How polluted is Cosmopolis’ defunct pulp mill? We don’t know, WA says

COSMOPOLIS, Grays Harbor County — Washington’s Department of Ecology is escalating its cleanup strategy for a once-prosperous pulp mill outside of Aberdeen, while its latest owner continues to push back against regulators.

The first order of business is finding out just how bad pollution spread from the Cosmo Specialty Fiber mill, about 100 miles southwest of Seattle, is. State environmental regulators know the place is leaking acid and other toxics, sometimes in residential neighborhoods or into the Chehalis River, but they say the true scope of the contamination remains unknown.

State officials held a public meeting at Gray’s Harbor College, not far from the pulp mill, Tuesday evening to bring residents up to speed on their progress. They also fielded questions from residents worried f