Washington Environmental Practices Impact Gravel Pits
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According to The News Tribune, Puget Sound area municipalities are having to balance the needs of their growing populations with the impact to their ecosystems. At the heart of the debate is whether sand and gravel mines are going to be allowed in Western Washington, with many opponents asserting that the Puget Sound is simply too complex an environment to support these installations. Proponents of gravel mines argue that they are a necessary element of development.
This article outlines the growing tension between powerful environmental lobbies and the business community. At present, organizations such as People for Puget Sound are pushing for ever more limitations and environmental regulations for gravel pits.
Companies like Glacier Northwest argue that they are doing all in their power to lessen the impact to the environment that their activities produce, however, they argue that their service is necessary. In the end, they hope that their activities will yield a net positive effect (like the Chambers Bay Golf Course).
I fail to see how these gravel and sand pits are trying to limit their impact on the environment or those who must reside in a community with them. My parents currently live within 300 feet of a gravel and sand pit in Western Washington, not only do they operate illegally, they opened the pit illegally. The wet lands behind my parents house have dried up, the wild life that once lived there is now gone. The well water of my parents and that of their neighbors smells of rotten eggs, and is undrinkable, since the opening of the gravel pit. The pit is operating under an expired permit, by almost 20 years. Currently they are requesting a gravel and sand washer that will further pollute the water, and the already nerve racking noise will increase beyond any normal person's tolerance. My mother has tried to work with the city, the county and even the state, but as of yet they all seem to turn a blind eye to the ever increasing devastation that is occurring in what once was home to a variety of wild life, majestic Evergreens, and a natural wetland.