Hi Everyone! There hasn’t been postings regarding the Ranch Quarry since Planning issued their 9/26/24 letter intending a Determination of Significance, i.e. an EIS will be required. The last paragraph states:
“The formal scoping process commences upon notice of a threshold determination (i.e. Determination of Significance (DS)) which starts the clock on the comment period. Prior to a DS, a cost recovery agreement between Whatcom County and the applicant must be completed and a consultant must be under contract.”
We are coordinating with Amy Keenan of Planning and are waiting for the cost recovery agreement to be completed. We will keep contacting Amy at Planning and share any new developments as soon as we learn about them.
Thus we are waiting on any postings from the County, including all public comments, which have not been posted since 9/30/2023 and the onsite sign which we have requested for over a year.
Other news
- Two people have been appointed to the Surface Mining Advisory Committee (SMAC): Lane Stremler of Stremler Gravel as a citizen living close to a potential or current mine and Jordan Van Werven of Ferndale Readymix and Gravel who is filling a mining seat vacant at the end of this month. Thomas Harron, private citizen and Derek Hergenhein of LafargeHolcim, i.e. Cowden Readymix and Gravel also applied but were not appointed. Councilman Donovan twice questioned the citizen position needing to not be a representative of the mining industry but the issue was sidestepped and the vote was unanimous for the two appointments.
- HOMEWhatcom has $15,000 in savings toward anticipated legal fees. Thank you to the donors of $1,000 in December! Like HOMEWhatcom’s 4/11/24 Stop Work Request letter, we will complete much of the clerk work of code and law relevance to save money so our funds can go toward hours spent in court.
Thank you all for your continued interest and support!
Is the Quarry Ranch proposal in violation of the Department of Ecology Water Resources Adjudication Assessment that is being requested of all of us with private wells?
I assume their dynamite is of the new silent type and their trucks and bulldozers are the new whisper models, and their transportation of the gravel will not pound the crap out of the roads we just bought. otherwise, why would they want to ruin the ambience of two subdivisions, dozens and dozens of properties, and a UGA? this is just the sound pollution. who pays for the water pollution and air pollution?