The US aluminum company, Alcoa, announced officially on Monday March 16, that it will demolish its smelter at Ferndale, Washington.

Calgary based AltaGas  has acquired the rights to develop the site possibly for a green hydrogen plant. AltaGas is the parent company of Pacific Northern Gas,  which supplies natural gas to Kitimat, through its consumer division Trisummit Utilities.

US media are calling the Ferndale plant the “last aluminum smelter on the west coast.”

Alcoa “curtailed,” meaning mothballed, the Ferndale smelter in 2020, citing declining market conditions and high input costs.

Alcoa said, “The smelter, which began operation in 1966, lacks access to competitively priced power and would have required significant capital expenditures to restart.” On Monday, the Ferndale smelter had just 19 employees down from 700 at peak operations. The company said some employees will remain to assist with the closure-related activities that allow opportunities for future redevelopment.

“The Intalco smelter site operated for nearly 55 years, and we’ve spent significant time evaluating options for the asset, including a potential sale,” said Alcoa President and CEO Roy Harvey. “Our analysis, however, indicates that the facility cannot be competitive for the long-term.

In the 2023 Alcoa news release, the company said AltaGas has acquired the rights to develop and own approximately 1,600 acres at the Intalco site, which includes transportation and utility infrastructure.

“AltaGas is currently exploring potential development which would align with Washington state and Whatcom County’s climate ambitions and provide long-term, sustainable benefits to the community and the local economy,” said Randy Toone, President Midstream at AltaGas said in the Alcoa news release. “We understand the rich legacy and importance of this site to the community. We look forward to working with local stakeholders, Tribes and Alcoa to ensure potential development benefits the region and positively contributes to the ongoing energy transition.”

Reports in Washington state media say AltaGas is hoping to build a green hydrogen plant on the site, using the smelter’s electrical access to produce hydrogen through electrolysis to separate hydrogen and oxygen from water. Those plans have stalled thanks to US President Donald Trump’s desire to end green energy, net zero and environmental protection across the country.

In an emailed statement to the Washington news site, Salish Current, AltaGas said one thing its executives are watching is the outcome of a multistate lawsuit to overturn the cancellation of the federally funded Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub. The hub project would have funneled a taxpayer subsidy of around $100 million to AltaGas for the design, construction and startup of the planned green hydrogen factory.
“AltaGas remains interested in finding the right redevelopment opportunities for the Intalco lands, but any path forward must be responsible, feasible and aligned with both community values and regulatory certainty that comes with a clear and stable policy framework,” the company statement read. “We will continue to monitor developments closely and keep stakeholders informed as we reassess viable options for the site.”

Local residents had held demonstrations to save the plant and petitioned Trump for help but got no response. That despite Trump's imposition of tariffs on Canadian aluminum to protect American jobs and plants.

The Ferndale smelter is the last of ten on the US west in Washington, Oregon and Montana that have closed over the past years. The smelters were built beginning in the 1940s during the Second World War mainly to take advantage of power generated by the Columbia River. The Ferndale smelter was the last to be built, starting operations in 1966.

Google has built a data center on the site of a former aluminum smelter in The Dalles, Oregon. Across the Columbia River in Klickitat County, a renewable energy developer has visions of building an energy storage complex using connected water reservoirs on the site of the former Goldendale Aluminum smelter, Salish Current reported.

The costly demolition and cleanup of the “sprawling” Ferndale plant will take several years and is subject to environmental review by the State of Washington. Alcoa is responsible for the clean up. It received an asbestos abatement and site demolition permit from Whatcom County in 2025. Alcoa plans to truck old concrete offsite so it can be crushed, the reused or recycled. Some cleanup began on the site began after the smelter closed but is expected that the site is contaminated with fluorides, PCBs, petroleum leaks and other contaminants.

AltaGas  owns and runs the Ridley Island Propane Gas Export Terminal in Prince Rupert.

Back in 2013, AltaGas proposed a second floating LNG plant  with the terminal at the old log sort site on Douglas Channel, where the barge carrying the liquefaction equipment would likely be moored near what eventually became the Haisla Nation’s Cedar LNG project.

Alcoa say permanently closing Intalco’s 279,000 metric tons of annual capacity will bring Alcoa Corporation’s global consolidated capacity to 2.69 million metric tons, including a combined 399,000 metric tons at two other smelters in the United States