The story can come from anywhere. Questions, odd news tips, or plot tips just below the surface.
This particular story began with a press release. More precisely, it started with some information It wasn’t In a press release, it bulged into the fascinating tale of modern America.
At the end of last year, officials from the state’s Ecological Department were extremely successful. Of the 97 major polluters in the state, 96 of the things they need to purchase greenhouse gas emission allowances, 96 did exactly what they should do.
But who was that only holdout? And why did they fall flat to such prominent environmental regulations?
I needed to know more. Its company, Cosmo Specialty Fibers, is an abolished pulp mill along the south bank of the Chehalis River and about 100 miles southwest of Seattle.
A British investment banker named Richard Bassett, who is a call to the owner, has revealed his grand plan. He promised to square things with conditions as soon as the factory was operating again. First, he needs to shake federal regulators from his back. That way, other investors will jump on his project and rain money on the small city of Cosmopolis (and itself).
Bassett showed he was unable to participate in the state’s fledgling carbon market as surveillance.
What a costly oversight. Just one mistake could lead to fines of more than $10,000 per day. And what about those federal regulators? Does the factory have a long history?
I knew there was a lot more in this story. Cosmo Specialty Fibers, like Grays Harbor County, has a long and complicated history.
Much of the information was transformed into a stable stream, with more interviews and research being conducted.
Bassett, the latest owner of the factory, not only owe hundreds of thousands of dollars in state fines and fees, but also has to do massive repairs worth tens of millions of people just to get it back in operation. He has no cash on hand and investors are skittish as long as the federal government is overhead.
Bassett petitioned for tolerance or assistance from federal officials, but he met mostly against him. All the while, he is bleeding money on his property that has nothing to return.
The carbon market was just the latest issue. Bassett now has to buy the allowance he needs until May or face penalties. He said he was working on it.
But in September, Ecology cited the factory for a dangerous waste violation, $42,000 fine.
At least twice as many states have fined factories for violating wastewater contamination restrictions. 2022 and 2015accumulates fines of more than $24,000. Bassett owned a minority stake in the company when it was cited for an old violation.
Additional violations Issues issued by Ecology will be extended further, including discharge violations, reporting and surveillance violations, industrial outflows and more.
Regarding his overseen issues, Bassett opposes the state, claiming that recent violations are overly dramatic and unnecessary. He argues that there is no need to purchase carbon allowances when the business is not running.
Aside from environmental violations, the business still owes an air and water permit fee of at least $437,446.25 for ecology, state spokesman Britney Goodsell confirmed. Ecology can revoke these permits, but state officials would rather businesses comply than pull plugs.
These are just Bassett issues regarding the state. The US Environmental Protection Agency is a completely different issue. Federal authorities intervened last year after Bassett failed to run power, water and security on the site. They issued what they called “”One-sided management order“Forcing the problem.
According to Bassett, the order rests on properties like clouds. In December he sought help from then-Rep. Derek Kilmer.
This is where requests for Freedom of Information Act are useful.
In the news, obtained by the Seattle Times, Bassett claimed in December that the EPA’s “regulated assaults” were preventing businesses from reopening. He claimed ignorance, refused to have factories violated regulations, portraying federal order as a way to police “pre-crimes.”
“I have a hard time figuring out why the EPA is blocking us, not helping us,” he writes.
Kilmer retired at the end of the year, and in January the EPA fought back in a letter to the office of newly elected US Congressman Emily Randall.
Not only is Bassett difficult to reach, but it often doesn’t respond, EPA officials said, but Cosmo’s specialty fibers are in poor condition and present “an imminent substantial danger to human health and the environment.”
Storage tanks on the site are leaking acid, wrote the EPA’s proxy area manager. A huge amount of harmful substances are left unsecured. The factory does not have water or electricity to prevent leaks and fires, nor security measures to prevent theft or vandalism. All these conditions create “potentially catastrophic releases,” the letter warned.
By mid-March, Bassett had not confirmed whether he had recovered water and power to the factory. However, he reiterated that the one-sided order at the EPA has hindered business and discouraged investors. Without those investors, he has no money to solve factory problems.
Bassett said the cycle has been going on for over a year, and in the process it cost him millions. He sees new opportunities with federal restructuring and loose regulations under President Donald Trump, but so far the EPA has not yet eased that grip.
