Click HERE to download a printable, PDF version of this notice.

The new hearing dates for the Grip Road Gravel Mine Special Use Permit and SEPA Appeal Hearing have been set. The County will send out formal Notice to all interested parties next Tuesday (8/2).  (The hearing was postponed at the last minute, from previous 7/11 – 7/12 dates, because the Hearing Examiner was ill.) 

Here are the new dates:  

Friday Aug 26th, 9:00am, in-person, at County Commissioners’ Hearing Room, 1800 Continental Place, Mount Vernon.   

Second day — Monday Aug 29^th — Location to be announced. 

Public testimony will only be allowed during the first day, and possibly the second day if enough people show up.  This part of the hearing is to consider if a Mining Special Use Permit should be approved.  After that, our appeal will be heard, and no public testimony will be allowed.   

We expect that these first two days will be ‘hybrid’ meetings with the option to testify virtually as well, but this will be confirmed in the County’s Notice.

Please plan on attending and testifying the first day, Friday Aug 26^th.  It’s okay to just come for half a day or even just an hour, if that is all the time you have.  But if you can only attend for a short time, it would be best to come in the morning and to sign-up to testify, or there should be instructions on how to sign- up in advance in the County’s public notice. 

It is most effective to testify in-person.  We have been waiting over six years for this.

This is your only chance to speak up!

We expect that the first two hours will be opening statements from the Hearing Examiner, County staff and attorneys for the various parties.  So, testimony may not start until 10:30 or 11:00.  Ideally, community members should attend for the opening statements, but the most important thing is to show up and speak, to let the Hearing Examiner know your concerns about this proposed mine. 

The guidance for public testimony and comments that we posted on our website previously are still the same.  We also expect that the County’s notice will state that written comments can be submitted up to the day before the hearing starts.  So written comments will only be accepted until 4:30 Thursday Aug 28^th.   Or they can be presented in person at the public hearing along with your oral testimony. Written comments can be submitted through the County’s Planning & Dev. Services website at:

https://www.skagitcounty.net/Departments/PlanningAndPermit/commentsform.htm

(At the web page above, scroll down to the electronic form near the bottom of the page.)

What happens after that:  The following dates are set aside for the hearing to continue as needed.  This part will only be virtual (no in-person option):  Friday, Sept 2nd; Thursday, Sept 8th; Friday, Sept 9th; Tuesday, Sept 13th.   The hearing is very likely to continue at least to the Sept. 2^nd date, if not longer.  This part of the hearing will be about Central Samish Valley Neighbors’ appeal of the County’s decision to issue a Mitigated Determination of NonSignificance (MDNS) under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA).  This is a formal legal proceeding, and the public can observe but not testify.

We will send out more information as the hearing date gets closer.  Thank you for your continued interest and support.  The legal costs continue to mount as this process gets drawn out.  So as before, we very much welcome donations.

Checks can be made out to:  CSVN/Linda Walsh, and mailed to Linda Walsh: 21710 Prairie Rd, Sedro Woolley, WA 98284

Or donate with credit card through GoFundMe:  https://www.gofundme.com/f/grip-road-gravel-pit-road-safety-environment-csvn

Public documents about this Mining Special Use Permit Application, including application materials and public comments on it, can be found at: https://skagitcounty.net/Departments/PlanningAndPermit/gravelmine.htm

Guidance on effective public testimony at hearing (click to download)

AND, specific guidance for if you’re interested in testifying about air pollution and climate impacts from the proposed mine (click to download)

Core community objections: We have lined up expert witnesses to testify at the appeal hearing. Below are links to reports we have submitted to the Hearing Examiner. These reports shed light on the problems with the mine development proposal and the information presented by Miles Sand & Gravel.   

• Review of Mine Developer’s Traffic Impact Analysis, Ross Tilghman (click for report)
• Review of Mine Developer’s Geo-Tech Report addressing unstable slopes in Swede Creek Gorge, Dan McShane (click for report)
• Review of Mine Developer’s Critical Areas Evaluations,  Matt Mahaffie (click for report)

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Update: Grip Road Gravel Mine Proposal Going to Hearing Examiner

The Public Hearing for the Mining Special Use Permit is now scheduled for July 11, and it may be continued on to July 12, if necessary. This hearing is very important – the County needs to hear from you!  Please plan on attending.  This will be the last opportunity to express your concerns about the mine.  The hearing will be before the Skagit County Hearing Examiner, and he will decide what kind of limitations to put on the mining activities and gravel trucking, based on information he hears from the County, the applicant (Miles Sand and Gravel) and us, the public! 

Please share this flyer with your friends and neighbors! 

If you care about the future of our rural community, the safety of our roads and the health of the Samish River environment, then please plan on attending.  This is an “open record hearing”, so it doesn’t matter if you haven’t written a letter or commented before, you can and should participate and make sure your concerns are heard. 

Click here for more information.

CSVN Appeals County’s Mitigated Determination of Nonsignificance! Click here for update

Dear Neighbors,

Did you know that the application for a 68-acre open pit gravel mine in our community is still active and moving forward?  This industrial scale mine is proposed by Miles Sand and Gravel/Concrete Nor’West (CNW) just 200 feet from the Samish River, between Grip and Prairie Roads.  A long private haul road crosses Swede Creek from the mine site and enters Grip Road near the top of the big hill above Prairie Road. This is a quiet rural area with substandard road infrastructure — no significant mining activity has ever occurred here before.

AS PROPOSED, THIS MINE WILL HAVE MAJOR IMPACTS ON OUR QUALITY OF LIFE, including: 

• Huge open pit mine just 200 feet from the Samish River more than 50 acres in size and 90 feet deep.
• An “average” of 46 tandem trucks per day for 25 years hauling gravel through our neighborhoods – with the possibility of up to 30 trucks per hour (1 truck can be rated to haul GVW of 105,000 lbs – more than 50 tons).
• No limitations on hours of mine operation or gravel hauling — potentially 24 hours a day / 7 days a week.
• Loaded tandem dump trucks entering Grip Road at the top of the big hill, and then continuing on to the blind intersection at Prairie Road, at a rate of a truck every 10 minutes or faster during peak operations.
• No improvements to County roads are proposed other than a blinking yellow warning light at the intersection of Grip and Prairie Roads.

SOME OF OUR CONCERNS:

• Traffic safety for private vehicles, school buses, commuters, pedestrians, children and bicyclists on our narrow winding roads – there simply is not room on these roads for this many huge trucks!
• Significantly slower commute times, traffic congestion, and vehicles stacked up behind slow moving trucks along the route, especially at intersections waiting for trucks to enter traffic.
• Noise, dust, vibrations from on-site mining operations and off-site trucking.
• Major degradation of our quality of life and a decline in property values.
• Damage to substandard County roads from the weight of so many trucks – who pays for this?
• Severe impact to wildlife habitat, the Samish River, and ground and surface water quality. The likelihood of on-site processing of gravel in the future & expansion of the mine to make it even bigger — CNW owns 700 contiguous undeveloped acres at the site.

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WHAT’S NEXT?

