Sand And Gravel Mining -- Benefits Of Rock Quarries Offset Reported Negatives

There has been comment both for and against two bills in the Legislature to designate known mineral (gravel and rock) reserves for possible use for present and future construction to benefit the people of our state.

Negative statements indicate the extraction of this mineral will disrupt the lives of the contiguous property owners. These statements are not based on fact or history. The fact is the mineral extraction process is strenuously regulated in all aspects and phases. It is regulated by the federal government, and by the state Department of Natural Resources from inception of the permitting process to the final restoration of the land, with all junior governmental agencies and interested citizens commenting and controlling the permitting process.

Historically, we can look at the results, detrimental and beneficial. There is a rock quarry near Eagle Point on the Columbia River which may be the former, depending on viewpoint. Closer to home, consider some closed mineral extraction sites and benefits from them:

-- Picnic Point, Snohomish County - Mineral extracted, used to pave I-5, and then used as pleasant view home sites for citizens and families with high increase in tax base.

-- Riverton Quarry, King County - Mineral extracted and presently used as an industrial site.

-- Black River Quarry, King County - Still has rock reserves with depleted area used as a site for the recycling of concrete back to a usable product.

-- Buchart Gardens, Victoria, B.C. - From a rock quarry to a beautiful, world-renowned garden, a beauty spot.

There are many more.

After extraction of the mineral resource, the land can be utilized as park, open space, home, industrial sites. An unlimited number of beneficial uses offset what may be a temporary inconvenience.

Please think of the possibilities, and consequences of the passage or non-passage of HB 1472 and SB 5434. Edward W. Hayes Edmonds