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Public comment starts on pit-to-pier project
By Allison Arthur, Leader Staff Writer
Today, Wednesday, Aug. 22, kicks off a 45-day
comment period to decide what issues should be
addressed in an environmental impact statement (EIS)
for the Fred Hill Materials pit-to-pier project.
Comments on Fred Hill Materials Inc.'s
pit-to-pier project are due at 4:30 p.m. Friday,
Oct. 5, and can be sent by email to
fhmpit2pier@co.jefferson.wa.us or in writing
to Michelle Farfan, FHM lead planner, Department
of Community Development, 621 Sheridan St., Port
Townsend, WA 98368. E-mail comments should
contain an address.
There is an open house and public meeting
Thursday, Sept. 27 at the Fort Worden State Park
Commons. The public can review information from
4 to 6 p.m. and then comment from 6 to 9 p.m.
Jefferson County's website also has information.
visit
www.co.jefferson.wa.us/commdevelopment/FHMhome.htm.
The project has been controversial since it was
first proposed with its application completed in
April 2003, but the comment period was not open
until today because mine officials and Jefferson
County were at odds over selecting a consultant
to do an EIS.
GeoEngineers Inc. of Redmond was contracted
earlier this summer to do the EIS for the
county, and Fred Hill Materials agreed in a
separate contract with the county to foot the
bills for that EIS.
Dan Baskins, FMH project manager and contract
consultant, said Monday it could cost $300,000
to $1.5 million to do the EIS, and it could take
six months to five years to complete.
FHM is proposing to build a four-mile conveyor
that originates at Shine Pit's southwest corner
and travels south through the Thorndyke Block,
then bridges the Thorndyke Road, crosses a
14.7-acre privately owned waterfront property
and terminates at the end of a proposed
1,000-foot pier on Hood Canal, according to a
legal notice on page C-8 of this issue.
The project is five miles south of the Hood
Canal Bridge, four miles southwest of Shine and
about 1.25 miles southwest of South Point
residences.
FHM has applied for a conditional-use permit, a
shoreline conditional use permit and a shoreline
substantial development permit. The county has
determined the project needs an EIS.
Scoping comments determine what should be
included and considered in the EIS, including
specific information, concerns, impacts,
alternatives and mitigation measures.
Anyone interested in the project - property
owners, state agencies, tribes and other members
of the public - is invited to comment on what
should be included in the EIS. The legal notice
lists about 33 documents and reports that cover
everything from marine habitat to archeology
resources, noise, site illumination and glare
analysis, transportation and aquifer recharge.
Jefferson County Department of Development
Director Al Scalf said last week that lead
planner Michelle Farfan has identified 425
people and groups interested.
One of the biggest groups likely to comment is
the Hood Canal Coalition, which boasts a
membership list of some 2,700.
"We have an objective to make the EIS process as
open as can be made," said John Fabian,
spokesman.
"No, I'm not looking forward to this process. I
think it will be enormously important. But I
wish this project didn't exist," Fabian said
yesterday.
While FHM had fought to have either the state
Department of Ecology or the state Department of
Natural Resources take the helm as lead agency
in charge of the EIS, Jefferson County secured
that honor.
Once the comment period ends Oct. 5,
GeoEngineers will prepare a draft EIS; once that
is released there will be another 45-day comment
period.
From there, the county will prepare a final EIS
that responds to comments contained in the draft
EIS.
In addition to county permits, FHM also needs to
obtain federal permits for the pier. Those
permits have a similar public process, Baskins
noted.
Approvals of any permit are subject to an appeal
process.
For example, the adequacy of the final EIS could
be appealed to a county hearing examiner, and
the examiner's decision could be appealed in
Superior Court. Shoreline permits can be
appealed to the state Shoreline Hearings Board,
and those decisions also can be appealed to
Superior Court.
The proposed operation has enough sand and
gravel to keep operations steady for more than
40 years. Reserves within what is known as the
Thorndyke Tree Farm could keep operations going
even longer. The pit-to-pier plan does not open
new areas to mining but allows a larger volume
to be shipped than is currently handled by
truck-and-trailer traffic.
"What we're proposing is nothing new; however,
it is very needed in the current market,"
Baskins said.
"Two thirds of the material will stay in the
Puget Sound market. Some will go to Portland and
Vancouver, and the rest we envision shipping to
California," Baskins said.
As for the 45-day comment process, Baskins said,
"This next step is straight forward. You sort
out the valid comments from 'You're ugly and
your mother dresses you funny.'"
(Contact Allison Arthur at
aarthur@ptleader.com.) |
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