Central Samish Valley Neighbors (CSVN) continues to fight to get the County to follow state law, and its own codes and procedures, so that local people will have a say in the future of this community.  We don’t know how soon the County will move on processing the permit, but it could be soon.

We need to be prepared to respond quickly.  Once a notice of a Special Use Permit Hearing is issued, we may have as little as 14 days to comment and it will be critical to get a big turn out to the hearing.  So, in the next few months we will be holding meetings with community members to try to answer questions and help people get prepared for the next phase of this fight.

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YOU CAN HELP

• Attend a community meeting. Notifications will be posted on this website and Facebook page.
• Help us organize a meeting with your Homeowners’ Association, or other neighborhood group.
• Email us to get on our contact list — Spread the word to your friends & neighbors
• Give out copies of this flier.
• DONATE – we are all unpaid volunteers, but legal defense is critical and it comes with a price. Information on how to donate can be found here.

Public records, application documents and public comment letters related to the proposed gravel mine can be found @:                                                               https://skagitcounty.net/Departments/PlanningAndPermit/gravelmine/.htm

Community Gathering: Join Us for Conversation about Proposed Mine

You are invited to join us for an informal gathering and conversation about the proposed Grip Road Gravel Mine and the upcoming Public Hearing.  Do you have questions about the mine proposal, the Public Hearing, or Central Samish Valley Neighbors (CSVN)?

Please join us on Sunday August 21^st from 1:00 to 3:30pm at Linda and Bob Walsh’s, 21710 Prairie Road.

We will meet outside in the Walsh’s field next to the Samish River.  There is plenty of shade (and cover in case it rains).  We are not providing refreshments, but please feel free to bring your own. And, if it is easy, please bring a chair.

CSVN has been working for six years to get the County to pay attention to community concerns, and to protect public safety and the environment.  Many of you have been participating by writing letters and generously supporting this work, but we have not had much opportunity to get together and talk.  It is a complicated proposal and permitting process – we would love to share what we have learned and answer your questions. 

An RSVP isn’t required, but if you know you are coming, please do let us know by replying to this email, as it would help to know approximately how many people may show up.  We would also welcome your donations to our legal defense fund by cash or check.

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Whether you can join us on Sunday the 21^st or not, showing up and speaking up at the Hearing are more important!

Please attend the Public Hearing on Friday, August 26^th at 9:00am, at the County Commissioners Hearing Room, 1800 Continental Place, Mount Vernon.

[Information about how to attend the Public Hearing ‘virtually’ is located on the website of the Office of Land Use Hearings]

As many already know, the hearing on the Grip Road Gravel Mine was postponed at the last minute.  Many community members showed up on Monday, July 11^th, just to be sent home because the Hearing Examiner was ill.  We had worked hard to get the word out and a lot of people turned out for the hearing, but once again it has been delayed.

This also means the public comment period will be extended because it is customary to have the comment period open until the last business day before the hearing.  So, if you didn’t get written comments submitted, or want to submit more, there is this additional opportunity.

We are grateful to everyone who showed up for the hearing or tried to log on to it. We know it was frustrating to set aside the time and get ready for the hearing, just to have it cancelled.  It is essential that we maintain this momentum and stay engaged with the process, otherwise these delays just play into the applicant’s hand.  It is absolutely essential to show the County how concerned community members are about this proposal.  So, please stay tuned.  Lastly, more delays mean more costs in attorney time.  We are still significantly below our fundraising goal to see us through this drawn-out appeal process and welcome any contributions you can make.  Thank you for your continued attention and support. Please see below for more information on testifying at the hearing and submitting written comments.

This hearing will be the final opportunity for our community to express concerns about proposed gravel mine.

Guidance on how to testify at the public hearing (click to download)

Guidance on how to testify about the impacts of CO2 emissions from the proposed mine (click to download)

Grip Road Gravel Mine Proposal Going to Hearing Examiner

This hearing is very important – the County needs to hear from you!  Please plan on attending.  This will be the last opportunity to express your concerns about the mine.  The hearing will be before the Skagit County Hearing Examiner, and he will decide what kind of limitations to put on the mining activities and gravel trucking, based on information he hears from the County, the applicant (Miles Sand and Gravel) and us, the public! 

We need a big turnout to make sure our voices are heard!  If you care about the future of our rural community, the safety of our roads and the health of the Samish River environment, then please plan on attending.  This is an “open record hearing”, so it doesn’t matter if you haven’t written a letter or commented before, you can and should participate and make sure your concerns are heard.  Written comments will also be accepted (but not until the County announces the Special Use Permit Hearing).

Live public testimony is critical. Usually, public comments are limited to three minutes per person, so the best strategy is to plan on speaking and submitting written comments. 

As scheduled the County plans to use “remote” technologies for the Hearing. In other words, many participants will be ‘attending’ the Hearing through live-streaming video technology (via ‘Zoom’ or something similar). But tentatively it will be a ‘hybrid’ meeting, so in addition to the option of participating from home – by phone or computer – a County conference room will probably be made available, where members of the public can gather and give testimony.  As we understand it, this ‘in-person’ option will depend on restrictions related to Covid, and final arrangements will be announced some time prior to the hearing. We are going to continue to push for this so that community members who lack good technology options can still participate, and so that we can meet as a group to support each other in person.

In addition, as many of you know, Central Samish Valley Neighbors have appealed the County’s Mitigated Determination of Nonsignificance (MDNS) for this project. The July 11^th – 12^th Hearing will be a “consolidated” hearing. This means that immediately after the Special Use Permit portion of the hearing, on the same dates, the Appeal will be heard.  The appeal portion is a “closed record” hearing, so members of the public can listen, but not testify.

As part of the appeal, we are assembling expert witnesses and evidence to demonstrate that the County has not conducted adequate review of this permit under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA).  If the Hearing Examiner rules in our favor, he may remand the permit application back to the County and the applicant for further review, or he may place further conditions on the permit that require certain issues be addressed prior to allowing the mining to occur.  We know that this mining application is deeply flawed; however, proving this to the Hearing Examiner – who is a Seattle based attorney on contract to Skagit County and has little background with this long drawn-out land use battle – is a tough climb.  We are doing our best to assemble expert witnesses and we have great legal representation. At a minimum, we are confident that this work will result in better mitigation to limit the impact of this mine on our community and the environment. 

The preparation for the Special Use Permit and SEPA Appeal Hearing comes at a steep price. Despite some very generous write-offs by our attorney, we will need more funds to sustain this effort. We have worked hard over the last six years, and we have already succeeded in getting some significant concessions from the County.  Everyone in our group has dug deep into their own pockets to pay for legal defense and to hire our own “experts” to show that the applicant’s ‘studies’ are inadequate.  We know that many of you have given generously in the past, but if you are able to help us further, please know that your donations are being used carefully and strategically, and we are grateful for anything you can give.

Thank you for continuing to support this effort in any way you can.  Most importantly, please show up for the hearing on July 11^th!!

