Capt. Reid Tanaka, commanding officer of the Bangor submarine base, said the
Navy is concerned about the project’s impacts, and that heavy industry or
large vessel traffic on Hood Canal “could have a direct negative impact on
operational flexibility and could pose a greater risk to security.”

As proposed, the project would mine gravel from Fred Hill’s existing pit near
Shine and move it on a 4-mile-long conveyor belt to Thorndyke Bay on Hood
Canal. At a 1,000-foot-long pier five miles south of the Hood Canal Bridge,
gravel would be loaded onto barges and oceangoing ships. Approximately 2
million tons of sand and gravel would be transported from the site the first
year, gradually increasing to 7.5 million tons.

The loading pier site is about five miles north of the Bangor base, and
submarines and other naval vessels would pass directly in front of it while
traveling between Bangor and the Hood Canal Bridge.

Tanaka addressed his concerns to Jefferson County planning officials, who
are gathering data for an Environmental Impact Statement about the project.
In his letter, Tanaka raises some of the same environmental issues raised by
others: that the delicate state of Hood Canal’s ecology means small
environmental infractions are magnified in impact and that the possibility
of oil spills “is a very real and common risk.”

But beyond that, he cited problems from the project that could hinder the
Navy’s unique mission and operations at the Bangor base. Specifically, he
noted that:

There is a “risk to safe transit” because large submarines, tugs and barges
all are restricted in their ability to maneuver easily in Hood Canal’s
narrow channel.

To meet security needs, each submarine and Navy warship underway is
surrounded by a buffer area ― a Naval Vessel Exclusion Zone. Tanaka said
that to prevent violations of the security buffer in the narrow canal, barge
traffic may be required to temporarily cease operations or even reverse
course when a Navy vessel is transiting Hood Canal. But also for security
purposes, submarine movements are made public only a few hours in advance,
meaning “flexibility and responsiveness” would be needed from barge traffic.

Because acoustic capabilities are a core component of submarine operations,
in the “acoustic calm of Hood Canal, the Navy is continuously passively
monitoring (listening)” said Tanaka. But a significant increase in large
vessel traffic would hinder those operations.

Lastly, the Navy conducts a variety of “mission essential operations” in
Hood Canal, and both construction of a long loading pier and the shipping
traffic it would bring could pose a challenges to those operations. Most
likely, those operations are classified information — making it more
difficult for the loading pier and shipping traffic to comply with the
Navy’s needs.

Fred Hill Materials spokesman Dan Baskins said he’s familiar with the
concerns, that the firm has been meeting with the Navy since 1999, and that
he believes they can be adequately addressed.

Regardless, as Tanaka’s letter to Jefferson County officials points out, the
Navy’s security concerns still remain to be resolved. Unless they are, they
have the potential to overshadow all other issues, including those of
environmentalists and of Fred Hill Materials.