A “pit-to-pier” project in King County is drawing interest from proponents and opponents of a plan to build a similar operation in eastern Jefferson County.
As usual, Dan Baskins, project manager for Fred Hill Materials’ proposed gravel loading dock in the Shine area, and John Fabian, a leader of the opposition group, have differing views of a recent decision by the state Shorelines Hearings Board.
That board ruled that a barge-loading dock in King County was “water-dependent” after King County had denied to permits for the project.
Gravel from Maury Island will be used to build the third runway at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, a project that carries its own controversy among surrounding neighbors of the airport.
Glacier Northwest plans to extract the gravel from a 235-acre pit on the island adjacent to Vashon Island in Puget Sound.
“The decision by the Shorelines Hearing Board is not good news,” Fabian wrote in a Thursday e-mail to other members of the Hood Canal Coalition after the ruling was issued.
Fabian predicted that Fred Hill Materials and Jefferson County “will make much of it and try to use it as leverage as they try to get the pit-to-pier project approved.”
Baskins on Monday said the ruling wouldn’t affect the project he is spearheading.
“It’s a different set of circumstances and law,” Baskins said.