With gratitude,

Central Samish Valley Neighbors

Checks can be made out to: 

CSVN/Linda Walsh, and mailed to Linda Walsh: 21710 Prairie Rd, Sedro Woolley, WA 98284

Or donate with credit card through GoFundMe: 

https://www.gofundme.com/f/grip-road-gravel-pit-road-safety-environment-csvn

More info about CSVN can be found at: https://centralsamish.wordpress.com/

All public documents about this Mining Special Use Permit Application, including public comments on it, can be found at: https://skagitcounty.net/Departments/PlanningAndPermit/gravelmine.htm

Dear Friends,

Central Samish Valley Neighbors have appealed the Mitigated Determination of Nonsignificance (MDNS) recently issued by Skagit County on the proposed Grip Road Gravel Mine. We did not take this decision lightly, but it was unanimous among our working group, and all of our names are on the appeal.  The appeal was filed with the County on March 25^th.  Our intent is to finally make our case before the Skagit County Hearing Examiner that the County and the applicant, Miles Sand and Gravel, have failed to meet their legal obligations under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA).  SEPA requires that all impacts are disclosed and evaluated, and that appropriate mitigation is identified.  After six years, and hundreds of public comments, this still has not been done.  Instead, the applicant has stonewalled, manufactured delays and when finally pushed enough, they have submitted minimalist studies by hired consultants — studies that look good on paper, but lack substance and fail to address the impacts.

Without real mitigation, these impacts will have real consequences for all of us in the form of traffic accidents, infrastructure damage, and a decline in environmental health and quality of life.  It is the County’s responsibility to protect public safety and the natural environment – they are supposed to work for us – and they can do much better.  

All of us acknowledge the need for gravel and the right of the applicant to use their land.  However, it must be done responsibly to balance community needs against profit.  Make no mistake, the applicant stands to make a great deal of money from this proposed mine.    

Sometime in the next month or two, the County will announce a hearing for the appeal.  This hearing will likely be combined with a public hearing on the Mining Special Use Permit.  We have said all of this before, but this time it really is moving forward.  And, it will be very important for anyone who is concerned about this mining proposal to appear at the public hearing to comment on the Special Use Permit.

This appeal comes with significant cost in legal fees, along with the need to possibly hire our own “experts”.  Many of you have donated generously already, and we know there so much need in the world.  But if you are in a position to contribute more, we would be very grateful. 

Thank you for your ongoing support in whatever form it takes and please stay tuned.

Please comment on the proposed Grip Road Gravel Mine  Due by Friday, March 11, 2022!

Download editable MS Word comment letter if you commented on last year’s MDNS

Download editable MS Word comment letter if you didn’t comment last year, or if you did comment and want to start over

Download this Action Alert as PDF

Here we go again!  On Feb. 24, 2022, Skagit County rolled out a ‘new’ Mitigated Determination of Nonsignificance (MDNS) for Miles Sand and Gravel’s proposed Grip Road Gravel Mine.

The County issued this third MDNS after withdrawing the first two last year due to legal errors and information gaps. Unfortunately, after six years and hundreds of comment letters, this new ‘Threshold Determination’ under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) still ignores most community concerns and the County’s proposed mitigation remains woefully inadequate.

We are still faced with the prospect of a 50-acre open-pit mine adjacent to the Samish River that will eventually be ninety-feet deep. This mine would operate for at least 25 years, and cause significant impacts to the natural environment, our quality of life, and cause a dangerously high volume of gravel truck traffic on local roads, threatening public safety.

We cannot let the County continue to ignore our concerns!

It is more important than ever to send in comments (due March 11^th).  

On the following pages we summarize what is still missing from the new MDNS in more detail.  You can pick the issues that matter to you the most.  Please try to express your concerns in your own words. If you submitted comments last year on the 2021 MDNS, these will not be considered part of the official record on this new MDNS, but a simple option is to submit your letter again with a brief new cover letter.

The County needs to require a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). However, it is not enough to just ask for an EIS. To be most effective, comments need to be specific about what has not been adequately studied or mitigated.  

Please remember that emailed comments are not considered part of the official record!

To submit comments electronically go to:  www.skagitcounty.net/pdscomments & scroll down past “How to Make a Public Remark or Comment on Legislation” to “How to Comment on Permit Applications and Appeals”.  The form for submitting electronic comments is just below that heading.  

Be sure to reference File # PL16-0097

Comments can be mailed or hand delivered to Planning and Development Services, 1800 Continental Pl., Mt Vernon, WA 98273.  All comments but must be received (not postmarked) by 4:30pm March 11,2022.   

Background information on the New MDNS for Proposed Grip Road Mine

Outdated, confusing and conflicting application materials:  The new MDNS still largely relies on the old application materials, much of it dating back to 2016.  Many details are buried in these documents.  All application materials can be viewed on the County’s website at: https://www.skagitcounty.net/Departments/PlanningAndPermit/gravelmine.htm[1]

New reports but same old ‘do nothing’ approach:  The only new information that the County has recently required are two consultant prepared reports, submitted in December 2021, identifying and evaluating Critical Areas along the 2.2 mile long private haul road that traverses the applicant’s property. This requirement marked the first time the County has acknowledged the haul road as part of the project. These new reports reveal an ecologically rich landscape on the applicant’s property, including 36 wetlands and 21 seasonal streams within 300 feet of the haul road. In addition, the haul road crosses Swede Creek, a fish bearing stream, in a deep gorge that contains steep unstable slopes. Unfortunately, as we have reported previously, we found that these new reports used false assumptions to conclude there would be minimal impacts to these Critical Areas from the heavy industrial use of this haul road.[2]  It took over five years for the County to acknowledge the fact that the haul road is part of the project.  Yet now, in the new MDNS, they are concluding that no real mitigation is required despite a minimum of 11,000 gravel truck and trailer trips per year on the haul road.

What you can do:  Please submit written comments on the new MDNS on or before Friday March 11^th.  Any comments you have submitted previously will not be considered as part of the official record for the current MDNS.  If you commented on the 2021 MDNS, please consider re-submitting your comments with an updated cover letter.  

We will try to post some example comment letters on the CSVN WordPress website in a few days.   Key concerns are outlined on the following pages.

If the County continues to ignore the community’s concerns,

we will face the difficult decision of whether to appeal this MDNS.

Appeals are due by March 25th.  Sustaining this effort will require more money than we have. 

Information on how to donate is on the CSVN GoFundMe page: https://www.gofundme.com/f/grip-road-gravel-pit-road-safety-environment-csvn

Many thanks to all who have given, we can’t do this without you.

Consider These Concerns When Writing Your Comments on the 2/24/2022 MDNS

for the Grip Road Gravel Mine (Reference File # PL16-0097)

Many impacts still have not been fully evaluated.  SEPA requires that all significant impacts be disclosed and evaluated, and alternatives that reduce impact be considered.  This still has not been done. The MDNS must be withdrawn, and an Environmental Impact Statement must be required.  Note that many issues have not changed from last year’s MDNS comments.  Those that have changed are listed first and are noted with asterisks**.

