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Storedahl Mine Expansion Denied; East Fork Groups Cheer County Ruling

Posted on: Wednesday, 13 July 2005, 18:00 CDT

Clark County commissioners on Tuesday voted 2-1 to deny a request by Kelso-based J.L. Storedahl & Sons to expand its gravel mining operation on the East Fork of the Lewis River.

"The fish win," said David McDonald, an attorney for Friends of the East Fork.

The group, along with Fish First, challenged a county hearings examiner's decision that Storedahl has a grandfathered -- or "nonconforming use" -- right to mine its entire 350-acre property. The groups argued that the mining operations would degrade the river and hurt federally protected salmon and steelhead.

With Commissioner Marc Boldt dissenting, Betty Sue Morris and Steve Stuart voted that Storedahl has a grandfathered right to dig only upon the 71 acres that Storedahl was mining in 1973, the year the county enacted zoning laws that restricted mining.

"The only place they have a nonconforming use is in the used-up pits," Morris said.

The commissioners' action, however, is unlikely to end the legal saga. Storedahl's Olympia attorney, Sandy Mackie, said the company will consider an appeal to Superior Court. McDonald and Svend Brandt- Erichsen, Fish First's Seattle-based attorney, said they plan to challenge the determination that Storedahl has any grandfathered right to mine near the East Fork at all.

The saga began in 1994 when the county banned mining in the 100- year flood plain, which threatened to shut down Storedahl's operation on the East Fork. The Federal Emergency Management Agency later revised flood-plain maps, enabling the mining to continue.

Then in 1998, Storedahl asked the county to rezone additional land so it could expand its mining operation. Storedahl wants to mine up to 12 million tons of sand and gravel from 101 previously undisturbed acres at its Daybreak site near La Center. The mining, which would occur over 10 to 15 years, would create five new pits, each at least 30 feet deep, on a terrace north of the East Fork.

If the commissioners' decision holds up in court, Storedahl would not be able to proceed with that plan, although it would not completely end the possibility of mining on the East Fork. Sixty- one acres of the company's land already is zoned for surface mining.

Storedahl faces other legal battles. Friends of the East Fork and Fish First have challenged the company's shoreline permit and its plans to restore the East Fork site. Those appeals are before state agencies.

An appeal of Storedahl's habitat conservation plan is in federal court, and a procedural challenge is before the Court of Appeals.

Erin Middlewood covers Clark County government.

Reach her at 360-759-8031, or by e-mail at erin.middlewood@columbian.com.

Update

* Previously: In February, Clark County commissioners denied a zone change J.L. Storedahl & Sons first requested in 1998 that's necessary to dig five new gravel pits on 101 acres the Kelso-based company owns near the East Fork of the Lewis River. Commissioners sent part of the appeal back to a hearings examiner, who found Storedahl has a grandfathered right to mine on its entire 350-acre property. Two environmental groups appealed that ruling back to county commissioners.

* What's new: County commissioners on Tuesday voted 2-1 that Storedahl has a grandfathered right to mine only the 71 acres it was mining in 1973, pits that are already empty of gravel.

* What's next: An appeal to Superior Court is possible.

Source: Columbian

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