Environmental Permitting Support for a Green Fertilizer Manufacturing Facility 

Atlas Agro is on a mission to transform the United States fertilizer industry. Their $1.5 billion Pacific Green Fertilizer Plant is a major step, designed to produce more than a half-million metric tons of low-carbon nitrogen fertilizer every year using green hydrogen. We’ve partnered with Atlas Agro on this megaproject, providing support for permitting and regulatory compliance and a key U.S. Department of Agriculture grant.

We completed tasks and collected information for an array of permitting needs for the project, including: 

• Permit matrix summarizing anticipated federal, state and local regulatory requirements. 
• Biological and cultural resources surveys and reporting.
• Ambient noise data collection.
• Phase I Environmental Site Assessment.
• Local code compliance review. 
• Vehicle and rail traffic studies. 
• Washington State Environmental Policy Act checklist.
• National Environmental Policy Act environmental assessment.
• Support for Endangered Species Act and National Historic Preservation Act consultation. 

Our team then worked with the client to develop a permitting strategy and timeline, so the client and their investors understand each step of the permitting process while working through the conceptual engineering and design phase. We also partnered with the client’s design team to develop a detailed description of the project to inform the permitting process, agency decision-makers and stakeholders.  

The Pacific Green Fertilizer Plant will leverage renewable energy to power the electrolysis process for green hydrogen, which will be transformed into key fertilizer products. 

The buildout, slated to finish in 2027, makes progress toward Atlas Agro’s goal of increasing food production and promoting sustainability in the fertilizer industry, which accounts for more than 2% of the world’s total carbon emissions — almost 900 million tons per year. The plant also serves as a key large-scale regional fertilizer producer in the Northwest, which primarily imports product from abroad, leading to increased costs and carbon emissions.

Renderings courtesy of Atlas Agro