
  15. 1 2 "Defunct mill owner says WA emission allowances are 'persecution'". The Seattle Times. November 25, 2025. Archived from the original on April 23, 2026. Retrieved April 10, 2026.
  16. ↑ Swanson, Conrad (July 22, 2025). "WA fines defunct pulp mill $2.3 million for violations, inaction". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on April 27, 2026. Retrieved April 9, 2026.
  17. ↑ Environmental, Its Intersections with; Issues, Political (September 11, 2025). "How polluted is Cosmopolis' defunct pulp mill? We don't know, WA says". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on April 11, 2026. Retrieved April 10, 2026.
  18. ↑ Knaak, Jerry (August 25, 2025). "Despite recent fines from state, pulp mill along Chehalis River might have a future". The Daily Chronicle. Archived from the original on April 16, 2026. Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  19. ↑ Service, Wire (January 9, 2026). "Public comment period opens for Cosmo Specialty Fibers cleanup". The Daily World. Retrieved April 13, 2026.
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