By Mike Plaster Daily World writer, June 28, 1997
Some 60 days ago, the Friends of Grays Harbor, a group opposed to the Stafford Creek Corrections Center site about five miles west of Aberdeen, gave notice it was planning to sue the City of Aberdeen over hundreds of alleged Clean Water Act violations.
Earlier this week, the group made good on its threat, filing suit against the city in federal court in Seattle and against Grays Harbor County and the Department of Corrections in Thurston County Superior Court.
And the group likes its chances.
The group's attorney, Knoll Lowney of the Smith and Lowney law firm in Seattle, says he thinks the chances for a FOGH victory or settlement with the city are "about 100 percent." Other lawsuits from the group aimed at stopping the prison and promoting environmental health, he said, are "very likely."
The complaint against the city concerns system bypasses of the city's sewage treatment plant, which result in raw sewage being dumped into Grays Harbor. The bypasses occur most often during times of heavy rains, when water floods through cracks in the city's piping and creates too much volume for treatment.
FOGH, which has teamed with the Seattle-based Waste Action Project for the lawsuit against Aberdeen, maintains that the city has violated the Clean Water Act by way of these bypasses some 350 times over the past two years.
Should the city be found guilty of violating the act, a fine of up to $27,500 could be levied for each offense, meaning the city could be facing a maximum fine of nearly $10 million for the alleged violations.
The group is opposed to the prison site - not the prison itself, members say - because of damage it fears such a large project would do to the Grays Harbor Estuary.
"The estuary is in serious trouble because of the pollution coming from Aberdeen's plant, as well as other sources," said group member and local oyster grower Brady Engvall. When bypasses occur, portions of Grays Harbor are closed to shellfish harvest.
"Almost 3,000 new users to the system with the proposed prison is only going to make matters worse," Engvall said.
Aberdeen City Attorney Eric Nelson had no comment on the lawsuit this afternoon. He said the city had not been formally served yet.
"I'd want to see the complaint" before making a comment, Nelson said Friday afternoon. The city knew FOGH was going to file, however, he said.
Lowney is representing FOGH in both lawsuits. He's confident the group will win or settle with the city.
"Eric (Nelson) has asked to set up a meeting," Lowney said Friday, "and we'll talk about whether a settlement can be reached."
The group is looking for compliance with the Clean Water Act, he said, and for the city to pay penalties for its alleged violations.
"I think we'll be meeting in the next couple of weeks," with the city, he said. "The Aberdeen suit is extremely straightforward. A settlement is likely."
The lawsuit against Grays Harbor County and the Department of Corrections, however, is a little more complex, Lowney said. The group is challenging the adequacy of the environmental review process for the proposed prison.
"Ultimately," Lowney said, "someone will figure out that the supplemental environmental impact statement had a problem."
According to the complaint, provided by County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Kirsten Weight, a grading permit granted to the DOC for work on the site should not have been granted, the plaintiffs maintain.
"The county erred in permitting DOC to begin grading and filling in the upland portion of the project before necessary Shoreline Management Act permits (and others) had been obtained, and before the necessary ... environmental review had been concluded," the complaint from FOGH reads.
FOGH maintains it had no opportunity to comment on the permit, and says "the county's and DOC's actions provided (the group) of due process of law."
Lowney said there are a lot of questions and issues still unanswered - for all parties involved.
"There are a lot of administrative and procedural questions about how to challenge like this," he said.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Weight said although the county has been served with the complaint, she isn't quite sure what to make of it yet.
"I really haven't looked at it yet," she said yesterday afternoon. "I haven't made any sort of legal conclusions."
Talis Abolins of the state Attorney General's office will be handling the case for the Department of Corrections. He was unavailable for comment Friday afternoon.
Thanks to The Daily World for sharing this article with the Chehalis River Council.
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