The operators of the Yacolt Mountain Mine have filed an appeal on restrictions stemming from a recent expansion of a mining overlay on their property, alleging that though they signed a covenant preventing mining on the expansion for 10 years it didn’t mean they couldn’t apply to do so before time was up.
Based on an appeal dated May 29, JL Storedahl and Sons and Storedahl Properties LLC are pushing back on a rejection of expanding mine operations onto 107 acres owned by the latter group and operated by the former. In December the mine received approval to expand a surface mining overlay on county planning maps onto the land in question, though at that time the land was to be used for storage of dirt from current operations, not mining.
The Storedahl appeal argues that nothing they agreed to prevented them to submit an application for mining on the expansion, only that they couldn’t actually mine on it for the agreed-upon 10 years.
Storedahl argued that by limiting any mining for 10 years the county “impliedly agreed to accept a mining application” prior to the limitation given the work that would be required to get application approval. The appeal said that with the restriction the effective prohibition would be an “11, 12- or 13-year” one.
The appeal argued that other provisions of county code would allow for the application, calling the May Pre-Application Final Report preventing them from applying “arbitrary and capricious.”
Resident response
The appeal has caught the attention of a group which formed due to concerns of surrounding residents. East Fork Community Coalition President Dick Leeuwenburg said he attended the pre-application conference where the county denied the potential for moving forward on mining expansion, expecting Storedahl to appeal the decision after the county gave their say.
Leeuwenburg felt that testimony given by Storedahl during the hearings on expanding the mining map implied that any expansion of mining itself would be as long as, or farther off than, the 10-year freeze on operations in the new area. A previous estimate given by Bo Storedahl, who has represented the family business during the process, was that with the current amount of truck trips allowed it would take 30 years to exhaust the current mine.
Leeuwenburg feared that should Storedahl prevail and be able to submit mining applications sooner rather than later the approval could result in “grandfathering” of current regulations for at least 10 years in the future, superseding developments in county growth management plan updates or new state regulations that could come about in that time.
“A lot can happen in 10-plus years,” Leeuwenburg remarked. He said that once approved “There’s no mechanism for reopening the conditional use permit to take into account … whatever happens.”
Leeuwenburg felt that the 10-year covenant itself was more public relations than substantive to keep mining operation expansion at bay, though the county’s denial has changed that characterisation somewhat.
The East Fork Community Coalition has been coming together in the months since approval of the map expansion, though Leeuwenburg said the group received nonprofit status in May. More recently members have been regular attendees at the county’s Surface Mining Advisory Committee meetings, a group made up of interested members of the public and industry (including Storedahl) as well as county staff that formed in the wake of growing concern over mining operations countywide.
“I think it’s a good start,” Leeuwenburg said about the advisory committee, though he said at this point — only three meetings in — progress on addressing concerns had been mostly talk. He noted one movement in particular as the county as agreed to hire an additional code enforcement officer intended to help the county follow through with what’s on the books regarding mine operations.
There is a public hearing scheduled on the appeal for 6 p.m. Aug. 22 at the county Public Service Center, 1300 Franklin Street, where individuals can provide testimony. Leeuwenburg said the coalition will be represented at the hearing.
Leeuwenburg said the coalition’s focus was on making sure that mine regulations are upheld to protect their namesake.
“Our group goal is not to shut down the quarry and we’re not opposed to development or any of those sorts of things,” Leeuwenburg said. “We’re going to work really, really hard about trying to protect that (East Fork Lewis) River and that river valley.”
