Tuesday night the Richland City Council plans to grant Atlas Agro, a company based in Switzerland, almost $20 million in tax breaks over 10 years to build a billion-dollar green fertilizer plant. But, first, the council will approve rules on pet sales and rabies vaccinations.
Pet sales and rabies vaccinations
The Tri-City Animal Control Authority has asked the city of Richland to limit the sale of animals to help control the animal population by providing a barrier to distribution.
In response to the request, the council will vote to add a provision in the city ordinances, 7.03.025, Prohibited sales. “No person shall display, sell, deliver, offer for sale, barter, auction, give away, dispose, or advertise the availability of any animal upon any public property or upon private property open to the public.”
The ordinance states that it does not apply to private property not open to the public, pet shops, kennels and animal welfare groups approved by the Tri-City Animal Control Authority.
In addition, when the city of Richland eliminated pet licenses because it claimed it cost more to run the licensing operation than it received from the licenses, it “inadvertently” eliminated the requirement for rabies vaccination required by state law.
The requirement that all domestic pets four (4) months of age and older must be vaccinated against rabies will be reinstated.
Atlas Agro wants $20 million in tax breaks.
Unless the city grants the almost $20 million in tax breaks, Atlas Agro said it would go to another location to build its first $1 billion green fertilizer plant. Apparently, the $20 million over 10 years is the make it or break it for the company’s billion-dollar plant.
The company like, all the others seeking a tax break, filled out a request form with this last yes or no question: “I verify that this project would not have been built in Richland but for the availability of the tax exemption.”
The tax exemption is for the new buildings and doesn’t include taxes on the land or taxes to support the schools.
Atlas Agro officials have said that the plant needs 350 megawatts of electricity, enough for about 70,000 to 262,500 homes according to estimates from multiple sources. Where this will come from is an open question, but the council agreed on December 5 to a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) to help out the company where they can.
After construction, Atlas Agro plans to provide 158 jobs that will pay $23 an hour or more. The tax cuts will provide about $126,500 a job or about $12,650 a year per job for 10 years.
It’s Christmas in Richland when it comes to tax breaks for foreign-owned billion-dollar businesses.
Just after Christmas, at its January 2 meeting, the council gifted the French government-owned multi-billion dollar business, Framatome, a $6.7 million ten-year tax cut. They too claimed they’d go elsewhere if Richland didn’t give them a tax cut.
Since Framatome is almost 100% owned by the French government, is the $6.7 million foreign aid? How many members of the Richland City Council support foreign aid?
Framatome plans to expand their existing Richland operation which produces uranium dioxide (UO2) powder, pellets, fuel rods and fuel assemblies.
Don’t believe the Observer, read about it for yourself on the city’s website, attend the meeting at city hall at 6 pm Tuesday, watch it on Channel 192 or stream it from Richland City View.
Atlas Agro: What could go wrong with this? “…utilizing electrolysers powered by zero-carbon electricity to produce green hydrogen. The nitrogen component will be sourced through air separation and processed into ammonia, followed by ammonium nitrate.” Zero-carbon electricity because it comes from the dams??? Nitrogen will be sourced through air separation, well that sounds interesting is our air going to stripped of minerals?
” …produce approximately 700,000 tonnes of fertilizer annually, encompassing liquid ammonium nitrate solution (ANs), liquid calcium nitrate (CN), and granulated calcium ammonium nitrate fertilizer (CAN).” And I’m old enough to remember that trucks were packed with ammonium nitrate fertilizer for the Oklahoma bombings. Do we really need that plant here? We already have nuclear waste.
Not only are they a foreign company, they got funding from an Australian company and contracted with a Spanish company for front end engineering and design. “To propel its vision forward, Atlas Agro has contracted Spanish company Técnicas Reunidas to conduct front-end engineering and design as well as open-book cost estimation for the Pacific Green Fertilizer plant. Moreover, a recent $325 million investment from Australian bank Macquarie, via its Green Investment Group Energy Transition Solutions fund, has bolstered the company’s financial standing without affecting the timeline for the FID on its US plant.”
Quotes came from this article.https://energynews.biz/atlas-agros-green-hydrogen-fertilizer-plant-nears-final-investment-decision/
The Observers article on council member absences caused me to go and see who is on the Richland council. Sandra works for Mission Support Alliance. Joanna works with for the IRS, Ryan L. works for Energy Northwest, Shayne works for PNNL, Kurt works for PNNL, Ryan W. works at Energy Northwest. Is our council biased?
From another article: https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/crops/article/2023/04/20/startup-fertilizer-company-atlas
“Asked about specific state and federal policies, a spokesman for Atlas Agro cited Washington state’s Clean Energy Transformation Act and the Climate Commitment Act, “both of which are accelerating deep decarbonization efforts and a clean energy transition.” At the federal level, provisions included in both the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act have also accelerated the development of the nation’s green hydrogen economy, making America one of the most competitive global markets for Atlas Agro’s project development.” I’m all for more jobs, but carbon is essential for life, so I’d like to understand more about what they plan to do. CO2 when it goes into the ground helps form fossil fuels.
Then this ( I bet this wasn’t discussed at the meeting): “Power will remain a major issue for Atlas Agro going forward. The company has told Richland officials that the fertilizer plant could require as much as 350 megawatts of power, which is roughly the equivalent power that the city uses annually.”
So…. 1. Swiss company is building the plant here because it’s cheaper to do that in the US because of the Acts that were passed by the state and federal gov. 2. The state gov wants to rip out the dams that help supply that zero-carbon energy AND the 350 megawatts, so where do they plan to get power for the people, oh wait can’t forget about the windturbines, which is also foreign companies and still is or was on some of Bill Gate’s land. 3. Shame on City of Richland thinking of giving this company a $20 mil tax break and then the City needs a source of electricity by 2027. Where is that money coming from? Haven’t heard anything about the nuclear plant that was supposed to be built by Energy Northwest.
Thank you for reporting on this.
Hi Renee, I appreciate your comments. You make some good points. There’s no doubt this plant can’t be built without massive subsidies. Thank you for reading the Observer. Randy