June 5, 1997 To: Chehalis Board of Zoning Adjustment 1321 S. Market Blvd Chehalis WA 98532 From: Chehalis River Council P.O. Box 586 Oakville WA 98568 Re: Record of Decision File #97-E048 American Crossarm Site
My name is Merrily Knutsen. My address is 3414 Centralia Alpha Rd, Onalaska. I am here to represent the Chehalis River Council in the matter of this decision.
The Chehalis River Council was formed in 1992 to develop the Chehalis River Basin Action Plan for the Control of Nonpoint Source Pollution. It was incorporated as a State of Washington nonprofit organization in 1994 for the purpose of carrying out the Action Plan and received 501 (3) status in 1996. Its mission statement is: "to promote the conservation and restoration of the greater Chehalis River Basin resources." The Chehalis River Council is dedicated to the protection of water quality in the Chehalis Watershed. It has been supported in this effort by grants from EPA, DOE, and USFWS. It is this dedication that brings us here tonight.
We contend that the procedural process leading to the MDNS and the Record of Decision was flawed and that a proper decision could not be reached with the information as provided to the decision maker, to the public, and to agencies of jurisdiction. Furthermore, having not been provided with complete and accurate information, valuable input from the public and involved agencies was denied the decision maker. For this reason, the decision should be withdrawn until critical information from these sources can be incorporated.
In support of this contention we submit the following:
The SEPA checklist was submitted on 3/17/97. Dates recorded for the Development Review Committee (DRC) review are 3/27/97 and 4/3/97. A Notice of Incomplete Application was submitted by this committee on 4/4/97. A second application for a fill permit in this same area was received by the City on 4/7/97. This information should have been included in this application for consideration of possible cumulative effects.
The Review Committee report states:
"The items listed below must be submitted to the requesting Department or the Development Review Committee before a final decision can be made regarding your application." We have attached a copy of the Notice. It contains seven points of deficiency or inaccuracy pertaining to the application. These seven points refer to:
1. Critical/Resource (NWI)/Slope/Habitat
Proposal is located in a National Wetland Inventory mapped area; application is incomplete.
2. Shorelines Management Act (SMA)
Portion of property is within SMA jurisdiction; permit is required unless complete site plan shows activity outside jurisdictional area.
3. Flood Hazard Zone
Property is within a 100 year floodplain; show location of filling activity on site plan.
4. State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA)
SEPA Checklist is not sufficient - no site plan. 9. Stormwater/DOE Baseline (NOI)
Fill permit application is incomplete-no site plan showing stormwater management methods and erosion control methods.
10. Critical information missing from application
see attached list of required information for a site plan.
11. Street/Transportation/Traffic Impact
Any filling activity requires a Hauling Plan for truck traffic - submit a hauling plan.
(Emphasis ours):
"1) A completed environmental checklist shall be filed The city shall use the environmental checklist for making the threshold determination.
2) For private proposals, the City will require the applicant to complete the environmental checklist, providing assistance as necessary.
3) The City may require that it, and not the private applicant, will complete all or part of the environmental checklist for a private proposal, if a) The City has technical information on a question or questions that is unavailable to the private applicant " (Emphasis ours)
"4. As much as possible, the City should assist the applicant with identification of impacts to the extent necessary to formulate mitigation measures.
These steps were apparently not taken by the City. The Environmental Checklist remains the same attached to the ROD as it was as attached to the MDNS, and a completed checklist was not, on either document, provided to the public and agencies with jurisdiction as required by Ord. 305B. The areas of the checklist which remained incomplete or inaccurate were areas which, if properly answered in response to the Developmental Review Committee, would have led the City to be able to determine all of the agencies which should have been notified of the project and whose input would then have been available for the threshold determination.
As we stated in our comments of April 21, 1997, "According to the U.S. Dept. of the Interior (Office of the Secretary, Wash. D.C., ER90/133 Jonathan P. Deason, Director, Office of Environmental Affairs, letter recv d by EPA Region 10, July 24, 1990): This site is within the Usual and Accustomed fishing grounds and stations of the Chehalis Tribe as adjudicated in United States vs Washington, 1974 (384F Supp.312) The tribal right to harvest fish includes the right to have the environment upon which the fish and wildlife depend protected from degradation. " (Letter attached) The City should have recognized that this letter did not mean that the tribal rights are regulatory per se, and that the superfund site and its cleanup is not the issue here. (The Chehalis River Council respects the ability and diligence of the EPA to monitor the integrity of the "cap".) The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, under the Dept. of the Interior, is charged with the protection of the environment upon which anadromous fish and migratory wildlife depend. This tribal right involves the protection of the environment of anadromous fish. Therefore, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service should have been notified of this projected fill within the floodplains of Dillenbaugh Creek and the Chehalis River, and its advice and consultation sought in making this decision and in developing the mitigations upon which it depends.
The Chehalis River Council respectfully submits that the Chehalis River Basin is one of the most valuable in the State of Washington. The important agriculture and timber economies of this region are dependent upon its waters. Most of the groundwater upon which residents, whether rural or urban dwellers, depend, comes from the Chehalis River and its tributaries. The immense fisheries (including shellfish) that depend upon this river are worth millions of dollars to this state. The Chehalis River Council asks that the protection of the quality and quantity of the waters in this basin be uppermost in the minds of planners and developers in this region.
Merrily Knutsen, member
Board of Trustees
Chehalis River Council
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