Barge sand and gravel: protect the environment, aid transportation

In a recent statewide survey, The Elway Poll found that 33 percent of voters ranked transportation as the most important issue for Washington's Legislature to address this session. (Twenty percent, the next highest rating, thought education most important.) The same survey found that 59 percent of voters think state government has been ineffective in dealing with transportation issues and fewer than half (44 percent) were confident that progress would be made this session.

Transportation and its effects on the environment are important factors when considering Glacier Northwest's proposal to barge sand and gravel from its mine on Maury Island.

Vashon and Maury islands are served by Washington State Ferries. Various island representatives are pressing the state to restore cuts in ferry service to the islands, and King County is taking over the state's passenger-only ferry from Vashon Island to Seattle with plans for more runs. Increasing the number of ferry trips to and from Vashon naturally means more boats traveling through Puget Sound waters.

At the same time, the same representatives who want improved ferry service are attacking Glacier Northwest's proposal to load one or two barges per day at a new Maury Island dock. These barges would supply sand and gravel that the Puget Sound area badly needs to build projects to improve transportation throughout the region, including less-fuel-intensive transportation options such as Sound Transit.

The claim is that one or two barges and tugboats going to Glacier's Maury Island dock per day would harm Puget Sound. This claim is not supported by the local state and federal agencies that have reviewed the proposal (the National Marine Fisheries Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the state departments of Fish and Wildlife and Ecology, King County, or the state Shoreline Hearings Board).

Interestingly enough, the same representatives who want tax dollars to supplement ferry service to Vashon and Maury islands are not arguing that Puget Sound would be harmed by increasing ferry traffic.

These representatives also do not seem to be taking into account that transporting sand and gravel by barge, instead of by truck, saves fuel, reduces heavy truck traffic on area roads, reduces greenhouse-gas emissions and helps keep down the cost of state-(taxpayer-)funded transportation projects that benefit the entire region. One average barge keeps 186 heavy trucks and trailers off the road.

Nor are they considering that the barges that would transport sand and gravel from Maury Island would be replacing barges that transport these basic building materials from Canada, all the way down the northern half of Puget Sound, to the central Puget Sound area.

The fact is that the effects of resuming barging from Maury Island have been thoroughly examined during nearly 10 years of intensive environmental study and review. Six local, state and federal agencies have issued nine permits or letters of concurrence finding that the proposed resumption of mining and barge loading at Glacier Northwest's Maury Island site will not harm the environment, endangered species, other fish, or their habitat. The state Shorelines Hearings Board, Court of Appeals and Supreme Court have all reviewed and rejected challenges to permits to allow barging.

Voters believe that transportation is the most important issue facing legislators. The courts, as well as local, state and federal agencies charged with safeguarding our environment, have determined that access to sand and gravel on Maury Island for building transportation projects, and a range of other necessities, can be granted while protecting the environment.

The effort to stop the proposed barging of sand and gravel from a new dock at Maury Island, while simultaneously advocating for increased ferry service, is a contradiction that undermines the cooperative regional effort needed to address transportation challenges and protect Puget Sound.