Issues permits to construct new dock

The US Army Corps of Engineers today issued the last permits needed to reconstruct a dock for loading barges with sand and gravel for transport from an existing mine on Maury Island.

"This adds to a long series of findings and permits that clearly indicate our project can proceed while protecting the environment," said Mark Leatham, general manager of Glacier Northwest's Washington operations. "It once again shows that the regulatory agencies and the courts have concluded that we have met or surpassed environmental protection requirements for rebuilding a new dock and resuming mining at our Maury Island site."

The proposal to resume mining and replace the dock at Glacier's existing Maury Island mine has been reviewed by local, state and federal regulatory agencies in more depth for a longer time than any similar project in the state. It has been approved at each step in this long, complex and stringent environmental review and permitting process. Legal reviews by the Shorelines Hearings Board and the state Court of Appeals also determined unanimously that the project could proceed. The Washington State Supreme Court denied without comment an appeal of the lower court decisions, in essence upholding their prior rulings.

All of the environmental, land use and building permits needed to construct the dock have been issued. Material from the island will be used to replace material that in the recent past has been imported from Canada by barge or from other locations by truck. Leatham said, "Barging will be much more efficient, because one typical barge hauls as much material as 186 truck and trailer loads."

King County has issued Shoreline Substantial Development and Shoreline Conditional Use permits and a Building Permit; the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife has issued a Hydraulic Project Approval; the Washington Department of Ecology has issued Coastal Zone Management Consistency Determination and Water Quality Certificate; the Corps of Engineers has now issued a Section 10 permit under the Rivers and Harbors Act and a Section 404 Permit under the Clean Water Act that allows dock construction. The Corps permits were issued after concurrence letters from the US Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service that the project is not likely to adversely affect threatened or endangered species and designated critical habitat.

"For more than 10 years local, state and federal agencies and the courts have weighed the scientific studies, the evidence and the arguments for and against our proposal," Leatham said. "These reviews have considered local, state and federal environmental protection and growth management laws. In every instance the regulatory agencies and the courts have determined that the project can proceed, and that the environment will be protected."

For more than 40 years King County has maintained zoning for the Maury Island site that allows it to be mined. As part of complying with the Growth Management Act, King County also designated the site as a mineral resource of long term commercial significance.

Glacier Northwest now must obtain a lease of state tidelands from the Washington Department of Natural Resources where a portion of the new dock will be located.