County supports Port Angeles site proposal

Published 4:45 pm Monday, July 27, 2026

PORT ANGELES — The Clallam County commissioners are set to throw their support toward a company exploring the possibility of repurposing the former McKinley Mill site.

During their workshop meeting Monday, the commissioners discussed a letter of support for Candelaria Industries’ Biopower Redevelopment Proposal with the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities’ request for proposals for repurposing closed wood products facilities for bioenergy development.

Candelaria Industries purchased the former McKinley Mill site at 1902 Marine Drive in June and is evaluating potential reuse of the industrial property and existing infrastructure.

The request for a letter of support came from Candelaria founder Rob Janicki, Commissioner Randy Johnson said.

“I continue to believe it’s a very professional organization,” Johnson said. “(Janicki) met with the (Clallam County Economic Development Council) when we were meeting the other day to kind of quickly summarize the facts that there’s still a lot of unknowns as they proceed and again that’s part of the purpose to focus on which priorities they have.”

Janicki mentioned the company is looking into how they can take on biomass and generate electricity with it, Johnson said.

“Biomass is renewable organic material that comes from plants and animals,” according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration at www.eia.gov/energyexplained/biomass. “Biomass can be burned directly for heat or converted to liquid and gaseous fuels through various processes.”

The U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities “champions sustainable forestry through the support and funding of programs that strengthen the well-being of our forests and the communities that depend on their effective management,” according to its website at usendowment.org.

On June 15, the endowment launched a funding opportunity to assessed closed wood products facilities for bioenergy development, the site states. Up to $500,000 in funding is available “to test the renewable energy and economic potential of idled industrial sites in forest-dependent regions,” according to the site.

Working forests depend on working markets, Pete Madden, the president and CEO of the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities, said on the website.

“When a mill closes, a rural community loses a piece of its economic future, and the low-value wood that mill used to buy has nowhere to go,” Madden said on the site. “These sites still hold the infrastructure, grid connections and workforce that bioenergy needs. We are funding this work to show if these sites can transition to a biopower or biofuel production facility.”

“The feasibility study will evaluate the technical, environmental, engineering and economic viability of the project,” a draft letter of support states. “If successful, redevelopment of the site is expected to create and retain family-wage jobs, support local contractors and suppliers, strengthen markets for low-value woody biomass and forest residuals, increase renewable energy generation, improve regional energy resilience, and encourage further investment in an existing industrial facility as part of an integrated green energy hub.”

Each of the commissioners stated their support for sending the letter of support, which they will officially vote on during their meeting today.

“The RFP response seems exactly perfect for what we need,” Commissioner Mike French said.

Candelaria Industries is examining all alternative uses of the McKinley Mill site, Johnson said.

“I know they’re working with the city of Port Angeles in great detail as they talk to us,” he said. “They’re continuing to work on all the permits. Their description of the facility was each time a new owner took over, instead of reconfiguring the facility, they just added another layer of piping or another layer of this so you have like six layers of stuff.”

When the biomass processing facility was first installed at McKinley Mill, there was a lot of work with the Ocean Research & Conservation Association, commonly known as ORCA, to ensure there was proper air quality monitoring available in the city, French said.

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Reporter Emily Hanson can be reached at emily.hanson@peninsuladailynews.com.