PORT ANGELES — Clallam County Pro Tem Hearing Examiner Lauren Erickson has confirmed a quarry on Olympic Hot Springs Road qualifies as an erosion hazard under county law.
The decision, made June 18, doesn’t prohibit the quarry from operating, but it does require its owners to develop a storm-water management plan to comply with the critical areas ordinance.
Owners of the 40-acre Little River Quarry don’t know if they will challenge the decision, appealing it to the Clallam County commissioners.
“We really haven’t decided,” said George Lane on Thursday. “We are surprised and disappointed by the decision the hearing examiner came to.”
Lane owns the quarry along with Mike Shaw.
Planners’ determination
Clallam County planners determined that the property constitutes an erosion hazard because it has slopes with a grade of at least 40 percent with soil.
Lane and Shaw challenged the erosion hazard designation because the soil is shallow and the slopes are made up of consolidated rock. Therefore, they said, the risk of erosion is minimal.
Engineers’ report
The appellants also submitted a report from ADA Engineering that disagreed with the county’s designation of the property as having “moderate, severe or very severe erosion hazard potential” because of the shallow soil.
In her written decision, Erickson upheld the county’s designation because the erosion hazard classification “provides no exemption for areas of consolidated rock with shallow soils at the surface.”
Erickson heard the owners’ appeal May 27. Hearing Examiner Chris Melly opted not to hear the appeal to avoid a potential conflict of interest since he had represented the county against Shaw before.
The quarry had operated without county approval under the Forest Practices Act for about a year until March 2008.
That month, the state Department of Natural Resources withdrew the quarry’s permit after an appeal from nearby residents.
The state found that the operation did not meet the requirements of the act because its primary purpose was to mine and sell rock rather than forestry.
Some neighbors have opposed the quarry on environmental grounds since it was proposed in 1998.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsula dailynews.com.
