Ecology opens public comments for Cosmo Specialty Fibers remediation

By Jerry Knaak The Daily World • August 14, 2025 1:30 am
The Daily World file photo The Cosmo Specialty Fibers in Cosmopolis before a temporary shutdown of operations in April of 2020.
The Daily World file photo The Cosmo Specialty Fibers in Cosmopolis before a temporary shutdown of operations in April of 2020.

Last month, the Washington Department of Ecology issued Cosmo Specialty Fibers multiple penalties that total $2.3 million, for dangerous waste, air and water quality, lack of participation in “cap-and-invest” and emissions reporting.

In addition, Ecology issued an order requiring the mill to clean up contamination on the property under Washington’s Model Toxics Control Act.

Now, Ecology has negotiated an agreed order with each of the “potentially liable parties,” Cosmo Specialty Fibers (Cosmo) and Weyerhaeuser. The agreed orders require Cosmo and Weyerhaeuser to conduct a remedial investigation/feasibility study and draft a cleanup action plan.

According to Ecology, the Cosmopolis site’s main mill portion is located on the south bank of the Chehalis River. Weyerhaeuser constructed a pulp mill at the site in 1957, which made paper grade products until 1962, when Weyerhaeuser converted production to dissolving and specialty grade pulp. The mill made pulp by using magnesium sulfite to cook wood chips, then bleached the pulp using chlorine dioxide and other chemicals.

Weyerhaeuser operated the mill until September 2006, when production shut down. The company mothballed the facility the following year in preparation of selling the mill. In May 2011 the mill resumed operation as Cosmo Specialty Fibers (Cosmo), owned by Gores Group, LLC. In December 2022, Cosmo shut down its production and transferred ownership to Charlestown Investment. The mill has remained closed while owner Richard Bassett pursues investors to re-open the mill. More than 800,000 gallons of corrosive chemicals used in the pulp-making process remain at the site.

The agreed order between Ecology and Cosmo states, “This Order requires Cosmo to begin the investigation and cleanup process for the Site per the Model Toxics Control Act,” while the agreed order between Ecology and Weyerhaeuser states, “This Order requires Weyerhaeuser to begin the investigation and cleanup process for the Site per the Model Toxics Control Act. … No change in ownership or corporate status shall alter Weyerhaeuser’s responsibility under this Order.”

The Department of Ecology is asking the public to comment on the proposed agreed orders and public participation plan.

The public comment period runs through Sept. 16, with a public meeting and hearing scheduled for Sept. 9 at 6 p.m. at Grays Harbor College in the Schermer/4000 Building, Room 4134 A & B.

Written comments may be submitted online at https://swm.ecology.commentinput.com/?id=p4PGNs9a7, at the Sept. 9 public hearing, or mailed to Ha Tran, Department of Ecology, Industrial Section, P.O. Box 47600, Olympia, WA 98504-7600.

To request an ADA accommodation, email tara.roberts@ecy.wa.gov, call (360) 280-4325, or dial

711 to call through the Washington Telecommunications Relay for services like text

telephone (TTY).

For more information and to view all of the related documents, visit: https://apps.ecology.wa.gov/cleanupsearch/site/2375, the Department of Ecology at 300 Desmond Drive SE in Lacey, or the Timberland Regional Library’s Aberdeen Branch located at 121 E. Market Street.