Richland council backs study into acquiring DOE industrial land, expanded fire coverage and power options

Richland city staff will study options to acquire additional industrial land from the U.S. Department of Energy, pursue an accelerated timeline for expanded city fire coverage of DOE facilities, and evaluate whether to take on an underused DOE electrical substation, after a March 25 workshop where council members signaled support for further analysis.

City planning and economic development staff described a swath of land north of the Northwest Advanced Clean Energy Park on the Hanford site that is designated industrial in the Department of Energy’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan and in the city’s planning documents. Staff said past federal transfers — including a 1,341-acre transfer led by a community reuse organization — were completed through congressional action and were given to local redevelopment partners at no cost with conditions tied to economic development.

The council’s interest was prompted in part by several pending and recent commitments on nearby land, including a large solar feasibility area negotiated with Hecate, an option agreement with Washington Energy LLC and an expression of interest from Atlas Agro for a data center. Staff said the larger corridor includes roughly 5,200 acres identified north of the Clean Energy Park and that some feasibility work has identified up to about 8,000 acres of potential solar study area; staff emphasized final usable acreage could be smaller after environmental study and feasibility analysis.

Why it matters: council members and staff said the work could expand Richland’s industrial base and diversify the local economy while noting the transfers and development would be multi-year efforts.…