DEER ISLAND, A fertilizer company with ties to the nitrogen plant at Deer Island has been picked for about $100 million in federal money to upgrade its plants, one in Texas and one listed in St. Helens. The money is not a done deal yet.
On Oct. 22, the U.S. Department of Agriculture named PCI Nitrogen as one of eight projects selected for its new fertilizer grant program, known as FIELDS. USDA proposed about $100 million toward PCI’s $200 million project to modernize existing plants in Pasadena, Texas, and St. Helens, Oregon. The upgrades would support about 148,280 tons a year of ammonium sulfate, urea and other fertilizer, USDA said.
What Happens to the Money
Being selected is the first step, not the last. Under the program rules, “notification of selection does not guarantee an award.” Before PCI can sign a grant agreement, it has to show it has lined up its own half of the cost. The program requires companies to match the federal money dollar for dollar.
The money then arrives after the work is done, not before. USDA either reimburses the company as it builds, paying up to 90 percent along the way and holding the last 10 percent until a final inspection, or pays everything after the project is finished and inspected. Projects also go through a federal environmental review and have up to five years to finish.
USDA has not said how much of the $100 million would go to Texas and how much to Oregon.
How the Deer Island Plant Fits
USDA did not name the Oregon plant. But state and county records connect PCI Nitrogen to the plant at Deer Island, which sits on Highway 30 north of St. Helens.
Columbia River Nitrogen LLC owns the plant at 63149 Columbia River Highway in Deer Island, according to Oregon Secretary of State business records. The company bought it from Dyno Nobel in 2025 for $1.8 million, the value of the product on hand at the sale, according to a filing by Dyno Nobel’s parent company.
Columbia River Nitrogen is an affiliate of Interoceanic Corp., a New York-based fertilizer and chemical company, according to industry publication Quantum Commodity Intelligence. Interoceanic lists PCI Nitrogen as one of its affiliates on its own website, and its president, Elio Mazzella, is one of four members listed for Columbia River Nitrogen in state records.
Columbia River Nitrogen also applied to the same federal program. A letter of support from the Columbia County Board of Commissioners, dated July 22 and addressed to Greg Zoglio at Columbia River Nitrogen, backs the company’s application for the FIELDS grant and describes a project to “streamline and modernize fertilizer manufacturing operations.” The letter was on the board’s July 29 consent agenda. Zoglio is also listed as a member of the company in state records.
The Plant
The Deer Island plant has made fertilizer since the 1960s and today produces urea and UAN, a liquid nitrogen fertilizer made from natural gas, for farms in the Pacific Northwest, according to Columbia River Nitrogen’s website. Dyno Nobel owned it for more than 20 years before the sale.
The plant was Columbia County’s sixth-largest property taxpayer in 2024, paying more than $880,000, KLOG reported at the time of the sale.
This month, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality took comments on a proposed change to the plant’s wastewater permit that would shift how it monitors copper and aluminum. DEQ said the change would not alter the amount of pollution the plant may release. The comment period closed Oct. 12.
What Isn’t Known Yet
USDA’s announcement doesn’t say what would be built at Deer Island or whether the project would add jobs. Columbia River Nitrogen’s website and Interoceanic’s website did not mention the selection as of Saturday.