{"id":13407,"date":"2014-03-18T18:43:43","date_gmt":"2014-03-19T01:43:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/amicuscuria.com\/wordpress\/?p=13407"},"modified":"2016-02-12T21:57:38","modified_gmt":"2016-02-13T04:57:38","slug":"shelton-gateway-to-industrial-blight-toxic-dumps-dioxin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/amicuscuria.com\/wordpress\/shelton-gateway-to-industrial-blight-toxic-dumps-dioxin\/","title":{"rendered":"Shelton: Gateway to Industrial Blight, Approves Toxic Dumps"},"content":{"rendered":"

City Council Ignores Dioxin, Approves Toxic Waste\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Legacy of Mayor Cronce and Shelton’s City Council<\/p><\/div>\n

The Greeks had it right when they observed even the gods cannot protect fools from their folly. You can’t fix $tupid! Already the cancer capitol of Washington State, Shelton’s Mayor and City Council signed up residents for another giant helping of what’s already killing them–DIOXIN. It’s about the most dangerous potent toxin known to man…hazardous in parts per quadrillion. If it can be measured, it is dangerous. It’s simultaneously carcinogenic, mutagenic, immuno-suppressive, cognitive-depressive, bio-accumulative and incurs auto-immune chronic disease like diabetes and multiple sclerosis. \u00a0It kills–not only the living, but the unborn.<\/p>\n

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Local Environmentalists Rally to Avoid Impact of Dioxin\/Poisonous Waste Dumps<\/p><\/div>\n

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Local Environmental Activists Try to be Heard by the Tin Ears of their City Council<\/p><\/div>\n

Mayor Cronce along with his minions felt it was a small price to pay for the adulation of real estate special interest groups and the ultimate carrot for a small impoverished rural county like Mason: Jobs, Jobs, Jobs! Although Terri Thompson aptly pointed out how their charge was to evaluate environmental considerations and the health impact of the Hall Equities proposal to develop a massive residential site on 604 acres between two huge severely polluted toxic waste dumps (Goose Lake and the ‘C’ Street dump) loaded with Dioxin and a panoply of other toxic killers, the City Council elected to ignore this responsibility in favor of business as usual in the toxic cesspool it has encouraged and promoted over the years. Shelton would remain, as always, the gateway to industrial blight and the cancer capitol of Washington State. Shelton would now have the distinction of being the bedroom community of its very own ‘Love Canal’.<\/p>\n

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Death Watch<\/p><\/div>\n

The State’s Environmental Protection Agency has a reasonably well formatted data base mapping the incidence of cancer, but it has yet to accomplish the same in formatting one for the incidence of birth \u00a0defects across the State. The stigma associated with birth defects has traditionally made the gathering of such information difficult. Yet, birth defects occur in Mason County with disturbing regularity. The area schools have notoriously poor performance results by students on standardized tests. The relationship between the Dioxin contamination scattered across Mason County and those academic tests results is suspect, but not currently quantified. \u00a0Mother’s aren’t exactly advertising the birth defects they discover in their children. The Mayor, City Council, and oily merchants of greed and unmitigated pollution go about their business of despoiling the commons, despite the impact on the health\/welfare of the community, with abandon.<\/p>\n

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Death Giving Solace to Katherine Price<\/p><\/div>\n

On a side note, Herr Cronce’s much insisted on ‘civility’ devolved into his (along with the City Attorney) ordering the town police to unmask Death during the public hearing surrounding the issue of Hall Equities’ ‘toxic hills’ development proposal and the FEIS (final environmental impact statement), conveniently ruling there were no substantial unmitigated environmental impacts. Death refused to be more than a nameless omnipresence in the heart of a poisonous wasteland promoted by the Mayor. Officer Bellamy can be seen arguing the finer points of 1st Amendment principles with Death during a 5-minute break in the public hearing room. The apparition allowed officer Bellamy to temporarily remove his scepter from sight because, as Bellamy explained, “The commissioners were frightened by his appearance and the scepter could be considered a ‘weapon’.”<\/p>\n

