Hi, Tweeters,

I went to the Thurston County Planning Office today to find out more
information about the asphalt plant.
First, allow me to revise some of my comments...when I first posted, I took
as verbatim what was put on the flyer, that comment being "Thurston County
wants to allow an asphalt plant to be built"....
That's not quite true, and I talked to a very nice and professional young
lady named Amy who explained the situation to me. Thurston County has
received an application for an asphalt plant.to be sited in the Nisqually
Basin.
Now let me explain a little...some of it went over my head, (I'm a
naturalist, not a bureaucrat) but here's the gist of what I was told.

Lakeside Asphalt Co. has a grandfathered accessory of use agreement with the
Holroyd Mining Co. This mining co has a gravel mine on old Highway 99, near
Nisqually. This "accessory of use" clause was signed 50 years ago, "before
there was even a Nisqually Wildlife Refuge." (quotes are Amy's, not mine.)
and the grandfather clause is good for (get this) 200 years. So, legally,
Lakeside has a legal right to apply to build an asphalt plant there.

They have submitted an application to do just that. Thurston County is in the
process of reviewing this application. The Hearing Examiner has it on his or
her desk and is reviewing it. Thurston County distributed letters to property
owners in the vicinity of the planned plant, requesting their input and
opinions. Thurston County already has recieved a number of letters, many
raising points that Thurston County will go back and ask Lakeside about.
Specifically, Thurston County has 20 questions that it wants Lakeside to
answer. Plus, Lakeside's SEPA (something EPA statement) is still under review
as well.

A public hearing is planned but has not been scheduled as of yet. She
foresees this being done in the next "3 to 4 months". She said that
Lakeside's attorney requested copies of all the letters that had been
recieved regarding the plant under the Freedom of Information Act and is
reviewing the letters. Specifically, he is looking for complaints about
traffic and the smell the asphalt plant will put out. He is also targeting
where the letters came from...i.e., did only one neighborhood, or cluster of
houses submit letters??

I must say that while she did not specifically state this, Amy seemed to give
me the impression that Thurston County is not too happy about this
application. I asked her what weight did Thurston County give to letters from
people who are not property owners in the immediate vicinity of the planned
plant. She said all letters are given equal weight. Now whether the attorney
holds to this I don't know.

She also said that if I want to be informed of any further developments on
the plant's application, and notified of the public hearing, to submit a
letter requesting I be put on the mailing list regarding the asphalt plant. I
wrote that down, and per her instructions, put down my name and address. I
did right then and there.

So we still need to get to work, folks. While it's not a done deal, we need
to sit down, write Thurston County and let them know that grandfather clause
or not, Nisqually is NOT the place for an asphalt plant. Get your name on the
mailing list so we all know when the public hearing is, so we can make
ourselves heard.
Believe it or not, I think Thurston County needs our help. If no one
complains, they have to assume that everyone's just peachy with the asphalt
plant. It's not peachy with me, let me tell you!

So please. Write the planning commission, telling them why an asphalt plant
doesn't need to be put in the last bit of natural coastline left on Puget
Sound. Write to:

Tammy Trager
Thurston Co. Planning
2000 Lakeridge Dr. SW
Olympia, WA 98502

And thanks, everyone who wrote me for more information. I will try to contact
you individually, but if I don't, please understand that I'm just like
you...too much to do and not enough time to do it.
Michelle Blanchard
MBlanchrd at aol.com
Olympia, WA