Nordic Aquafarms Withdraws, Harbor District Pushes RMT II Offshore Wind Plans

Nordic Aquafarms has formally withdrawn from the Santa‑Samoa Peninsula site, handing the Humboldt Bay Harbor District an immediate need to redefine the future of agency-owned Redwood Marine Terminal II. The company had signed a 30-year lease for RMT II that called for $20,000 per year during a planning phase, a $500,000 balloon payment, and roughly $159,000 per year thereafter; the harbor district now faces questions about the lease's legal and financial status and who will carry out promised remediation of the EPA brownfield on the Samoa Peninsula.

The Harbor District announced an Offshore Wind Heavy Lift Marine Terminal Project in February 2019, explicitly linking that project to a “massive cleanup and modernization” of RMT II. Harbor District spokesperson Mikkelsen told reporters the agency is proceeding “full steam ahead” with planning for the offshore-wind terminal even after the Trump administration withdrew more than $426 million in federal funding tied to the project. The district’s continued planning places RMT II at the center of competing redevelopment paths for Humboldt Bay.

Nordic’s planned use for RMT II was a state-of-the-art recirculating aquaculture facility that the company said would complete environmental cleanup of the EPA brownfield and replace crumbling old pulp mill infrastructure. Nordic projected the facility would “eventually create up to 150 full-time jobs with benefits.” Those job and cleanup commitments are now in limbo following Nordic’s formal withdrawal; public records such as the lease, any termination notices, and EPA remediation files will be key to determining who is responsible for cleanup and whether the $500,000 balloon payment was ever made.

Uncertainty within Nordic’s own ranks had been signaled earlier. In an April interview, Nordic employee Chandler said, “I’m not going to be 100 percent confident until we’re literally breaking ground,” while also noting plans had been downsized and construction still appeared likely years away. Two months after that interview Chandler was no longer employed by Nordic; inquiries reported it was “unclear whose doing that was” and she could not be reached for comment.

Key outstanding questions remain concrete: the formal terms and current standing of the 30-year lease, the status of the $500,000 balloon payment, who will assume EPA brownfield cleanup obligations now that Nordic has withdrawn, and whether alternative funding can replace the more than $426 million the Trump administration pulled. The Harbor District’s push to keep offshore-wind terminal planning moving forward means board decisions and any new funding sources will determine whether RMT II becomes a heavy-lift terminal tied to offshore wind or is marketed for other industrial uses.

With Nordic gone and federal funding cut, the near-term fate of RMT II will hinge on Harbor District board actions, the contents of the Nordic lease and any withdrawal documents, and EPA remediation records for the Samoa Peninsula site. The district’s stated intent to proceed “full steam ahead” sets the stage for those decisions to shape Humboldt Bay’s industrial and employment landscape in the months ahead.