PORT TOWNSEND — Hood Canal Coalition and six other environmental organizations have filed a lawsuit against Jefferson County and Fred Hill Materials Inc., asking a Superior Court to reverse a state growth board decision.
The Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board a month ago rejected a motion to reconsider its decision supporting Jefferson County commissioners’ action allowing a mineral overlay on land leased by Fred Hill Materials.
The site south of Shine is where Fred Hill proposes a “pit-to-pier” mining operation that would move gravel on a four-mile-long conveyor belt to a 990-foot pier proposed on Hood Canal.
At the heart of the legal battle is the so-called “action alternative” proposed by Fred Hill, and approved by the county commissioners.
The overlay was downsized to 690 acres in the commissioners’ decision, which includes no limit on mining size.
That means the size would be determined by the state Department of Natural Resources.
The “no action” alternative supported by the coalition and others opposing Fred Hill’s proposal did not designate an overlay relying on the county Unified Development Code’s requirements for mining and processing outside of the overlay.