Some of the Impacts to the Natural Environment:

• The impacts to wetlands and streams adjacent to the haul road have not been fully evaluated. (Changed from 2021 MDNS**) The applicant’s new Critical Area report for the haul road (“Impact Assessment and Mitigation Plan”, Northwest Environmental Services, Dec. 2021) revealed 36 wetlands and 21 seasonal streams within 300 feet of the haul road. One of the largest of these wetlands was identified as suitable habitat for the endangered Oregon spotted frog. Yet, this new report does not acknowledge the high intensity industrial use of the haul road. Instead, it downplays the difference between mining use and previous uses that involved an occasional forestry operation. The impact on these streams and wetlands from 11,000 trips per year by dump truck/trailer combinations weighing as much as forty tons each, has simply not been evaluated.  Impacts to the aquatic habitat include potential hydrocarbon pollution from road run-off, increased sedimentation and changes to surface water hydrology, as well as significant disturbance from constant noise and vibration and diesel exhaust.
• Impacts from haul road expansion and construction were ignored. (Changed from 2021 MDNS**)  The haul road was significantly expanded in 2018 for mining purposes without regulatory oversight by using a legal loophole. The new Critical Area report claims that any past impacts from road construction are not part of this project, even though this work was conducted two years after they submitted the mining application. These impacts were never acknowledged, causing ongoing habitat degradation. No corrective action and no mitigation for this construction activity has been required.
• The potential impact of heavy truck traffic on unstable slopes in the Swede Creek gorge has not been adequately addressed. (Changed from 2021 MDNS**)  The haul road crosses Swede Creek, a fish bearing stream, in a steep gorge.  Unstable slopes and existing road failure issues have been identified in the gorge. Road triggered landslides in these locations can have catastrophic effects on streams, delivering sudden huge debris and sediment loads to the creek. In response, the applicant submitted a new ‘Geo-Tech’ memo (Associated Earth Sciences, Dec. 16, 2021) that takes a cursory look at these issues without truly addressing them.  A more thorough evaluation by a qualified geologist that identifies appropriate remediation, as well as ongoing preventative management of the road’s drainage system is essential to avoid slope failure and protect the habitat in Swede Creek.
• The ongoing impact to the Samish River from a reduced buffer has still not been evaluated.  County Critical Areas Regulations call for a minimum of a 300-foot buffer between high intensity land uses and wetlands, rivers and streams. This is based on established science and WA Dept. of Ecology guidance. Industrial mining that completely denudes sixty-acres of forested habitat, and creates continuous disturbance with heavy equipment over decades, is unquestionably a high intensity land use. Yet the MDNS is allowing for a reduced 200-foot buffer from the river, without studying how this would affect fish and wildlife habitat, river hydrology or water quality.
• The Fish and Wildlife Assessment is out-of-date and incomplete. The limited Fish and Wildlife Assessment provided by the applicant is more than six-years-old.  Designated habitat for the Oregon Spotted Frog has been identified in the Samish River adjacent to the mine site; this animal is listed as “Endangered” in Washington State and “Threatened” federally.  In addition critical habitat for Bull Trout is located just downstream, Bull Trout is a “Candidate” species for listing in WA State, and is listed as “Threatened” federally. The MDNS does not mention these “ESA” species nor any protective measures necessary, nor the effect of reduced buffers. Furthermore, state and federal agencies responsible for protecting endangered species need to be consulted. 
• Wildlife corridors are not identified and protected. Cougar, bear and bobcat are known to use the site, and it is the last large tract of undeveloped land between Butler Hill to the south, the Samish River, and Anderson Mountain to the north. These animals require large territories and are sensitive to human disturbance.
• Emissions were not evaluated and no mitigation plan was required.  Air pollution from the mining equipment and hauling has not been evaluated, even though hauling the material involves a minimum of 240,000 cumulative miles per year driven by diesel gravel trucks. 
• Cumulative impacts were ignored.  This is a major industrial scale proposal that would create many cumulative impacts, both on-site and off-site.  No off-site impacts were evaluated. Twenty-five years of mine operation is not a “temporary” activity.  It will permanently change the character of the landscape and the surrounding neighborhoods, degrading wildlife habitat and fish bearing streams. To haul the amount of material proposed to the closest site for processing, requires driving diesel trucks more than 5,500,000 cumulative miles over the 25 year period.  A full EIS needs to evaluate all cumulative impacts.

Some of the Traffic, Road and Public Safety Issues that are still not addressed:   County government and the concerned public cannot evaluate the traffic safety impacts of the project and the adequacy of the MDNS without the following information:

• The maximum number of truck trips per hour, how often the number of trips may exceed the average trips per hour, and how long the number of trips may exceed that average.  The average of 46 trips per day or 4.6 trips per hour given in the MDNS is meaningless due to the seasonal nature of product demand.  The applicant’s October 8, 2020 Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA) proposes a maximum of 60 trips per hour (30 trucks in each direction).  The SEPA determination must evaluate the traffic safety impacts of the project based on this maximum and set hard limits on this number, frequency, and duration.  **Note: the new MDNS includes new “Mitigation Measure” (#13.vii.) regarding maximum daily truck trips, but it falls short of actually limiting the truck numbers.  Please see section below on “Proposed Mitigation Measures”.      

Traffic issues continued:

• A clear definition and map(s) of all haul routes, and the limitation of mine traffic strictly to the defined routes.
• Safety analysis of all haul route intersections and road segments to determine whether or not trucks traveling to and from the mine will stay within their lane of traffic, and the mitigation measures to be required for every location where they will not.  The TIA provides analysis showing that truck and trailer combinations cannot traverse the two sharp curves on Prairie Road east of Old Highway 99 without encroaching on the opposing lane of traffic.  The MDNS requires the applicant to take specific actions to mitigate this issue at this location.  The TIA acknowledges that the same issue of lane encroachment exists at several other locations on the haul route, but neither it nor the MDNS lists those locations, provides any analysis of the problems there, or sets out the mitigation measures required to correct them.  These locations include, among others, the S-curves on the Grip Road hill and practically all of the intersections on the haul route.  This is unacceptable.
• Projections for the increase in non-mine traffic on the haul routes over time and evaluation of the safety and road capacity impacts of mine traffic with increased non-mine traffic.  The TIA uses 2020 traffic levels to evaluate mine traffic impacts and does not factor in growth. 
• More thorough evaluation of the accident records for all road segments and intersections on the haul route, including the contributing causes for the accidents.  What are the implications for mine traffic safety?
• A full evaluation of what the warning beacon systems proposed for the Grip Road/Prairie Road and Grip Road/Mine Entrance intersections are intended to accomplish and how they will do so. Drivers are clearly ignoring the existing speed warning signs at Grip and Prairie.  How can they be expected to slow down adequately for the warning beacons?
• “Third party” sales at the mine would mean trucks traveling to and from the site via every route possible.  Disallow third party sales from the mine.
• Adding heavy mine traffic to our existing, substandard roads will cause increased damage to public infrastructure and higher maintenance costs.  These impacts must be evaluated and the applicant required to pay their proportional share of the costs. An important example is the slumping shoulder and roadway on the south side of the Grip Road hill S-curves, which have required frequent repairs over the last few years just with existing traffic levels. 
• Pedestrian and bicycle safety must be evaluated along the entire haul route. Skagit County’s Comprehensive Plan identifies Prairie and Grip Roads as a bike route and the section of Prairie Road between Grip Road and F&S Grade is part of U.S. Bike Route 87.  This is a particular concern in areas where there are no shoulders on Grip and Prairie, and where guardrails were recently installed on Prairie Road.  Necessary safety improvements must be required.

