Port of Mattawa eyes expansion in support of state’s bulk wine industry

The Port of Mattawa is working to expand and improve the infrastructure of its wastewater treatment system to accommodate the increasing growth of the wine grape crushing/bulk wine-making industry in central Washington.

An expansion also would support other food processing in the Mattawa area, which will help to retain and create jobs and increase economic development in the south Grant County/Mattawa area, port leadership says.

“The Port of Mattawa has become a leading location for wine grape crushing and bulk wine-making in the Pacific Northwest, and the Port is working to continue to improve its wastewater treatment infrastructure to keep up with this very important value-added agriculture-industry,” said Lars Leland, executive director of the Port of Mattawa.

The state of Washington is the nation’s second largest wine producer, with more than 1,000 wineries and an economic impact of $8.4 billion. Washington State’s wine production has more than doubled over the past two decades, and the Port of Mattawa has become a major production area of bulk wine in Washington, thus increasing the need for wastewater treatment capacity in Mattawa.

As a result, the Port of Mattawa is requesting capital budget and/or infrastructure funding for Phase 4 of the Port’s Wastewater Infrastructure Improvement Project, which would increase the capacity of the Port of Mattawa’s industrial wastewater treatment system, especially for wine waste, which is a byproduct of the wine grape crushing process.

The capital budget/infrastructure funding request by the Port of Mattawa is widely supported, leaders say, with the port receiving letters of support from more than 30 organizations, companies, and entities in Washington state.

The expansion of wastewater treatment capacity of the port’s industrial wastewater system will allow the Port of Mattawa to keep up with rapidly growing wine crushing/bulk wine-making industry in central Washington, as well as support other food processing in the Mattawa area.

Moreover, the bulk wine that is produced in Mattawa is used by wineries all over Washington state and elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest, which helps to promote and enhance tourism in our region.

Furthermore, the expanded treatment system will allow the Port of Mattawa to better and more safely discharge treated wastewater onto crops, while also recycling the wine and food processing waste in an environmentally sustainable manner. 

In particular, over the past few years, the wine grape crushing industry has created and retained more than 200 jobs in the Mattawa area, and it is projected that the Port of Mattawa’s Phase 4 wastewater infrastructure expansion project will help to create more jobs and stimulate economic development as it will allow for wine grape crushing companies to continue to grow and hire more people in Mattawa and central Washington.

Contact Leland at [email protected] for more information.