Fortescue officials said this week that Lewis County Commissioner Sean Swope and Lewis County itself are not subject to any non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) requested by the company.
Swope reached out to the company for confirmation after the topic of NDAs linked to a proposed hydrogen facility in Centralia again rose to discussion this week.
In May 2022, the Economic Alliance of Lewis County announced a partnership with Fortescue Future Industries to potentially build a hydrogen plant in Centralia.
Commissioner Lindsey Pollock had made a statement expressing concern over the project’s viability before it was officially announced. She said at the time, according to meeting recordings, plans for the facility had been “relatively hush-hush,” in reference to a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) signed by her seatmates Commissioner Sean Swope and former Commissioner Lee Grose.
Swope and Grose’s successor, Commissioner Scott Brummer, have recently been scrutinized for signing the agreements, which aren’t directly impacted by the Public Disclosure Act, as most other county commissioner-related documents are.
Pollock, Lewis County Public Utility District Commissioner Mike Hadaller, the Lewis County News (a weekly publication in Winlock) and several community members for signing the agreements who cited concerns about lack of transparency.
According to Fortescue Future Industries, the Alliance and Swope, the Centralia commissioner has no active NDA with either entity. Swope on Wednesday said he signed the NDA so he could be briefed on the hydrogen announcement ahead of a “Hydrogen Symposium” hosted by Centralia College, and that agreement expired in May of 2022.
“That’s the only NDA that I’ve signed and it was only for the announcement,” Swope said on Thursday.
Grose and Brummer, the latter said this week, signed ongoing NDAs with the Economic Alliance while in office in order to be board representatives with the group, formerly the Lewis County Economic Development Council.
Brummer recently provided his ongoing NDA in a commentary to The Chronicle following the criticism.
Brummer’s agreement, dated March 30, 2023, asks that he receive written permission from the Alliance before sharing any clients’ names, companies or contact information or disclose other “confidential” information before, during and after his time on the board.
The full text of that agreement is below:
“As a Board Member of the Economic Alliance of Lewis County (EALC), you will hear and participate in discussion that the EALC considers being confidential. Names, organizations, companies, contact information, and individuals that you come into contact with, and have possession of certain proprietary information or client files and personnel materials are confidential. No reference to clients or to this confidential information, except in pursuit of work to move projects along and with the consent of the client or board, shall be made to anyone without written consent of the client, or the EALC board chair.”
“Board members will not either during or after board service with the EALC, disclose to those not confidentially bound to the EALC, or use for their own benefit, any of the EALC's proprietary information without written consent from the EALC.”