Proposed Mitigation Measures in the new MDNS:  The 2022 MDNS proposes some new “Mitigation Measures”.  Most of these simply state that the project must comply with existing laws and regulations. A few appear intended to address concerns expressed by the public, however they either lack specificity or have no clear monitoring or enforcement mechanism, and so they do not accomplish any real limitations on the mining and hauling activity.  

• Hours of Operation.  Mitigation Measure #2 limits hours of operation to 7am-5pm Monday-Friday, but it allows for extended hours if seasonal demand “indicates a need”.  It requires the applicant to request from the County a “temporary deviation” from these hours, and states that “such operations may be subject to additional conditions”.  While limiting standard hours of operation is an improvement, it does not state what conditions might be imposed under “extended hours” conditions, nor state any limitation on the duration or frequency of such extended hours, nor how the public would be consulted or notified. This mitigation measure lacks specificity and clarity.

• Number of Truck Trips.  Mitigation #13.vii states that the maximum daily truck traffic allowed is “limited to an average of 46 daily trips…not to exceed 30 trucks per hour under extended hours operations”. It then states that the applicant will “seek permission from Skagit County prior to generating the higher truck volumes.”  Unfortunately it is not clear how these ‘average’ truck trips will be calculated – on a daily basis, a weekly basis, a yearly basis, or__? It doesn’t state how such calculation will be accomplished, nor by whom.  Nor does it state what actions will be taken by the County to protect public safety should the applicant wish to run more trucks. This cuts out the affected public from any say in the matter; it doesn’t even require the public to be informed.  Firm safe limitations on numbers of daily truck trips must be imposed.

• Mitigation Measures need to be clear and specific and impose enforceable limitations.  This mine proposes to operate for 25 years without any additional permitting required.  Most of the mining activity will occur in areas inaccessible to public scrutiny.  Mitigation measures must be enforceable. There must be compliance monitoring to ensure that conditions intended to protect the natural environment are actually followed, and the applicant should be required to pay an annual fee to cover the cost of monitoring.  Given the long duration of these proposed mining operations, there needs to be a periodic permit review process every five years to ensure activities are in compliance with the original permit conditions.

What happens next:  After this new SEPA comment period we expect the County to issue a staff report that recommends conditions for approving the Mining Special Use Permit.  At that time they will also announce a date for a Public Hearing before Skagit County’s Hearing Examiner to consider the Special Use Permit, together with a public comment period on the permit criteria.  The Hearing Examiner will consider public testimony and submitted comments, and then issue a decision as to whether to approve the permit and what conditions to place on it.  If the County does not withdraw the MDNS, that decision must be appealed by March 25, 2022. If the Hearing Examiner approves the Mining Permit, that would be appealable as well.

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[1] To find the new MDNS on County website, scroll down to the link titled: Issued Mitigated Determination Of Nonsignificance SEPA MDNS + Checklist (2/24/2022))

[2] Re. the new Critical Area Reports on the Haul Road: see January 29, 2022 “Update” on CSVN WordPress website.

Last year Miles Sand and Gravel experienced some setbacks in the permitting process for their proposed 68-acre open-pit gravel mine next to the Samish River. Unfortunately, the delays in the review of this application for a Mining Special Use Permit are only temporary.  We expect the County to move forward with the environmental review again, and need to be prepared for another formal public comment period; this will probably be within the next few months.  Since the first “Notice of Application” nearly six years ago, there has always been uncertainty about what will happen next or when, but we continue to ask questions and pay attention.  The latest development is Miles’ submission of two more required reports which, as usual, are inadequate and are intended to disguise and minimize the impacts of this huge mine.

A bit of the backstory:  In April 2021 the County issued a new “Threshold Determination” under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA).  The decision was a “Mitigated Determination of Nonsignificance” (MDNS), meaning that, again, the County would not require an Environmental Impact Statement. The MDNS Notice triggered a legally required public comment period.  Many citizens submitted detailed comments at that time expressing their concerns about traffic safety and other environmental impacts that still had not been adequately evaluated. 

In May 2021, in response to public comments, the County formally withdrew the MDNS and required Miles to conduct an environmental review of their 2.2 mile long private haul road.  This haul road travels across their 700-acre property and connects the mine site to Grip Road.  This haul road is obviously an integral part of the project because it is how Miles would move millions of tons of raw material from the site. The County’s requirement for additional environmental review of the road was a big win – we had long argued that the haul road was part of the project and should have been evaluated from the start. Miles pretended there would be no change to the existing logging road, despite necessary upgrades and the significant impact there would be to wildlife habitat, wetlands and streams from constant use by hundreds of loaded gravel trucks for the foreseeable future.  Miles appealed the County’s decision to require Critical Areas review of the haul road, but in August 2021 the Hearing Examiner denied their appeal.  This was another big win. 

Miles submitted two new critical areas reports last December, three days before the County’s deadline. One report titled “Impact Assessment and Mitigation Plan for the Grip Road Gravel Mine” by NW Ecological Services (NES) identifies and evaluates impacts to streams and wetlands along the haul road. The other one is a “Geo-Tech Report” by Associated Earth Sciences that evaluates slope stability where the haul road crosses Swede Creek in a deep gorge.  We have reviewed these reports and found them inadequate on many fronts.  The NES report appropriately notes that the haul road crosses a fish bearing stream (Swede Creek) and identifies 36 wetlands and 21 seasonal streams within 300 feet of the haul road, but it claims that there would be essentially no new impact to these sensitive habitats from industrial use of the haul road.  It reaches these conclusions by making several false assumptions and then treating them as fact.  These assumptions include: 1) the claim that the road was “pre-existing”, so the impacts of road construction were in the past and not part of this new project. This is despite the fact that Miles massively improved the road in 2018 — two years after they submitted the application for the mining permit – and the road improvements were done without approval from the County.  At the time, Miles claimed they were just doing forest road maintenance, which is clearly false.  2) The NES report relies on a categorization of industrial mining as a “moderate intensity” land use, instead of “high intensity”.  This has allowed Miles to propose smaller buffer widths on the Samish River and on high quality wetlands adjacent to the haul road; both the Samish and these wetlands are sensitive habitat for many aquatic species, including the endangered Oregon Spotted Frog.  3) The NES report claims that there is a negligible difference between truck traffic required for occasional forestry use and that required for industrial mining.  How can hundreds of loaded gravel trucks a week be compared to an occasional timber harvest that occurs once every 30-50 years?  In addition, the NES report explicitly states that it is beyond its scope to evaluate the impact of stormwater run-off from the road, so the impact to water quality and increased flow from the change of use of the haul road has still not been addressed. 

