EVERETT — The Snohomish County Council decided Monday to revoke permission for nighttime loading and trucking for Green Mountain Mine.
In a unanimous vote, the five-member council overturned a September decision by County Hearing Examiner Peter Camp.
Camp’s ruling allowed the Granite Falls quarry, operated by Aggregates West, to load and haul material between 8 p.m. and 3 a.m. until Jan. 1 for the Boeing 777X construction project at Paine Field. The company’s permit with the county normally limits operations to 7 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.
Green Mountain Mine is providing rock, sand and gravel for Boeing’s new wing-fabrication plant in Everett, and Aggregates West requested extended hours to keep up with construction.
The Mountain Loop Conservancy, an environmental group, filed an appeal of the hearing examiner’s decision and presented its case to the County Council on Nov. 5.
Aggregates West did not follow proper procedures for changing the permit, conservancy attorney David Bricklin argued. Environmental impact also should have been studied, and the hearing examiner lacked adequate evidence to call the Boeing project an “unusual and justifying circumstance,” which is required to relax the mine’s operating restrictions, Bricklin said.
After several executive sessions and a brief public deliberation, the council ruled in favor of the conservancy.
“After hearing arguments and looking at the record, I feel that county code is quite clear,” council Chairman Dave Somers said.
Aggregates West did not go through a full application process to amend the hours on the county permit, which raised questions about public notice and due process, Somers said.
“I feel the hearing examiner really went outside the process our code specifies,” he said.
Councilman Ken Klein wasn’t as concerned with process as with the “unusual and justifying circumstances” requirement. Aggregates West didn’t show that the Boeing 777X project met that definition.
“The code is open for interpretation,” Klein said. “For me, the biggest thing is there’s nothing in the record from Boeing.”
A written version of the decision will be before the council next week for final approval.
Green Mountain Mine has not needed nighttime hours so far, Aggregates West general manager Chris Hatch said, so the decision won’t change anything right away. He’s concerned, however, about the next few months as work speeds up at the Boeing plant.
“Whether it has an impact moving forward, time will tell,” he said.
No new employees had been hired to work nighttime hours, so it won’t affect present jobs, Hatch said. But people had applied for the potential overnight shifts, he said, and now there are no such shifts to hire for.
Hatch thinks the county’s code is open to interpretation. The mine’s permit provides for a relaxation of hours, if allowed by the approving authority, in this case the hearing examiner, he said. Aggregates West wasn’t trying to shortcut the system.
“I’m not sure I agree with at least one council member’s conclusion as to process,” Hatch said. “At the end of the day, it probably comes down to if you’re in favor of the project or not. But we will evaluate the situation and determine how to proceed from here.”
Kari Bray: kbray@heraldnet.com; 425-339-3439.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
