The revival of the former Ponderay paper mill in Usk, Washington, appears officially off the table.
After several years of uncertainty, the mill’s industrial equipment will be sold at auction on July 22 and 23, bringing a long-anticipated restart effort to a close.
Shuttered in 2020 following a bankruptcy, the sprawling 900-acre site—home to 29 buildings—was acquired by California-based investment firm Allrise Capital. Initially pitched as a conversion project for containerboard production, the site has since been primarily used for cryptocurrency mining, capitalizing on its substantial electrical capacity.
However, plans for expanding that capacity met with skepticism from local authorities. Proposed power demands were deemed unrealistic, and officials estimated that tens of millions of dollars in infrastructure investment would be required to support any meaningful industrial relaunch.
With no viable project materializing, the auction of key equipment marks a turning point. Additional assets are expected to be sold in the days following the main sale.
Despite this, local leaders emphasize that the site still holds strategic industrial potential. They remain hopeful it can one day serve as the foundation for a sustainable economic development initiative in the region.
