Issaquah Gravel Pit A Step Closer

ISSAQUAH - Gravel miner Robert Reid has crossed a major hurdle in his plan to clear 33 acres of woodland next to Interstate 90 and remove up to 7.6 million cubic yards of gravel.

City Council-appointed hearing officer Ted Hunter, who held two hearings last month on an appeal by residents, yesterday upheld the

council's approval for Reid to mine the gravel, although Hunter imposed a few new conditions.

Hunter said the city should require Reid to dig monitoring wells to provide monthly water samples and should prohibit Reid from digging deeper than 5 feet above the water table. Reid says the state already had imposed these conditions anyway.

Residents led by self-described "old rabble-rouser" Ruth Kees have fought Reid's plan because they fear silty runoff would taint the water supply drawn from the aquifer.

Kees, Sammamish Plateau Water and Sewer District Commissioner Bob George and other opponents of Reid's plan said they hadn't decided whether to appeal the ruling to King County Superior Court.

"I'm very disappointed," Kees said. "This valley depends on rainfall for its water, and little by little we're losing that."

Issaquah City Council President Harris Atkins, the lone council member to vote against Reid's proposal last July, said he would lobby the council to ask Mayor Rowan Hinds to report whether new, relevant information came up during the hearings to warrant a new council review of Reid's plans.

Reid's site is adjacent to a larger gravel mining and processing operation run by Lakeside Sand and Gravel. Both are northeast of Front Street's intersection with I-90, with Reid's land between the freeway and Lakeside.

Reid said he still needs a permit from the state Department of Ecology and a reclamation plan review from the state Department of Natural Resources. Both, he said, "shouldn't take too long. I'll probably start clearing (away trees) as soon as possible," provided he doesn't face a court challenge.

He would have 10 years to mine the gravel and then cover the site with 2,500 cubic yards of dirt.

Then he expects his site to be developed for "intense commercial use," as the city designated in its growth-management plan.

In July, after city staffers determined the mining wouldn't harm water quality, the city ruled Reid didn't have to provide an environmental-impact statement to receive a clearing and grading permit.

Kees and resident Denise Smith challenged that, claiming an impact statement was needed. The council sent the issue to the hearing officer.

Hunter ruled a statement wasn't needed but said the city must impose the new conditions.

Reid, said no runoff would leave his site.