PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson County has approved a stormwater permit for a temporary 10-acre expansion of Fred Hill Materials’ Shine Hub sand and gravel extraction area.
A representative of the Hood Canal Coalition, which is adamantly opposed the company’s proposed pit-to-pier project, said the regional environmental group accepts the county’s decision.
“We’re not going to appeal this,” said Shine resident and coalition leader John Fabian.
“We’re not opposed to gravel mining. We’re opposed to the industrializing of Hood Canal and strip mining operations.”
The coalition has long fought Fred Hill Material’s pit-to-pier project, which proposes building a four-mile-long conveyor belt from the Shine Pit to a 950-foot pier extending into Squamish Harbor at Hood Canal.
As proposed, barges would be loaded with gravel from the pier.