Kitsap-Sun Editorial of June 2, 2006

Industrialization Has Potential Environmental Perils for Canal

June 2, 2006

Hood Canal’s ecological balance has tipped into the danger zone with low-oxygen levels that have killed tens of thousands of fish and other marine life.

At the same time, a number of industrial projects reportedly are being considered for the environmentally fragile waterway.

Understandably, this potential collision of economic and environmental interests that has raised some eyebrows — and concerns.

On Wednesday, the Kitsap County Association of Realtors announced its opposition to what it calls the "industrialization" of Hood Canal. The group, representing more than 1,500 real estate professionals, formed its opinion after studying the proposed Fred Hill Materials pit-to-pier project.

More than four years ago, Fred Hill Materials announced plans to build a 4-mile-long conveyor belt to move gravel from its Shine pit in Jefferson County to Thorndyke Bay on Hood Canal, where it could be loaded onto barges or ships from an 1,100-foot-long pier.

Mike Eliason, executive officer for the Realtors association, said his although his group is not opposed to gravel mining, it feels the pit-to-pier project suggests a scale of operation beyond what is advisable for Hood Canal. He said heavy barges and ships possibly could collide with the Hood Canal Bridge, causing an extended closure of the structure.

But he also said the Realtors’ concerns transcend the Fred Hill project which, if approved, could "open the door" for other industrial projects in Hood Canal. He said the group’s members are aware of other Hood Canal industrial projects being considered in Kitsap, Mason and Jefferson counties.

Collectively, these raise concerns about introducing invasive plant species into Hood Canal, increasing marine traffic and interfering with transportation corridors like the bridge, and decreasing property values and quality of life through noise, pollution and unsightly industrial equipment in a "pristine environment."

Additional marine traffic also would increase the likelihood of invasive marine animal life. Last week, we reported the state and tribal officials’ efforts to remove an infestation of Asian sea squirts from Hood Canal and Puget Sound. In Canada, the four-inch-long creatures have displaced local marine life, smothering beds of mussels and oysters.

Fred Hill Materials spokesman Dan Baskins said the company has employed a team of biologists, geologists and engineers to study and help safeguard sensitive environmental issues. He also said that like the Realtors, Hill is opposed to the industrialization of Hood Canal. This summer, an environmental review of the pit-to-pier project will begin in Jefferson County.

Our editorial board has taken no "pro" or "con" position on the project, and likely won’t until adequate information is developed through the environmental review process.

However, we share the Realtors’ general concerns about more extensive industrial operations on Hood Canal. Despite several years of fish kills, the specific causes of Hood Canal’s deadly low-oxygen levels have yet to be specifically identified and prioritized. Potentially, introducing more factors into the canal’s environment through industrial operations could bring additional problems in need of solutions.

We also commend the Realtors’ holistic approach to the canal’s health, which encompasses a waterway with shorelines governed by a variety of state, local and tribal entities.

To a degree, many of these concerns are speculative. But it is far better to raise them now, rather than in a hindsight with tragic consequences for a unique marine environment we all cherish.