Quarry Rocks Granite Falls -- Proposal Raises Fears Of Truck Traffic, Environmental Damage
GRANITE FALLS - The roar of trucks forms a backdrop for learning at Granite Falls Middle School, where instruction comes to a halt each time a load of quarry rock or timber passes by.
"They run in spurts. When they come, they interrupt learning," said eighth-grade teacher Ann Bates, who once counted 14 trucks in five minutes. "You lose the cohesiveness of the class, the whole flow."
After 10 years of talk, the town finally might have financial help for building a truck bypass around its business district and schools.
But that help carries a price: creation of a huge new quarry on timberland along the scenic Mountain Loop Highway just northeast of town, generating up to 605 more daily truck trips and raising fears of environmental damage.
Associated Sand & Gravel Co. Inc., an Everett subsidiary of an Australian corporation, is running out of gravel at its 40-year-old quarry north of Paine Field. The new 1,380-acre site could contain a 70-year supply of hard rock plus a 33-year supply of sand and gravel.
The quarry debate is dividing the mostly working-class town of 1,395, which is a mix of third-generation forestry families and newcomers who commute to jobs in Everett or Seattle.
Opponents say the quarry might diminish the supply and quality of drinking water, harm salmon in the nearby Stillaguamish River, lower property values and open the door to more industrial development along the Mountain Loop, which is designated a National Scenic Byway.
But Associated, which supplies 40 percent of Snohomish County's sand and gravel from its Everett and Arlington pits, says the proposed quarry would be operated cleanly and invisible from the road and river.
"The company really is sensitive to people," said H. "Van" van Brenk, environmental manager for Associated. "You're never going to see this from the highway."
However, hikers on the popular Mount Pilchuck trail, just southeast of the quarry, would look down on the site, opponents say.
The land would be quarried in 20- to 25-acre "cells." When one area is depleted, its topsoil would be replaced and seeded with trees while quarry workers break open the next cell. But the operation would permanently alter the landscape; in one spot, a 110-foot peak would be leveled.
At full swing, the quarry would produce 2 million tons of material yearly and provide 54 jobs.
In all, 825 acres would be mined, coming as close as 200 feet to the South Fork of the Stillaguamish River. Most of the land now is a long, sweeping valley covered with 10-year-old trees and surrounded by hills.
The land is owned by the Hancock Timber Resource Group, which invests pension-fund money in forest land for the John Hancock Life Insurance Co. Hancock has been logging the property since 1935, and would continue to log it after the quarry operation ends.
By May or June, the Snohomish County Planning Department expects to publish a draft environmental-impact study. Associated seeks a rezoning of the land from forestry to mineral conversion, plus permits for an asphalt plant and concrete plant.
For most Granite Falls residents, traffic is the big issue. When the subject of the quarry is raised, they immediately talk about the highway bypass. If the bypass goes in, some opposition will soften.
But the bypass poses the largest unknown about the quarry project. Until now, Granite Falls has wished for a truck bypass but lacked money to build it.
Snohomish County Councilman John Garner, who represents the area, supports the Associated project if the bypass is built and if safety problems are solved on the narrow Stillaguamish River bridge.
Associated stresses the bypass is not part of its proposal. A traffic consultant hired by Associated concluded the additional truck traffic through downtown would not significantly affect the city.
But Associated's president, Art Hansen, has said his company will help pay for the bypass if the quarry is approved by the County Council.
Opponents - the Stillaguamish Citizens' Alliance - want to keep the issues separate. They want the quarry to be evaluated on its own merits, without confusing the issue.
But the issues already are intertwined.
State Sen. Larry Vognild, a new supporter of the bypass, is chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee. He also represents the Everett district that includes Associated's regional office.
While Vognild stopped short of endorsing the quarry, he characterized the opposition's leader as "a recent California implant" and said jobs are at stake.
"If Associated does get their permits, and they are willing to (help pay for the bypass) . . . we are alleviating a bad situation in downtown Granite Falls, and saving some taxpayers' money, and I might say saving some jobs as well," Vognild said.
Bruce Barnbaum, chairman of the opposition group, said the quarry would set a dangerous precedent because it would be the first industrial operation east of the Stillaguamish bridge. That bridge now forms an unofficial boundary between Granite Falls' existing industries, including several quarries, and the Mountain Loop Highway.
"Once you pass that boundary, you've passed industrialism. You're heading up into the mountains," said Barnbaum, a photographer who moved to the Mountain Loop area from California nearly five years ago. "This is the first salvo. It changes irreversibly this area from recreational development to industrial development."