By JEFF BURLINGAME - DAILY WORLD WRITER, The Aberdeen Daily World
OCEAN SHORES - In a move that would end months of frustrating battles against both the clock and legal opponents, the city of
Ocean Shores is considering a state of emergency declaration that would allow immediate installation of 540 feet of "geotubes" on the coastline at the south end of town.
The declaration is listed as the second item on the agenda of a special council meeting Wednesday. What comes of that declaration depends on the first agenda item - an appeal by the Seattle law firm Smith & Lowney, according to Councilman Peter Jordan.
Smith & Lowney, representing several environmental groups, is appealing the city's June 23 determination that the geotubes will not have an adverse effect on the environment. Representatives of the law firm were not available for comment this morning.
But the law firm has argued all along that the tubes - huge sausage-shaped bags full of sand - will be an eyesore that will, among other things, adversely affect the aesthetics of the beach. "If their appeal holds water and indicates further litigation is likely, we could declare a state of emergency," Jordan said this morning. "But we'll still be going into this with an open mind."
The geotubes would be embedded in a dune north of the North Jetty. City consultants have said the tubes are necessary to save a potential breach which would flood the entire south end of town, destroying city utilities and private condominiums worth millions.
If the council approves the state of emergency declaration Wednesday, it would be implemented by local government.
The state of emergency - which, according to several federal and state laws, can be declared because an "imminent threat to public health, safety and the environment" exists - would also be subject to appeal. But by the time an appeal is filed, the geotubes will be installed, Jordan said.
The state of emergency would also cap a 21ÿ2-year process filled with numerous hurdles, including a race against the clock to install the tubes before the 1998-99 winter storm season.
On Sept. 18, the State Parks & Recreation Commission voted to extend a permit for the project. State Parks had jurisdiction over the work area because part of the project falls within the state's Seashore Conservation Area. Funding the geotubes
In early October, an on-site inspection by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers found the city did not need a Corps permit to place the geotubes.
All this came after the state Legislature had already appropriated $175,000 to pay for the geotubes, which will take about two weeks to install. If they are placed, the dune-strengthening tubes will only be there for one storm season, the city says. A one-year gap of no protection would then occur while the city continues to search for a long-term solution to the erosion problem.
Councilman Jordan is among those that has become frustrated with the process. "I think it's really sad that the groups who are opposing this process spent 21ÿ2 years doing nothing and now they want to use the process to gain their own ends," Jordan said. "And they want to circumvent the process that they claim they are upholding."
The public will be allowed to comment on the issue at the Wednesday meeting. It begins at 6 p.m. at the Ocean Shores Convention Center.