Background Info on Maury Island
SIS/SMA/ENVIR 103, Spring 2007

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Background | Timeline | Major Players | Aquatic Reserve | Oil Spills | Glacier Northwest Gravel Mine

Background Information:

South Maury Island Environmental Issues
Wikipedia article begun by students in Patrick Christie's SIS/SMA/ENVIR 103 class in Spring 2005, and updated occasionally by interested parties since then (see the "History" tab for a record of recent additions). Contains an overview of the environmental issues impacting South Maury Island, with special attention to the proposed expansion of the Glacier Northwest gravel mine, as well as citations and links to external information.

Puget Sound Environmental Issues
Wikipedia article begun by students in Patrick Christie's SIS/SMA/ENVIR 103 class in Spring 2005. Contains an overview of some of the environmental issues impacting Puget Sound, with special attention to salmon. Note that this page has been tagged by the Wikipedia community as needing copy editing and other work, and that its neutrality has been called into question -- Wikipedia is an open-source wiki, and thus anyone can contribute to its articles. See the "Discussion" tab for comments concerning this page.

 

Rough Timeline:

December 2000
Commissioner of Public Lands Jennifer Belcher designates Vashon/Maury's marine ecosystem as an aquatic reserve; Line Star Northwest (later Glacier Northwest) sues and lawsuit is settled in 2002.

September 2002
DNR establishes the Aquatic Reserve Program

May (?) 2002
Glacier submits a permit application for a new, longer dock to King County

March 2004
King County Department of Development and Environmental Services denies Glacier's permit application.

Summer 2004
Public hearings on Maury Island aquatic preserve

August 2004
Shoreline Hearings Board (6 members, WA State) holds hearings on King County's decision to deny Glacier's permit.

Oct 14, 2004
Oil spill in Dalco Passage south of Vashon/Maury Island

November 3, 2004
Shoreline Hearings Board releases decision reversing King County's denial of Glacier Northwest's permit; court date set for July 11, 2005

November 8, 2004
Maury Island Aquatic Reserve formally established by Commissioner's Order for a period of 90 years

December 2004
King County, Preserve Our Islands, People for Puget Sound, and the Washington Environmental Council all file separate appeals of the Shoreline Hearings Board's decision in King County Superior Court

January 24, 2005
King County Superior Court Judge Sharon Armstrong issued a temporary stay on Kings County's permits for Glacier's dock

Jan. 28, 2005
Second oil spill in Dalco Passage

December 2005
NOAA lists Puget Sound orca population as "endangered" under the federal Endangered Species Act

March 9, 2006
State Court of Appeals hears the appeal of the Shoreline Hearings Board's ruling against King County's denial of permits for Glacier Northwest's doc

March 14, 2006
The Department of Ecology issues a water quality certification to Glacier Northwest

June 19, 2006
The State Court of Appeals affirms the Shoreline Hearings Board's decision to overturn King County's denial of permits to Glacier Northwest

July 20, 2006
King County and Preserve Our Islands file an appeal of the State Court of Appeals ruling in the Washington state Supreme Court

March, 2007
State legislation (HB 2248, SB 6011, SSB 6011) introduced with goal of preventing new industrial and mining facilities in the Puget Sound aquatic reserve and halting construction on the expansion of Glacier Northwest's dock

Major Players:

Government departments:

WA State Department of Natural Resources (head: Commissioner of Public Lands)
WA State Department of Ecology

King County Department of Natural Resources
WA Shoreline Hearings Board
King County Superior Court

Supreme Court of Washington State

Washington State House
Washington State Senate

U.S. Coast Guard Marine Response Branch
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Region 10)
NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service (Northwest Regional Office)

Non-governmental action groups:

Preserve Our Islands
People for Puget Sound

Corporations:

Glacier Northwest (formerly Lone Star Northwest)

• (also doing business as: Vashon Sand & Gravel; Northwest Aggregate; Snoqualmie Sand & Gravel; Kenmore Pre-Mix; Pioneer Aggregate; Snoqualmie Sand & Gravel)
• owned by Japanese corporation Taiheiyo Cement - U.S. headquarters in Glendora, CA

Issue #1: Aquatic Reserve

DOCUMENTS & WEB SITES:

Aquatic Reserve Program home page

NEWS & COMMENTARY:

Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber
Local paper, not indexed in any database. Use "Advanced Search" to search by keywords: aquatic reserve and limit by dates: 2000/2001 (for Jennifer Belcher's original designation), 2002 (for lawsuit settlement), 2004 (for public hearings & Oct. designation of reserve) . Great source of local editorials and letters to the editor.

Articles in other newspapers
A bibliography of articles and opinion pieces published in other newspapers, with links to full-text articles.

Issue #2: Oil Spills

DOCUMENTS & WEB SITES:

WA State Dept of Ecology - Spill Response pages
includes links to current and past incidents and to "Geographic Response Plans" for different areas in Washington

WA State DES page on Oct. 2004 Dalco Spill

WA State DES page on Jan. 2005 Dalco Spill

Coast Guard photos of spill clean-up

People for Puget Sound's Dalco spill page

NEWS & COMMENTARY:

Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber
Local paper, not indexed in any database. Use "Advanced Search" to search by keywords: spill or oil, and limit by dates 2004 (for October spill) or 2005 (for January spill). Great source of local editorials and letters to the editor.

Articles in other papers
A bibliography of articles and opinion pieces published in other newspapers, with links to full-text articles.

Issue #3: Glacier Northwest gravel mine

DOCUMENTS & WEB SITES:

Environmental Hearings Office Case Data
Case files for SHB 04-009 (Preserve our Islands; People for Puget Sound; and WEC v. KC Dept. of Development & Environ. Services; and NW Aggregates Co.) and SHB 04-010 (Northwest Aggregates Company v. King County) give details such as final dispositions of the hearings, key players, permit numbers, dates, etc.

Shoreline Mangement Law and Rules
Includes practices & procedures for Shoreline Hearings Board

NEWS & COMMENTARY:

Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber
Local paper, not indexed in any database. Use "Advanced Search" to search by keywords: Glacier, Lone Star, Preserve Our Islands and limit by key dates in timeline or in news articles below. Great source of local editorials and letters to the editor.

Articles in other newspapers
A bibliography of articles and opinion pieces published in other newspapers, with links to full-text articles.