GRANITE FALLS — Green Mountain Mine has gained county approval for extended nighttime trucking hours in order to keep up with a large-scale Boeing project in Everett.
Aggregates West, the company that operates Green Mountain Mine, requested additional hours for loading and hauling material in order to keep up with the Boeing 777X project. The mine is providing aggregate — rock, gravel and sand — for contractors working on a 1.3-million-square-foot facility in Everett where Boeing plans to build wings.
County Hearing Examiner Peter Camp approved the company’s request for additional hours on a limited timeline and with conditions that, if unmet, could revoke the permission, according to a Sept. 11 decision.
The mine normally is permitted to run from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Until Jan. 1, Green Mountain can load and haul material at night, initially between 8 p.m. and 3 a.m. with the possibility of further extensions.
In order to keep its nighttime hours, the mine is required to make up about $60,000 in unpaid fees to the city of Granite Falls and file overdue reports on truck departures and water monitoring. The mine paid $22,500 this week and made arrangements with the city to pay off the remaining balance, Granite Falls Public Works Director Brent Kirk said.
The company was nearly four years behind on payments to Granite Falls and at least three years behind on required annual reports. However, Camp determined that the size and economic importance of the Boeing 777X project justifies a temporary extension of hours.
“This project is unusual,” according to the decision. “It is exceptionally large by dollar value, exceptionally large by building volume, and exceptionally large in terms of the value of the equipment to be installed. It is exceptional in terms of anchoring aircraft manufacturing here for another generation.”
The county anticipates that the facility could employ up to 1,000 workers at first and about 3,000 in the coming years.
Green Mountain Mine is allowed to load and haul during the temporary nighttime hours, but workers cannot mine, crush or wash aggregate. The only materials that can be hauled between 8 p.m. and 3 a.m. are those destined for the Boeing project. Other work must wait for daylight.
The mine, located about six miles from downtown Granite Falls along the Mountain Loop Highway, has been permitted by the county since 1999. The current permit requires the company to pay Granite Falls 5 cents per ton of sand and gravel hauled out. The city collects these street use mitigation fees from four local companies. None of the other businesses are behind on their payments, and the fees totaled $68,500 last year, Kirk said.
Most of the money goes toward the city’s $6 million share of the Granite Falls Alternate Route, which aims to keep trucks off downtown streets by steering them around the town and out to connecting highways. The rest goes into the city’s street fund for general road maintenance.
When Aggregates West approached the county to ask for additional hours, the company had not paid the city since 2010, the same year the route opened. The mine also failed to provide required annual documentation of daily truck departures and surface water monitoring. Company representatives have agreed to file reports for 2011, 2012 and 2013 as a condition for the extended hours, according to the hearing examiner’s decision.
The mine was permitted to start nighttime operations Sept. 11.
At a public hearing earlier this month, people worried that the extended hours could create problems in the community. Specific concerns include nighttime noise, increased traffic and the decision’s effect on future regulations for a proposed motocross track along the Mountain Loop Highway. Some people from Granite Falls fear the extended hours will be used to justify lax noise and hour restrictions for the motocross track or other quarries in the area, according to the decision.
Those who have submitted testimony to the county regarding the Green Mountain Mine have until Sept. 25 to file an appeal with the Snohomish County Council.
Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