Similarly, the Geo-Tech report ignores evidence of slope instability in the Swede Creek gorge that has been reported by tribal fisheries biologists and others.  The intensive use of the haul road by loaded gravel trucks through this gorge, without careful engineering and ongoing management of drainage through decades of use, could easily result in slope failure on the steep slopes in the gorge.  Slope failure has and does result in catastrophic damage to aquatic habitats. These risks and the recommendations for risk management are ignored in the new Geo-Tech report.

Even though there is no formal comment period open right now, we have submitted comments to the County regarding the problems with these latest Critical Areas reports, with the hope that County planners will not just accept the reports at face value (see letter to Skagit County Planning and Development Services).  

These most recent Critical Areas reports are just two more in a long list of application materials submitted for this project that are intended to meet the minimum requirements, but disguise the real impacts – it looks good on paper but lacks substance.  Similarly, we have repeatedly pointed out the fatal flaws in the traffic studies submitted by Miles, but unfortunately the County has not, to date, required further traffic impact analyses that truly address public safety.

So, after nearly six years, this project still stumbles forward, but letters to the County planners have been successful at getting them to pay more attention to the legitimate concerns of community members, so your involvement is really important.  Despite how frustrating the process is, we have to keep defending our rights to a safe and healthy environment.  If you have limited time and energy, the best way to get involved would be to wait until a new formal public comment period opens up, and then write another letter to the County.  So, please stay in touch and we will keep you posted.

If you would like to get more involved, we do have some specific needs such as website and computer tasks; please contact Martha Bray: [email protected].  And, of course, we have an ongoing need for donations to cover legal assistance; information on how to contribute to the CSVN legal fund can be found here.

Application documents and public comments for the Proposed Grip Road Gravel Mine can be viewed here:  skagitcounty.net/Departments/PlanningAndPermit/gravelmine.htm

Sometimes good news doesn’t get the attention it deserves because we’re all busy, and don’t need to respond to good news with urgent action. This is the case in relation to the developments with the proposed Grip Road Gravel Mine.  Nearly two months have flown by since the Hearing Examiner denied Miles Sand and Gravel’s most recent appeal on August 30^th 2021. This is a significant victory that deserves celebrating.  The only reason this happened is because County Planning and Development Services (PDS) received many comment letters from community members.  So never doubt that public comments make a difference – they do! Thank you!

Of course it isn’t over. We fully expect Miles to push forward with their proposal. Nonetheless, after more than five years, PDS is finally responding to public comments and requiring Miles to conduct additional Critical Areas Review of the project. This includes evaluation of the impact to streams and wetlands along their two-mile long private haul road. In denying the appeal, the Hearing Examiner agreed with the PDS’s determination that hauling millions of tons of gravel on the haul road represents a change of use from forestry that will have much greater impacts to the surrounding environment.  PDS sent a letter to Miles on September 2^nd, 2021 that served as formal notice of this requirement.  Miles has until December 28^th, 2021 to provide the completed Critical Areas review.

Unfortunately, PDS did not require any additional traffic impact analysis. This is despite the overwhelming concerns expressed by community members.  However, PDS withdrew their second Mitigated Determination of NonSignificance (MDNS) on May 11^th, 2021 (another victory!).  So, PDS will have to issue a new determination under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), and this will trigger another round of public comment.  Because of this, there will be opportunities in the future for community members to continue to make the case that running dozens of loaded gravel trucks a day on Grip and Prairie roads pose a serious safety risk to the public. 

We expect all of this to pick up again in early 2022.  So please stay tuned in, and thank you for continuing to care about the future of our community.

All of the documents discussed in this update can be viewed on the County website: skagitcounty.net/Departments/PlanningAndPermit/gravelmine.htm

In the last few weeks, both Skagit County Planning and Development Services (PDS) and Miles Sand and Gravel have taken significant actions on Miles’ Grip Road gravel mine special use permit application. 

In our last update in May, we noted that in response to comments submitted by the public and representatives of local Indian tribes and state agencies, PDS had withdrawn the mitigated determination of non-significance (MDNS) it issued for the proposed mine on April 25, 2021.   Subsequently, on June 17, PDS sent a letter to Miles requiring an assessment of critical areas associated with its internal mine haul road.  The letter cited PDS’ own critical areas site visit, which had determined “the likelihood of the presence of steep slopes, wetlands within 300 feet, and stream areas within 200 feet of the proposal.”  An attached map showed the locations of 18 wetlands, two streams, and one area of steep, unstable slopes associated with the mine haul road.

On June 24, Miles responded by submitting an appeal to the Hearing Examiner of PDS’ decision to require additional critical areas review.  The appeal argued that the Hearing Examiner should overturn the decision for the following reasons:

1. That since the Hearing Examiner had issued a decision on an earlier appeal by Miles that declared the mine special use permit application complete and ordered PDS to move ahead with processing the application, PDS could not require Miles to submit substantial new information, and
2. That Miles’ internal mine haul road is actually a “forest road” regulated by the state Department of Natural Resources under the Forest Practices Act and therefore exempt from county critical areas review. 

In response to Miles’ June 24 appeal, the Hearing Examiner issued a memorandum on July 6 stating that it appeared the issue could be resolved based on review of legal briefs submitted by the two parties, and set deadlines for submittals. 

On July 28, PDS submitted its response to the appeal, in which it argued the following:

1. That since Miles had already provided substantial new information to PDS (including a full traffic impact analysis) subsequent to the Hearing Examiner’s earlier decision declaring the application complete, Miles had essentially waived its right to proceed directly to a hearing on the merits of the application without additional information being required by PDS, and
2. That Miles use of its internal road system for hauling product from the mine constituted a clear change in use from a “forest road”, and
3. That the change of use to a mine haul road was by definition part of the proposed development and thus subject to critical area review requirements under county code. 

In its August 11 reply, Miles essentially repeated the arguments from its appeal.

So, as concerned community members, where does all this legal back and forth leave us?  As has so often been the case, that remains somewhat unclear at this point.  While we appreciate that PDS has belatedly gotten around to addressing at least some of the issues we have been demanding that they address for the last 5 ½ years, it is late in coming.  We keep asking why PDS didn’t just do its job in the first place and why we have had to essentially do it for them.  In the case of this appeal, however, we have no legal “standing”.  The Hearing Examiner denied our request to intervene in Miles’ previous appeal and at that time he basically said that the public can have its say when the project goes to hearing. 

The Hearing Examiner’s decision on this latest appeal is expected at the end of this month.  If the Hearing Examiner upholds Miles’ appeal, there are still several steps in the permit process.  A key one is that since the county has withdrawn both of its previous State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) threshold determinations, a new determination is still required.  The county could still require much more stringent mitigation requirements for both traffic safety and critical areas, or even require Miles to conduct a full environmental impact statement (EIS).  If the new threshold determination still doesn’t adequately address the impacts of the proposed mine, it can be appealed by community members.  And, of course, Miles can also appeal if they don’t like it.

Whatever happens with the current appeal and the SEPA threshold determination, the permit application will eventually go to a hearing on its merits.  If either CSVN or Miles appeals the new SEPA determination, the Hearing Examiner will hear the appeal at the same hearing as the permit application.  Under that scenario, CSVN will have the opportunity to present testimony and evidence from qualified expert witnesses during the SEPA appeal phase of the hearing if that happens; however, this can be quite costly. 

