SWEETWATER COUNTY — With the Pacific Soda Project aiming to begin construction next year, excitement over the economic impact of the project is growing in Sweetwater County and beyond.
Pacific Soda plans to build its Dry Creek Trona Project about 20 miles southwest of Green River. The mine and processing facility will utilize a solution mining process to generate 6 million tons of soda ash and 440,900 tons of sodium bicarbonate each year. Construction is slated to begin during the first quarter of 2025 and will employ an estimated 2,100 construction workers, with 4,200 workers employed during peak construction. Pacific Soda also estimates direct and secondary employment related to the facility will result in 2,000 additional jobs within the area. Construction is anticipated to last approximately four years. A full-time workforce of 530 will be employed at the mine.
With such a large development, there will be a lot of money spent locally. The company estimates it will spend $300 million on local labor during construction and an estimated $396 million in local sales attributed to direct and secondary spending.
“We will be hiring local qualified workers when that opportunity exists,” Allison Pearson, the senior environmental engineer at Barr Engineering, one of the firms assisting with the Pacific Soda project, told the Sweetwater County commissioners Tuesday.
A significant amount of sales tax will be generated by the project. The company anticipates the county will receive $10.3 million in sales, lodging and use taxes in 2025, $27.2 million in those taxes in 2026, $16.9 million in 2027 and $2.62 million in 2028. Taxes generated from assessed property value are anticipated to grow to $20 million by 2029, while production taxes based on products mined are estimated to total $31.5 million in ad valorem taxes and $18.8 million in estimated severance tax.
David Steed, the permitting and regulatory affairs lead for the project, told the commissioners the life of the mine is permitted for 30 years, but he can realistically see the functional life of the mine being 90 years. With advances in technology, he said it’s likely the mine could access additional deposits without expanding much further from its initial footprint.
“At the end of the day, this will be the largest trona solution mine in the world,” Steed said. “We’ll be kind of the tip of the spear.”
While excitement about the economic impacts has been voiced by community and economic development leaders since it was announced, that excitement has bled into nearby Dagget County, Utah. A group with the Dagget County government attended Pacific Soda’s open house Wednesday evening seeking to learn if the project’s economic benefits could spread beyond Wyoming’s borders.
We’re hoping that this project will bring families into Dagget County,” Brianne Carter, the Dagget County Recorder and Treasurer said. “We’re excited about it.”
Peggy White, the economic development director for Dagget County, said they hope the Pacific Soda facility will result in jobs for the county’s residents.