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Herr Cronce: The Lord High Executioner–Death’s Best Salesman<\/p><\/div>\n

This was high praise coming from a body who has been Death’s best salesman. The metaphorical scepter could hardly stand comparison with the toxic wastes and Dioxins to which these honorable officials so eagerly repeatedly expose their constituents. Not to be undone by protocol or decency, Mayor Cronce has said: “It would be a mistake to allow those testifying at public hearings to serve as the basis for official policy decisions.” i.e. Devil take the hindmost…the public is a nuisance, interfering as it does with special interest considerations.<\/p>\n

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Death’s Scepter<\/p><\/div>\n

Perhaps equally disturbing was how limp even those protesting the foregone decision were in pointedly demonstrating their disapproval. When asked to tape some images of the effects of Dioxin on animals and the unborn to the entrances of City Hall, there were no takers. Not one environmentalist present was even willing to hand the images to the City Council during the public hearing. The activists were cowed and almost as spineless as the 2 City Council members, voting unanimously in favor of developing the 604 acres wedged between the two toxic waste sites (Goose Lake and ‘C’ Street dump) without a plan or schedule for meaningfully mitigating\/cleaning up the Dioxins leaching into the aquifer recharge zone within the development site. Shelton does not have enough water resources currently to furnish the needs of such a huge housing tract. The water would come from the wells and Shelton Springs located nearby\/on the development tract.<\/p>\n

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Doing His Master’s Bidding, Officer Bellamy Approaches Death<\/p><\/div>\n

Tom Davis questioned what kind of families would knowingly\/willingly purchase parcels imperiling the health and safety of their children. He questioned how this could be counted as a boon, economic or otherwise, to the community.<\/p>\n

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Death Refuses to be Unmasked<\/p><\/div>\n

As reported by KMAS<\/strong>, the City Commission approved Ordinance 1845-2014, a Planned Action Ordinance, which allows the\u00a0Shelton Hills Project<\/a>\u00a0to proceed; earth movement and infrastructure. The Commission\u2019s actions allow the project to move forward, after being stalled for more than 5 years, while the environmental issues are addressed and clean up actions on the Goose Lake Site begin.<\/p>\n

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Death Instructs Officer Bellamy on 1st Amendment Principles as his Sergeant looks on<\/p><\/div>\n

Ecology\u2019s team (see below<\/em>) of investigators gave an overview of the environmental cleanup process and current status of both clean up concerns (Goose Lake and the C Street Dump). Rebecca Lawson, Regional manager of the Department of Ecology stated the investigating process is lengthy, however once the contamination and cleanup process is determined, the actual site cleanup happens much quicker.\u00a0(Below this article is an email response from Linda Kent, Ecology Southwest and Olympic Region Communications Manager regarding the status on the sites and cleanup information.<\/em>)<\/p>\n

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Debating Death<\/p><\/div>\n

Testimony from the public was divided. Realtors and business owners stated the economic need to allow the build out of the site while continuing with the site clean up as the project is built out. Other citizen public comment centered on mistrust that the two sites adjacent to the project site and the ravine location on the Shelton Hills property will actually get cleaned up. More comments were on the potential liability of future cost to the City. These concerns stemmed from the length of time Ecology and Rayonier have taken to evaluate the Goose Lake site, which has yet to have a documented plan for cleaning up the site. [One staffer, Chris Matthews, Hydrogeolgist Toxic Cleanup,\u00a0from the State’s Dept. of Environmental Protection stated, while yet incomplete, sampling from the ‘C’ Street dump site revealed Dioxin contamination in the range of parts per billion, i.e. thousands of times, or more concentrated than the maximum allowed under current federal law measured in a few parts per trillion!]<\/em><\/p>\n

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Death Reminds Officer Bellamy Free Speech is for the Living<\/p><\/div>\n