During the permit application phase of the hearing, anyone who wishes will have the right to comment for up to three minutes.  It will be extremely important for as many concerned local residents as possible to attend that hearing.  This may well be the crux of the process as far as getting the Hearing Examiner to listen to our concerns, but if he ignores public concerns and approves the permit without adequate environmental review and mitigation, we will have the opportunity to appeal the decision to the Board of County Commissioners.  If the Commissioners decide against us (and provided we can marshal the large amount of money needed to do so), we can then appeal to a higher body.

We will keep you posted as this unfolds.

The full appeal documents can be found at this county website:  https://skagitcounty.net/Departments/PlanningAndPermit/gravelmineappealPL210348.htm

All of the mine permit application documents can be found here:
https://skagitcounty.net/Departments/PlanningAndPermit/gravelmine.htm

Thank you for your informative May 30th article about local mining proposals by Kimberly Cauvel. We are lucky to have a good reporter here in Skagit who tracks these issues and makes the effort to accurately write about them.

We have been following the proposed gravel mine northwest of Sedro-Woolley near Grip Road since it was proposed over five years ago. The article reports that there are now fifteen recommended conditions on that permit, but at least ten of these conditions simply state that the applicant must comply with existing laws and regulations. The proposed mitigation falls far short of protecting public safety from increased truck traffic. This is despite hundreds of letters over the years from concerned residents. We have repeatedly asked the County, to no avail, to evaluate the maximum amount of daily truck traffic that would be generated by the mine, not the stated average of 46 trips per day. The demand for sand and gravel is seasonal, so ‘average’ in this usage is meaningless.

We know everyone needs gravel, but at what cost? The proposed Grip Road mine is simply out of scale with its location. This would be a 60 acre open pit mine located next to sensitive habitat on the Samish River in an area where no industrial scale mining has ever occurred. The material must be hauled, not on major arterials, but on narrow, steep, winding substandard rural roads.

After countless hours reviewing documents, raising money, asking questions, writing letters, we are still unsure where this permit is going. And the question is not really will the roads be safe, but how unsafe will they be with this additional truck traffic. Community members should not have to spend hundreds of hours and tens of thousands of dollars on their own experts to get public officials to listen and to apply common sense regulation.

Martha Bray
Sedro-Woolley

Published in the Skagit Valley Herald on June 9, 2021

Some good news for a change! After 50+ comment letters were submitted by community members, Skagit County Planning and Development Services (PDS) is having yet another look at the mine development application!

A legal notice was published in the newspaper Thursday withdrawing the Mitigated Determination of NonSignificance (MDNS) on the Grip Road Gravel Mine. It states:  “Notice is hereby given that on May 13, 2021, Skagit County PDS is withdrawing the SEPA MDNS issued on April 25, 2021. If a new threshold determination is issued, a new notice and comment period will be provided”. There is no explanation as to why, or what PDS plans to do next; in fact, no other new information is provided in the Notice. 

We have talked with the assistant director at PDS. He told us they plan to do additional Critical Areas review and then issue a new Threshold Determination under the State Environmental Policy Act. He pretty much told us that another MDNS would be issued in the future – meaning the application is still active and they are not planning to require a full EIS.  We asked if they plan to look into traffic issues further — he said ‘no’.  We expressed our surprise and concern regarding this, but could get no further explanation.  Nor could he provide any kind of timeline, but he expected it would be at least a month before a new threshold determination would be issued.

One might reasonably conclude from this Notice that the permit/application has been withdrawn, but this is not the case – unfortunately this is far from over, and we really don’t know what additional environmental review is forthcoming.  And, despite the overwhelming concern expressed by the public, it seems we have more work to do to get the County to take public safety and traffic issues seriously.

So, the good news is that the inadequate MDNS was withdrawn and there will be more opportunity for public input.  The County seems to be paying a little more attention now.   This is significant progress. And, we do not need to go through an expensive appeal process at this time.  Chalk one up for public involvement – your comments clearly made a difference! 

Thank you to everyone who has supported this effort.  Please stay tuned in!

Puyallup-based Miles Sand and Gravel is proposing a new gravel mine along the Samish River, accessed off of Grip Road in rural Skagit County.  As many of you know, this project has been in the works for over five-years, but it’s basically the same.  It would be a 60-acre open-pit mine eventually ninety-feet deep.  This mine would cause significant impacts to the natural environment including to water quality and fish and wildlife habitat, as well as to traffic, public safety and quality of life. 

The County says the project will not have a significant impact.  On April 15, 2021, they issued a “Mitigated Determination of NonSignificance” (MDNS) under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA).  Public comments are accepted until April 30^th.

They are proposing to haul raw material from the mine to another site for processing, stating that an “average” of 46 truck trips a day — five days a week — will travel down Grip Road and west on Prairie Road, for 25 years.  But behind the ‘average’ number, the traffic studies state that they may run as many as 30 truck & trailer combos or 70 single dump truck trips per hour. 

The County needs to require a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).  However, it is not enough to just ask for an EIS. To be most effective, comments need to be specific about what has not been adequately studied or mitigated.   

We have posted example letters (Example 1 – traffic safety emphasis, Example 2 – environmental and quality of life emphasis, Example 3 – public safety emphasis), with more to come.  On the following pages we describe what is missing from the MDNS in more detail.  You can pick the issues that matter the most to you and express your concerns in your own words.  Many details are buried in the application materials and are not mentioned in the MDNS project description.  All of the project documents, including the Notice of Withdrawn and Re-Issued MDNS, can be viewed at: https://www.skagitcounty.net/Departments/PlanningAndPermit/gravelmine.htm

Comments can be mailed or hand delivered to Planning and Development Services, 1800 Continental Place, Mount Vernon, WA 98273; but must be received by April 30^th. 

Email messages are not considered official comments!   

To submit comments electronically go to:   www.skagitcounty.net/pdscomments             

& use the form on that page for submitting comments.  Reference: File #’s PL16-0097 & PL16-0098

Grip Road Gravel Mine Environmental Concerns Not Addressed in the MDNS

The environmental review did not consider the full footprint of the project. The applicant owns more than 700 contiguous acres, however only the 60-acre mine site was included in the environmental review, even though industrial hauling will occur on the two-mile long private road that transects their larger ownership. The proposal will require more than 11,000 truck trips per year on this haul road. This private road has previously been used only for forestry. It is adjacent to wetlands and crosses Swede Creek, a fish bearing stream. These sensitive areas were not evaluated and no mitigation was proposed. 

The County is not following its own Critical Areas Ordinance (CAO).  Currently only a 200-foot buffer is recommended in the Fish and Wildlife Assessment, even though the CAO calls for 300-feet adjacent to high intensity land uses.  Industrial scale mining is definitely a high intensity land use.

