Soda Ash Maker Solvay Loses Two Tax Fights at Wyoming High Court

Solvay Chemicals Inc. failed to convince the Wyoming Supreme Court that aspects of its soda ash processing operations aren’t taxable.

The court ruled Thursday that the state properly imposed severance and ad valorem taxes on waste mine gas that Solvay reused to help fuel its soda ash processing plant. And in a separate opinion issued Friday, the court found that it can’t deduct the costs of bagging the soda ash from the taxable value of its bagged product.

Solvay mines trona—a mineral used to make glass, detergents, and other products—in Sweetwater County. From 2012 to ...