Site investigations for Goose Lake began in 1997 naming Rayonier as the potentially liable party (PLP) responsible for funding the site cleanup. KMAS received comment, separate of the City meeting, from Russell Schweiss, Rayonier\u2019s Director of Corporate Communications, stating \u201cRayonier is committed to meeting our environmental obligations at the Goose Lake site and completing the clean-up there in accordance with State law. Rayonier has followed the process laid out by the state to this point and are currently awaiting review and approval of our investigation report that was submitted to the state in July 2012. Upon approval, Rayonier will then be able to begin evaluating remedial alternatives and move forward with the clean up process.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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Tom Davis Qualifies his Support for Hall Equities, Chastises City Commissioners<\/p><\/div>\n

Brandon Farrell, Project Manager of the Shelton Springs Project and VP of Hall Equities Northwest Region did not make comment.<\/p>\n

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Connelly Watson, a senior dedicated soft spoken local community activist<\/p><\/div>\n

Community Development Director Steve Goins identified the three basic steps necessary to designate a Planned Action Project:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Prepare an EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) designating a planned action project by Ordinance. (done)<\/li>\n
  2. Review future permit applications to determine the project is consistent with the designated planned action. Considerations of the Planned Action Ordinance the City Commission will consider:\n
      \n
    1. The probable significant adverse environmental impacts of the Shelton Hills project and mitigation measures for these impacts, and adopting the entire FEIS (Future Environmental Impact Statement) and incorporating it by reference in the Ordinance.<\/li>\n
    2. Agreeing the EIS, in conjunction with development regulations applicable to the Shelton Hills project, adequately addresses the probable significant environmental impacts.<\/li>\n
    3. Ensuring the mitigation measures set forth in the FEIS, together with the applicable development regulations, are adequate to mitigate the significant adverse impacts from development within the Planned Action area. [A fence has been suggested as all that’s needed…seriously.]<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n
    4. Ensure the Public has opportunity for comment.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      State Ecology Staff:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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      Rebecca Lawson, P.E., LHG, Regional manger<\/p><\/div>\n

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      Connie Goven, Site Manager\/ Environmental Engineer (Goose Lake Site)<\/p><\/div>\n

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      Chris Matthews Hydrogeolgist Toxic Cleanup (C-street dump site)<\/p><\/div>\n

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      Natalie Graves, Public Involvement Coordinator<\/p><\/div>\n

       <\/p>\n

      General information:<\/p>\n

      The state\u2019s Model Toxics Control Act, or\u00a0MTCA<\/a>,\u00a0defines the process and steps of cleaning up a contaminated site. All of these steps are vital to help Ecology thoroughly understand the site, contamination present, best cleanup options, public concerns, and other factors that come into play for successful site cleanup.<\/p>\n

      The front-end work can be time-consuming and is not all that visible. The actual cleanup phase is often a shorter part of the whole process.<\/p>\n

      Here\u2019s the status on the C Street Landfill and Goose Lake sites:<\/p>\n

      C Street Landfill status<\/h1>\n

      A key step in cleanup is called a Site Hazard Assessment in which current data is collected about a site. The purpose of a site assessment is to evaluate potential risk and assign priority for site cleanup. After a site assessment, the site is ranked with a score of 1 to 5, with 1 representing the highest priority for cleanup under MTCA.<\/p>\n

      Ecology is evaluating the cost to collect current data. Work is contingent on funding.<\/p>\n

      Prior steps are site identification and an initial investigation by Ecology, which have been completed at the C Street Landfill site.<\/p>\n

      Additional information can be found on the\u00a0cleanup site web page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

      Goose Lake status<\/h1>\n

      Site investigation began in 1997, and Rayonier was named a potentially liable person under\u00a0MTCA<\/a>.\u00a0 The site was given a ranking of 2 on the\u00a0Hazardous Sites List<\/a>. Rayonier signed an agreed order with Ecology in 2001 to complete a remedial investigation\/ feasibility study and an initial draft cleanup action plan. Conducting the remedial investigation and drafting the report can take time, and studies can build upon one another as information is gathered. A remedial investigation often goes through several rounds of review to ensure all aspects of the site have been addressed.<\/p>\n

      The company conducted multiple investigations to characterize the extent of contamination between 2002 and the present:<\/p>\n