Compromise On N. Bend Gravel Pit? -- Entrance Concessions Don't Appease Locals

NORTH BEND

At the urging of King County Executive Ron Sims, Weyerhaeuser and Cadman Inc. have agreed to consider relocating the entrance to a controversial gravel-pit site farther east from North Bend.

But that held little consolation last night to residents who live near the proposed 317-acre pit at Grouse Ridge, off Interstate 90 near North Bend.

"My windshields are still going to break," said Warren Brown, 44, one of more than 20 people who spoke out in opposition at a county informational meeting at Mount Si High School.

"It's the entire operation I don't want here."

More than 400 people filled the auditorium to listen to county officials explain the permit and environmental-impact-statement procedures and action residents could take.

Opponents stated passionately that a gravel pit doesn't belong in the forests east of North Bend. Some said it would pollute the watershed and an aquifer. Some simply wanted Sims to stop the project. And nobody spoke in favor of the site.

"It's not forestry - it's mining, it's industry," said Jan Jarvis, 50, who owns 80 acres of farm and forest land behind the ridge. "Please Mr. Sims, represent us. Go back to Cadman, go back to Weyerhaeuser and tell them to do it better."

Because local zoning allows mining, Sims can't legally stop the permit procedure. But he can make suggestions on behalf of the community, he said.

His most recent was the proposal to move the entrance to the gravel pit four miles to the east, near Exit 38.

The land is owned by Weyerhaeuser, which would lease it to Cadman. After 25 years it would be turned over to King County as open space.

Nearly 450 truckloads of gravel would be driven daily onto Interstate 90 to the pit entrance at the Edgewick interchange, Exit 34, near Ken's Truck Town. Opponents have complained about adding traffic to an already busy interchange.

Rod Shearer, manager of operations services for Cadman, said that moving the exit four miles to the east would be considered but that Exit 34 was preferred.

The public outcry against the gravel pit has delayed Cadman's applying for a permit, Shearer said. But he said he expected the Redmond-based, Belgian-owned firm would apply later this month.