DARRINGTON – Hampton Lumber mill has started construction of a scaled-down version of a wood-waste-burning steam and electric plant.
The company plans to use wood scraps from the mill to generate steam for three new lumber-drying kilns.
The steam also would power turbines to generate an average of 4.4 megawatts of electricity.
Last year, a 15-megawatt proposed cogeneration plant from private investors went up in smoke amid controversy.
Some residents, as well as the U.S. Forest Service, said adding a new smokestack would further foul Darrington’s winter air.
The investors eventually pulled out after months of trying to get permits.
That work established many of the technical details for how much pollution such a power plant would create at the mill. But it didn’t settle disagreements between the Forest Service and state air-quality regulators about how that pollution would affect sensitive wilderness environments nearby, said Alan Butler, an engineer for the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency.
The disagreements were left unresolved when the investors pulled out, Butler said.
Then, in January, Hampton applied for permits for the smaller project. State regulators deemed the emissions from this plant “just barely under” a federal threshold that would have required more scrutiny, Butler said.
“The Forest Service thought they were getting short shrift,” Butler said. “They said they should be allowed to scrutinize it anyway. Except, sorry, it’s not over, it’s under. We had quite a few discussions about that.”
Hampton received its permit in June after the state Department of Ecology determined the new plant would not significantly deteriorate Darrington’s air quality, Butler said.
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