TACOMA, Wash. — Tacoma could soon be home to the world's largest methanol refinery.
Thursday night, residents will have a chance to sound off on whether or not they want it built.
The $3.4 billion refinery would be built by Northwest Innovation Works at the Port of Tacoma on the site of the former Kaiser property.
The facility would convert natural gas into methanol. Once it’s up and running, it would provide 260 jobs.
The methanol produced there would all be exported to China for the production of plastics.
Gov. Jay Inslee is in support of the project, saying it's a greenhouse emissions win for China to get methanol from natural gas, instead of coal.
But local environmentalists call methanol volatile and highly flammable and worry that the plant will use 10.4 million gallons of treated water per day.
According to the Tacoma News Tribune, that's about half of the daily water usage in Tacoma.
It's up to the city to conduct an environmental review.
The public meeting discuss the project will be held at the Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Center in downtown Tacoma at 6:30 p.m., Representatives from Northwest Innovation Works will be there at 5 p.m. to provide information on the project.
KIRO
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