Canal in Peril

While much has been written about current threats to Hood Canal, including pollution and low oxygen levels, the greatest threat is still on the horizon; yet very real.

 This pristine body of water and its surroundings are in danger of industrialization and commercial shipping that could forever alter the tenuous ecological balance of the canal.

 Fred Hill Materials, a sand and gravel company, plans to build a 4-mile long conveyor belt leading to a 9-story tall, 1100-foot long pier and 900-foot moorage just north of Thorndyke Bay.

 Here, barges carrying 5,000 to 20,000 tons would be filled with gravel.  The largest of these barges are bigger than any operating in Puget Sound today - approximately a full acre in size.  That’s the size of an entire football field, including the end zones.

 Yet, that is just the beginning.  In a few years, 60,000 ton ore ships - the size of  NATO aircraft carriers - would begin to enter the canal for gravel loading at the pier. 

 

The Fred Hill Materials 60,000 ton ore ships will be nearly the size of this Navy supply ship.

 

Ships and barges will bring all of the pollution and contamination concerns common to every harbor in the world - oil, diesel and gravel spills, 24/7 noise, dust, carcinogenic diesel exhaust, and invasive species carried on international and interstate ships and barges. All could threaten the future of the canal and set a dangerous precedent for future development.

 In the upland area, wetlands, lakes and streams form the natural habitat and spawning grounds for countless species.  The shoreline is designated as a “Shoreline of Statewide Significance” and as “Conservancy” in the Jefferson County Shoreline Master Program.  The pier site is rich with sand dollar beds, geoducks, clams, and other shellfish.  There are salmon runs and eelgrass beds along the beach.  It is also home to eagles, herons, osprey, hawks and other wildlife.  The public’s interest is wide and must be carefully protected.

Many local and regional citizens have joined in opposition to this "Pit-to-Pier" project.  The leading organization is the Hood Canal Coalition which has over 2300 individual members.  Also involved in the opposition are 55 environmental, community, political, business, and sporting organizations.

The project is opposed by Senator Maria Cantwell, Congressman Norm Dicks; the Port Gamble and Jamestown S’Klallam Tribes; the Kitsap, Jefferson, and Clallam County Democrats; and the Jefferson County Green Party.

Unfortunately, the three former Jefferson County Commissioners approved a 690-acre mining district where the gravel would be strip mined.  When two of this terrible trio ran for reelection, they were soundly defeated.  The winning candidates were both endorsed by the Sierra Club and both oppose the pit to pier project!

The ultimate decision on the Pit-to-Pier project will affect every citizen of Washington. As a result, the Hood Canal Coalition through many of its partner organizations, like Sierra Club, is expanding the scope of its outreach efforts.  Decision makers in Olympia and Washington DC need to sense that the citizens of our state do not support, and will not welcome, this massive destruction of one our most precious natural wonders.

You can help stop the destruction of Hood Canal. Call Governor Gregoire today and ask her to put the full force of state government behind our efforts to defend Hood Canal and its watershed.  Tell her that massive strip mining and industrial ports should never be permitted on or near this gift of nature.  Call her office at 360-902-4111

Interested members can find more descriptive material at www.hoodcanalcoalition.org.

 To get involved with our newly formed Hood Canal Group, please contact Becky Stanley, beckett@nwlink.com or (206) 721-3890.