NEWS RELEASE
No. 08-210
December 2, 2008
Contact: Jane Chavey, 360-902-1721, cell: 360-870-8334, jane.chavey@dnr.wa.gov
State DNR to Lease Submerged Lands for Dock at Maury Island
Environmental bar set exceptionally high to protect marine habitat
OLYMPIA – A 30-year lease has been granted by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for a dock to be developed across state-owned aquatic lands on Maury Island. The lease with Northwest Aggregates was signed today by Commissioner of Public Lands Doug Sutherland, replacing a lease last renewed in 1988.
“This has been an extremely rigorous process, and our aquatics staff have examined every document submitted to us and to the permitting agencies to be sure that we have addressed the issues,” said Sutherland. “I directed staff to add requirements to protect this aquatic ecosystem in the long-term—which they have. This lease agreement accomplishes the goal of environmental protection while allowing existing commercial activities.”
Northwest Aggregate fulfills permit requirements for construction phase
DNR was assisted in the decision to grant this lease by the state, federal and local agencies that earlier approved required permits. The following permits were granted for construction of the dock facilities: The Washington State Department of Ecology 401 permit for water quality; the hydraulics permit from Washington’s Department of Fish and Wildlife to protect fish and wildlife, and the King County Shoreline Management Act substantial development permit. In addition, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit was issued only after U.S. Fish and Wildlife and NOAA Fisheries established that endangered species, including the orca, would not be harmed.
If any of these permits is later invalidated, all operations will be stopped except for activities necessary to comply with permitting requirements.
The new dock will replace an old derelict dock at the lease site—previously used by Northwest Aggregates for barging gravel from the inland gravel pit. They applied for the lease to build a new dock in order to expand gravel operations.
DNR lease conditions improve ecosystem in Maury Island Aquatic Reserve
The lease is for the dock located within the Maury Island Aquatic Reserve, and is guided by the provisions of the Maury Island Aquatic Reserve Management Plan. The plan was developed with the help of the local community and a two-year public process that included State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) review.
The dock will be used to move gravel through an enclosed conveyor to an awaiting barge, to be towed by tug boat to other locations. Before DNR considered the lease proposal, staff examined all documents and information submitted by Northwest Aggregates, permitting agencies and others during the regulatory permitting phase. In addition, DNR has examined all additional information submitted prior to the signing of the lease.
While some DNR conditions for the construction and implementation phases exceed the requirements of the permitting agencies, DNR’s main focus is on the long-term lease conditions for facility operations that support overall improvements to environmental quality in the state aquatic reserve. As with other existing leases within the aquatic reserve, the focus is to upgrade the facilities to the highest environmental standards possible. For example, the Quartermaster Harbor Marina, under its new lease agreement, will make the same kinds of changes as Northwest Aggregate, such as moving the docks into deeper water and using grating rather than solid decking to protect and allow more light to reach the nearshore.
As a part of DNR’s adaptive management approach to activities on state lands, monitoring is a component to the lease, so that DNR can direct changes to the activities if needed to protect the reserve and the aquatic habitat over time. Following are some of the measures taken to protect the aquatic habitat, water quality and species that move throughout the area at various times of the year.
Long-term improvement in the aquatic reserve
The conditions of the lease will result in future environmental enhancement at this site. The old dilapidated loading facility will be removed, including more than 200 creosote pilings, which leach chemicals into the ecosystem that are toxic to fish and wildlife, particularly the young.
The design for the new dock calls for non-toxic materials and for the dock to be farther out into deep water, away from nearshore habitat where the light penetrates to eelgrass. The new dock is narrower than the old dock and has a smaller surface area, and grating on the deck. All of these characteristics will decrease shading of the habitat beneath.
DNR’s lease requires that Northwest Aggregates place the adjacent tidelands and ‘feeder bluff’ that they own into a permanent conservation easement under which no future development will be permitted. The feeder bluff will provide a major sediment source for sand and materials to support the shoreline ecosystem, and forage fish spawning beds. These tideland and riparian buffers will be protected and intact in perpetuity, supporting the aquatic reserve ecosystem.
State law requires DNR to calculate rent for water-dependent activities according to a statutory formula. Rent is based on 30 percent of the value of the adjacent upland parcel assessed value. This parcel’s value is determined by the King County Assessors Office. The initial rent will be $1,500 annually and will be recalculated every four years.
At the termination, the new dock will be completely removed leaving a permanently protected connection between the adjacent uplands, nearshore, and bedlands.
Other lease items
Tug boat propeller turbulence will be minimized and monitored to ensure protection of eelgrass and other submerged vegetation. In order to decrease the amount of disturbance, a tug cannot be used to reposition the barge after moorage. A hauling system will move the barge back and forth along the pier to assist its loading evenly. A tug is not to be substituted (even temporarily) for the hauling system, even if the hauling system fails. Inspection reports on the system are to be given to DNR.
Light also is addressed in the company’s operations, and particularly on the dock. Glare from lighting at the loading facility may cause herring to change their nocturnal surface feeding and spawning behavior. To minimize these impacts to herring spawning, other than lighting required for navigational purposes, there will be no exterior lighting between one hour after sunset and one hour before sunrise from January 15 through April 14 of any year.
There is to be no discharge of any stormwater onto state-owned aquatic lands. Northwest Aggregates will disburse stormwater into the upland to be filtered as it seeps into the ground.
During the past year, questions arose as to the potential economic value of gold and silver at the Northwest Aggregates gravel site, a former isolated Common School trust parcel. Samples were gathered by independent geologists and evaluated at a laboratory. Results showed that detectable amounts were found on the site, but at levels that were clearly not sufficient to be of economic interest for the state trust.
Caring for your natural resources…now and forever
As trustee and steward of the 2.6 million acres of state aquatic lands, DNR manages the bedlands under Puget Sound, the coast, natural lakes, and navigable rivers, and many of Washington’s beaches. DNR manages these lands not only to facilitate navigation, commerce, and public access, but also to ensure protection for aquatic habitat.
State-owned aquatic lands include:
• About 68,100 acres of state-owned tidelands, or 106 square miles
• 90,000 acres of harbor areas
• All submerged marine lands below extreme low tide—that’s 3,430 square miles of bedlands under navigable waters, as well as freshwater shorelands and bedlands
Doug Sutherland, who administers the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, is Washington’s twelfth Commissioner of Public Lands since statehood in 1889.
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