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March 18, 1998
Our Opinion:
Prison issue was really very simple
We can't help but wonder given the seemingly reasonable conditions placed on the construction of the prison why it was such a fight to get to this point. It only makes sense that Aberdeen's wastewater treatment plant needs to be upgraded, given that it dumps partially treated, or untreated waste, into the harbor during the heaviest rains. Aberdeen has known it has a problem with its wastewater system, not to mention water system, for years. Here in Ocean Shores we have to spend millions on a new plant because we are nearing capacity and are told we can't violate our discharge permit - while Aberdeen dumps raw waste upstream thank you very much.
I remember when I attended the fisheries conference in Tacoma a few years back there was a memorable speech given by Billy Frank, Jr., chair of the Northwest Indian Fisheries. After listening to well-manicured speeches by everyone from Bruce Babbit to Al Gore on the complexities of salmon issues, Frank took the stage and proceeded to say that some things are simple and, among them, "you don't piss in the river." Someone should tell Aberdeen.
As for wetland impacts, the Department of Corrections did a horrendous job of assessing impacts from the start. Their own environmental impact statement simply overlooked acres of impacts to wetlands next to the estuary, arguably some of the most valuable in the lower Chehalis. These aren't mudpuddles we're talking about.
It's awful nice to hear everyone saying that Friends of Grays Harbor and Brady Engvall of Brady's Oysters, who sued over environmental concerns, are just great people who were doing what they thought was right. But I heard more than once from community leaders in the harbor during all the hoopla that it would be a cold day in hell before they bought another Brady Oyster. Forget the fact that the Brady family have been oyster growers here for decades, or that they have had to constantly stop harvesting over the years when either Weyerhauser or Aberdeen violated their federal wastewater discharge permit. People should thank Brady for not suing 20 years ago. They should also sincerely thank him for making this project a better one in the long run and having the guts to stand up for what he believed - that, in a nutshell, should be what we celebrate formeost about the harbor.
After citizen lawsuits, tens of thousands in legal fees and more political rhetoric than you could shake a stick at, there is only one conclusion - it is cheaper and faster to follow the law and regulations from the start than to thumb your nose and expect a political fix after the fact. That's a good lesson everywhere on the harbor, including Ocean Shores.
Guest Opinion:
Stafford Creek agreement is good news
The recent agreement between supporters and opponents of the Stafford Creek Corrections Center should be very good news to everyone who has been involved in project planning since it started earlier in the decade.
Now it's time once and for all to shake hands and get on with the project, which has always been backed by a big majority of people in Grays Harbor County.
As legislators who represent Aberdeen, Westport and the surrounding communities of Grays Harbor, we commend the Department of Corrections, the city of Aberdeen, Grays Harbor County, and the Friends of Grays Harbor organization for coming together to find a compromise. A lot of long hours and late nights went into their negotiations, and we're sure that Harbor citizens appreciate those efforts.
This accord will dramatically reduce the facility's potential wetland-impact. Although original plans could have put as much as 17 acres of wetlands in some jeopardy, the plans have been adjusted so that potential wetland-impact is reduced to a maximum of 2.4 acres.
There is other preparatory work that remains to be done. (The city of Aberdeen has wastewater-treatment concerns that need to be addressed, for example.) But we're confident that any remaining issues will be resolved.
The department is optimistic that portions of the on-site work can go out for bids next month. Weather permitting - and barring further delays of any kind - it's still anticipated that the Stafford Creek corrections facility will open by January of the year 2000.
And when it opens, it is estimated that the facility will mean as many as 650 direct, additional jobs for Grays Harbor - and that's not counting all the secondary jobs produced in current local businesses by the additional income and spending power of prison employees. Clearly, this is an economic win-win for Grays Harbor County.
The state-of-the-art facility will be built on a 210 acre site about six miles southwest of Aberdeen. Stafford Creek will house as many as 1,936 offenders in a total building space of 657,000 square feet.
Having said all this, we don't want to show disrespect in any way for the efforts undertaken by the Friends of Grays Harbor to stop the facility. Local citizens who opposed the project - the Stop the Proposed Prison group active in the election three and a half years ago and the more recent "Friends" group - did so out of concern for their community. Their willingness to get involved in the process is admirable.
Almost 60 percent of Grays Harbor voters in the September 1994 election said yes to the idea of having a corrections facility. The state has already spent well over $13 million on a project whose total capital cost is expected to exceed $172 million.
The process has involved numerous reviews and reports reflecting environmental concerns, and the department will install a surge tank so that Aberdeen's system won't be overburdened. (The Satsop site near Elma, by the way, has never been a credible option for siting the facility.)
Now, as we said, it's time to move the process along. Let's all work
together on this project and get it built.
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