The Fish and Wildlife Assessment is out-of-date and incomplete. The limited Fish and Wildlife Assessment provided by the applicant is more than five-years-old, and the river and associated wetlands have changed.  Designated habitat for the Oregon Spotted Frog has been identified in the Samish River adjacent to the mine site; this animal is listed as “Endangered” in Washington State and “Threatened” federally.  In addition critical habitat for Bull Trout is located just downstream, Bull Trout is a “Candidate” species for listing in WA State, and is listed as “Threatened” federally. The MDNS does not mention these “ESA” species nor any protective measures necessary. Furthermore, state and federal agencies responsible for protecting endangered species need to be consulted. 

Wetlands were not delineated, and there is no requirement for surveying and permanently marking them.  A full wetland delineation was never done.  Sensitive areas and buffers within the entire project area (not just the mine site itself) need to be identified so that operators and regulators know where they are.

Wildlife corridors are not identified and protected. Cougar, bear and bobcat are known to use the site, and it is the last large tract of undeveloped land between Butler Hill to the south, the Samish River and Anderson Mountain to the north. These animals require large territories and are sensitive to disturbance.

A drainage plan was not required to protect water quality from runoff on the private haul road.   Without a drainage plan that identifies treatment measures for runoff from the haul road, the high volume of truck traffic is likely to cause excess sedimentation and potentially contamination from petroleum products to pollute surface water flowing into Swede Creek, a fish bearing stream.

Impacts to groundwater are not adequately evaluated and protections measures are not required.  They intend to excavate the mine to within 10 feet of groundwater.  They claim that all runoff from the disturbed site will drain into the mine, and infiltration will protect the groundwater. But it is unclear how that ten-foot limit is determined, nor how they will avoid penetrating the water table.  No mention of seasonal fluctuation of the groundwater is discussed.  Furthermore, with the pervious nature of sand and gravel, it is unclear if ten feet is sufficient to filter out contaminants such as petroleum product spills. The groundwater at the site is essentially at the level of the Samish River and flowing directly into it, with potential to contaminate the river.      

The Noise and Vibration Study did not use realistic scenarios to model noise impacts.  The assumptions regarding the number and size of equipment that will be operated on the site are vague and misleading.  It modeled noise levels generated from “typical” and “average” mine production, not maximum noise levels.  The study did not address the significant noise fully loaded trucks will generate using compression brakes descending Grip Road Hill and the Swede Creek gorge on the private haul road.  Regardless of legal noise limits, all of this will be a major change to the soundscape for residents of the area that should be taken into account in a full EIS.

Emissions were not evaluated and no mitigation plan was required.  Air pollution from the mining equipment and hauling has not been evaluated, even though hauling the material involves a minimum of 240,000 cumulative miles per year driven by diesel gravel trucks. 

Cumulative impacts were ignored.  This is a major industrial scale proposal that would create many cumulative impacts, both on-site and off-site.  No off-site impacts were evaluated. Twenty-five years of mine operation is not a “temporary” activity.  It will permanently change the character of the landscape and the surrounding neighborhoods, degrading wildlife habitat and fish bearing streams. To haul the amount of material proposed to the closest site for processing, requires driving diesel trucks more than 5,500,000 cumulative miles over the 25 year period.  A full EIS needs to evaluate all cumulative impacts.

Grip Road Mine Traffic, Road and Public Safety Issues Not addressed in the MDNS:

County government and the concerned public cannot evaluate the traffic safety impacts of the project and the adequacy of the MDNS without the following information:

• The maximum number of truck trips per hour, how often the number of trips may exceed the average trips per hour, and how long the number of trips may exceed that average.  The average of 46 trips per day or 4.6 trips per hour given in the MDNS is meaningless due to the seasonal nature of product demand.  The applicant’s October 8, 2020 Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA) proposes a maximum of 60 trips per hour (30 trucks in each direction).  The SEPA determination must evaluate the traffic safety impacts of the project based on this maximum and set hard limits on this number, frequency, and duration 
• A clear definition and map(s) of all haul routes, and the limitation of mine traffic strictly to the defined routes.
• Safety analysis of all haul route intersections and road segments to determine whether or not trucks traveling to and from the mine will stay within their lane of traffic, and the mitigation measures to be required for every location where they will not.  The TIA provides analysis showing that truck and trailer combinations cannot traverse the two sharp curves on Prairie Road east of Old Highway 99 without encroaching on the opposing lane of traffic.  The MDNS requires the applicant to take specific actions to mitigate this issue at this location.  The TIA acknowledges that the same issue of lane encroachment exists at several other locations on the haul route, but neither it nor the MDNS lists those locations, provides any analysis of the problems there, or sets out the mitigation measures required to correct them.  These locations include, among others, the S-curves on the Grip Road hill and practically all of the intersections on the haul route.  This is unacceptable.
• Projections for the increase in non-mine traffic on the haul routes over time and evaluation of the safety and road capacity impacts of mine traffic with increased non-mine traffic.  The TIA uses 2020 traffic levels to evaluate mine traffic impacts and does not factor in growth. 
• Field studies to determine the speeds at which vehicles are currently traveling on the haul route and evaluation of how mine traffic will impact existing traffic given those speeds.
• More thorough evaluation of the accident records for all road segments and intersections on the haul route, including the contributing causes for the accidents.  What are the implications for mine traffic safety?
• Determinations as to the actual safe speeds for any given road segment or intersection on the haul route, along with recommendations for changes to legal speed limits where they are needed for safety.
• More detailed evaluation of sight distances at all intersections, including “Vision Clearance Triangle” drawings as shown in Skagit County Road Standards, 2000, Appendix C – 7.
• A full evaluation of what the warning beacon systems proposed for the Grip Road/Prairie Road and Grip Road/Mine Entrance intersections are intended to accomplish and how they will do so. Drivers are clearly ignoring the existing speed warning signs at Grip and Prairie.  How can they be expected to slow down adequately for the warning beacons?
• “Third party” sales at the mine would mean trucks traveling to and from the site via every route possible.  Disallow third party sales from the mine.
• Adding heavy mine traffic to our existing, substandard roads will cause increased damage to public infrastructure and higher maintenance costs.  These impacts must be evaluated and the applicant required to pay their proportional share of the costs. An important example is the slumping shoulder and roadway on the south side of the Grip Road hill S-curves, which have required frequent repairs over the last few years just with existing traffic levels. 
• Pedestrian and bicycle safety must be evaluated along the entire haul route. This is a particular concern in areas where there are no shoulders on Grip and Prairie, and where guardrails were recently installed on Prairie Road.  Necessary safety improvements must be required.

What happens next:

After this SEPA comment period we expect the County to issue a staff report that recommends conditions for approving the Mining Special Use Permit.  At that time they will also announce a date for a Public Hearing before Skagit County’s Hearing Examiner to consider the Special Use Permit, together with another public comment period.  This will likely take place in late May or June of this year.  We expect the hearing to be conducted by video conference due to COVID-19 restrictions.  The Hearing Examiner will consider public testimony and submitted comments, and then issue a decision whether to approve the permit and what conditions to place on it.

Depending on whether we feel our concerns have been adequately addressed, there are points along the way when community members who have submitted comments can appeal the County’s SEPA Determination (the MDNS), and later there is an opportunity to appeal the Hearing Examiner’s decision.  An appeal of the County’s MDNS must be submitted by May 14, 2021.