SHINE — Rising demand for gravel to pave the North Olympic Peninsula’s highways and byways has prompted Fred Hill Materials to propose moving into a new 20-acre extraction area at its Shine pit near Hood Canal.
The permit application before Jefferson County Department of Community Development expands the operation to 191.5 acres.
“We were running through material where the existing mining operation is at,” said Dan Baskins, Fred Hill Materials project manager.
“We want to continue to follow that vein toward the south.”
The 20-acre application, which was processed last week by Al Scalf, Jefferson County director of Community Development, now goes out for a public comment period of 14 days, which ends Aug. 30.
“Jefferson County anticipates issuing a determination of nonsignificance [no significant environmental impacts] for this proposal,” said Scalf in a letter to the Fred Hill proposal’s reviewers, including the state Department of Ecology and state Department of Natural Resources.
Third expansion since 2000
This is the company’s third gravel-mining expansion since 2000. The last two were for 10 acres each.
The 20-acre expansion was necessary so the company could state its future plans, said Baskins, making its the environmental review as complete as possible.
“The irony is that we would be mining in the middle of a tree farm, out of sight, out of mind, if we did not have fictitious concerns brought forth by our loyal opposition,” he said, referring to the Hood Canal Coalition, which has opposed Fred Hill’s proposed pit-to-pier project.
“Such opposition costs the taxpayers money, not only in process, but in cost of materials.
“Seventy percent of our work is state and local work.”
The Hood Canal Coalition has not opposed routine gravel mining operations, although neighbors have complained about noise at night.
The 20-acre proposal has nothing to do with Fred Hill’s pit-to-pier project, said Doug Weese, Fred Hill director of communications.