Environmental groups and Chinese-backed sponsors of a natural gas-fueled methanol production and export project in Washington are knocking heads after a district court late last month voided some federal permits for the project. 

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington referred the permits back to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the seven-year, $2 billion NW Innovation Works (NWIW) project proposed for Port Kalama, WA. Columbia Riverkeeper, Sierra Club and Washington Environmental Council among others had challenged the permits.

District Judge Robert Bryan ordered the Army Corps to conduct a full environmental impact statement as required by federal law and assess whether the project was in the public interest. However, the court rejected arguments...