Tom,

I like your reflections on the proposed mill project. Thanks for the
reasoned insight. Let's hope there will be sustained input from those who
care about the natural values of this area to see real mitigation carried
out. If past experience is any guide, the planning, permit and construction
phases for a project of this magnitude could take a long, long time.

Andy Stepniewski
Wapato WA



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> From: Tom Schooley <dunlin at mail.tss.net>
> To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
> Subject: Re: Possible steel mill at Bowerman Basin NWR
> Date: Thursday, September 11, 1997 6:19 PM
>
> I believe Bob Norton is basically correct in his evaluation. The Hoquiam
> airport and sewage ponds are not prime habitat and are ripe for
> re-development in a job starved region. The real damage to Gray's Harbor
> was done long ago.
>
> Bowerman NWR may or may not be seriously affected by a steel plant -
> depending on the mitigation activities. Per David's message, it sounds
> like Nucor is getting off real cheap if all they need to do is put up
more
> planks in the boardwalk. Can we get another pond in the deal? The
> existing one attracts a wide variety of birds which will be lost without
a
> "fresh" water replacement. And there must be a way for the company to
> contribute some annual maintenance for the birds welfare.
>
> Michael's points on continued development are also quite valid. But to
me
> some of the worst environmental damage is not done directly by the
> corporations. They will often bend over backwards if there is some cheap
> publicity in it for them. The influx of dollars into the community
brings
> a large increase in "recreation" especially that which is generally
> ecologically destructive, like off-road vehicles and other various motor
> "sports".
>
> The other disturbing aspect of this project, and many others like it, is
> the give-away of state tax dollars. The economic merits of a development
> project are secondary to the tax impact on the corporation. Oregon lives
> off personal income taxes, Washington relies on sales taxes. In the last
> legislative session WA generously passed a tax revision which reduces (or
> eliminates) the sales tax on new investments in the state. Sales taxes
are
> lost and not made up in any direct sense. If Oregon forgoes some
property
> tax or corporate income tax, it makes up the difference shortly by the
> income tax on the new employees. But this topic is way outside the realm
> of birds.
>
> Anyways, my main point is we (the rational enviromentalists in the crowd)
> must be open to well concieved industrial development. To date there is
> not enough hard data to determine if the Nucor steel plant falls in that
> category or not. Let's get more facts!
>
> For the birds,
> Tom Schooley, Olympia WA , dunlin at mail.tss.net
>