SHINE — Fred Hill Materials has sold part of its Shine Pit operation to Auburn-based Miles Sand and Gravel Co., and laid off 18 workers.
The divestiture sale allows Fred Hill to maintain its rights and leases for future mining and marine delivery of gravel though a proposed pit-to-pier project, said Alex Hill, owner of the family business.
He did not know if the 18 people who lost their jobs would be hired by Miles Sand and Gravel.
Fred Hill Materials still employs more than 100 people, about 40 percent of whom live on the Olympic Peninsula.
“This divestiture sale strengthens our company during a particularly tough economy for those of us in construction,” Hill said.
“We’ve consolidated our assets, saved jobs overall and enhanced future growth opportunities.
“With this sale, Fred Hill Materials remains a strong company and strong union employer.”
Fred Hill’s Poulsbo, Bremerton, Port Townsend and Sequim batch plants will continue to receive material from Shine Pit to produce and deliver concrete to residential, commercial and military customers throughout Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas, Hill said.
“The unfortunate reality is that the layoffs could have been much worse, as one can see from the daily headlines across the country,” Hill said.
Miles Sand and Gravel took over the truck-based sand and gravel mining portion at Shine Pit today, the same date the Hood Canal Bridge was closed for six weeks for replacement of its east side.
Fred Hill Materials maintains its rights and leases for future mining and marine delivery related to the proposed pit-to-pier project, Hill said.
The project would run gravel on a 4-mile-long conveyor belt from the company’s Shine gravel pit to a 1,000-foot dock, where gravel would be loaded onto barges for delivery.
Although visiting Kitsap County Superior Court judge has ruled in favor of a decision that allows Fred Hill Materials to expand gravel mining gravel at the site south of state Highway 104, petitioners including the Hood Canal Coalition have challenged the ruling in the state Appeals Court.
Kitsap Judge Anna Laurie affirmed a 2004 Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board finding that a Jefferson County-approved 690-acre mineral resource land overlay for Fred Hill Materials complies with the state Growth Management Act.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
