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By Herald Staff
About eight months ago, the Herald spoke up
on an issue that it quickly took heat for.
This paper came out against Fred Hill
Materials’ Pit-To-Pier project in July
because it felt, despite promises to the
contrary, the local company could never give
the total assurance that an environmental
disaster would not occur there.
We also questioned impacts on the Hood Canal
Bridge and marine life.
Pretty much immediately, FHM officials were
on the horn and wanting to explain their
side of things. They did this during a few
occasions since the summer and while they’ve
done an excellent job educating the public
about the project, there are still no
environmental guarantees.
When we first questioned the plan, we were
chastised by officials at Fred Hill for
siding with the “special interest” Hood
Canal Coalition. The
HCC,
they said, uses the July 26, 2003 editorial
in its opposition movement. At that time,
the Herald was the only paper against the
project, they pointed out.
We still may be.
Even so, others are also unsettled by the
proposal. Last week, despite assurances from
the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribal Chair that
the group did its homework and did not come
to take its stand against the project on a
whim, the tribe’s position was down-played
by a FHM spokesman who said the group had
“rattled off” its concerns.
The risks are too great, the chairman
stated. We agree. Just because
barge-to-bridge collisions are rare doesn’t
mean they still don’t happen.
Certainly, the tribe may not have been
“fully briefed” as the spokesman asserted
but — in light of the recent catastrophe at
Indianola — should it not still be
concerned? While the tragedy of the oil
spill near Edmonds was bad enough, having
the slick slip across the Sound only to wash
up on our pristine shores raised serious
questions locally. If an accident that far
away can wreak so much havoc, what impact
would one in our own backyard have?
Hopefully, we’ll never find out.
Fred Hill Materials officials can make all
the promises they want to, run tests from
here till sunset, build state-of-the-art
facilities and take all the environmental
precautions known to mankind but they can’t
plan for the human element of errors. No one
can.
Given this, officials there should continue
their admirable efforts to educate the
public but they shouldn’t feel the need to
criticize those who are concerned and
question their project.
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