PORT LUDLOW — A report by Iron Mountain Quarry Inc., which is proposing a new Shine Quarry to mine basalt near Port Ludlow, concludes that the project will have little or no noise pollution, although explosives will be used.
It will be tucked away, unseen from Port Ludlow’s highest viewpoints and won’t seriously upset natural habitat, including wetlands, or have the stormwater effects that concern residents, the report said.
The conclusions are drawn in a three-volume report, part of Iron Mountain’s proposal and application for a Jefferson County stormwater management permit and an expanded State Environmental Policy Act environmental checklist released last week.
“We spent, as you can see by the report, an awful lot of time on this,” said Iron Mountain Quarry owner Jim Burnett.
“We are wanting to have a very responsible project.”
Many Port Ludlow residents have voiced concerns over issues, including potential noise, dust, increased traffic and possible contamination of the local aquifer.
Burnett estimates the company has spent more than $500,000 on application work so far.
Burnett’s company is proposing to mine basalt on 142 acres of land leased from Pope Resources. The quarry would be located next to the existing 40-acre Shine Quarry, north of state Highway 104.
Burnett said that the plan was not to mine the land all at once, but to begin with a location about a quarter of the size of the total leased land.
It will take about 15 years before the company would move to the second phase of the project, Burnett said, explaining that the size of the lease was intended to allow mining well into the future.
County considering application
Attorney Brent Carson, a GordonDerr Attorneys at Law partner representing Iron Mountain Quarry, said Jefferson County has 28 days from last Thursday — or April 1 — to determine if the company’s application is complete.
Then the county must issue a 30-day formal notice opening a public comment period of 30 days.
Following the end of the public comment period, the county will have up to 90 days to make a determination on project’s permit and render an environmental determination.
Burnett said the company would not move hard rock that was mined by truck through the Port Ludlow community unless it was destined there for delivery.
Most rock would be hauled away by Highway 104, using the same entrance road the existing Shine Quarry uses.
Not seen, heard
A consultant firm contracted by Iron Mountain concluded that the project would not be seen or heard in Port Ludlow.
The consultants drove along the site to see if the Shine Quarry would be visible from any site in Port Ludlow.
“They went up into the upper areas in the golf course and upper homes in area to determine what views from that site,” Carson said, adding that four viewpoints were used in that area with global positioning systems and that photographs were taken.
“The new Shine Quarry site is not visible to nearly all properties because of varying topography and vegetation,” he said.
The noise study measured existing noise levels in the vicinity of the project, as well as noise levels from equipment used by Iron Mountain at its Granite Falls mine.
The conclusion drawn was that given the Shine Quarry project’s distance from Port Ludlow and the topography that all the noise was “below background noise, normally heard daily and currently.”
Burnett said the stormwater system is “very extensive.”
Wetlands
Each wetland in the area — as listed in the expanded state list — was examined for how it was hydrated and how to keep it so, and inventoried.
Using a 10-to-15-year time horizon in first phase, Carson said there would be no direct impact on wetlands in the vicinity of the project.
In the second phase, he said, about an acre would be directly affected, as top soil is removed for mining under wetlands.
In addition, just under 2 acres of wetland would be indirectly affected.
“As we get into the indirect effects, we can monitor if wetlands are getting wetter or are they getting dry,” Carson said.
He said about 3 acres of wetlands would be created on the project site to offset the wetlands affected.
Of the 55 acres to be mined, 20 are intertidal acres.
“The water that travels through our leased site — the mining site — heads south and enters property mentioned and out Squamish Harbor,” Carson said.
“We would basically take a portion of that and preserve it in perpetuity at headlands of Squamish Harbor,” he said.
“Pope has ownership of most of the land and found it to be a wonderful opportunity to preserve it,” Carson said, adding that Jefferson Land Trust may be contacted for the conservation easement.
The report concluded that the mine would have no serious effect on groundwater flow below bedrock that could infiltrate water wells adjacent to the mine.
Other findings of the study:
• Contamination from fueling would be contained on site.
• There is very limited blasting planned to mine hard rock, perhaps two times a month. Explosives would not be stored on site.
• The company would work away from two small streams that just touch southeast and southwest corners.
• Forested areas next to the site would prevent any negative effects on endangered or threatened species.
• After mining, habitat would be restored.
Iron Mountain and the county have gone to court twice over the proposed mine — when Jefferson County Superior Court Judge Craddock Verser issued a ruling in April, and in November 2008, when he ruled that the county hearing examiner was correct in giving the quarry permission to mine the land.
In Verser’s April ruling, he said that Iron Mountain would not need a conditional use permit to begin mining, but that it would need stormwater permits, a State Environmental Policy Act review, conditional use permits for noise and dust, sand and gravel surveys by the state Department of Ecology and clearance for mining use by the state Department of Natural Resources.
The company has created an online version of its report, which will soon be posted on the Jefferson County Web site at www.co.jefferson.wa.us/.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
