| Sort
of an eire feeling to ride past this huge smelter complex after it has
been shut down. Silence, in a place where one doesn't expect to
find it. The realm of machines, abandoned. Maybe a lonely
security guard. I didn't see. I just rode quietly by. Top of 2005 trip Next Many of Washington State's aluminum mills have had to close due, in part, to overpopulation. |
 Aluminum industry
was attracted to pacific northwest in
search of cheap hydropower. All the good dam sites, on the
Columbia
River have been taken, except for, ironically, the Hanford Reach.
That's
the last free flowing section of river between Canada and Boneville
Dam. Hanford is also where another power source is located; WPPS
#2; a nuclear reactor.
Northwest population keeps growing and using more power. With practically no "growth potential" left in hydroelectricity, other more expensive sources of power are adding to the mix. No longer such an advantage for aluminum refining. |