Marrowstone appeal denied

The following article appeared in the July 5, 2006 Jefferson County edition of the Peninsula Daily News.

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Marrowstone appeal denied

By Jeff Chew
Peninsula Daily News

PORT TOWNSEND — The Jefferson County Department of Community Development has denined a Marrowstone Island environmental group's appeal of the Public Utility District's shoreline permit needed for a project to pipe water to the island.

A Lawyer for Conserve Water First said the group's next legal step would be to file an appeal of the permit with the state Shoreline Hearings Board.

Conserve Water First is opposed to building a public water system its members fear would attract development and destroy the island's realaxed character.

There are also arguments over the Chimacum Valley aquifer, wetlands, soils, the shoreline, water rights and water capacity.

WIth too little water on the island, some residents have installed rain-water catchment systems at their homes to decrease their dependence onwells.

But other islanders want a public water system because their wells have become contaminated by saltwater intrusion.

In January 2005, a judge dismissed a lawsuit challenging procedures that the Public Utility DIstrict used to justify building the system, which would serve the 850 residents of the island.

Conserve Water First is now arguing aginst the determination that the project is exempt from the State Environmental Protection Act, according to assistant county planner David Johnson.

"But they don't have an adminstrative remedy other than appealing the decision to the appellate hearing examiner," said Johnson.

"Unfortunately, the hearing examiner doesn't have the authority to review the official categorical exemption, so we are denying their appeal."

Johnson said he was sending Marrowstone resident Ray Harker, Conserve Water First's representative in the appeal, notification that the group has 21 days to file an appeal in Superior Court.

Appeal to state

Gerald Steel, the group's Seattle-based attorney, on Monday said his client's next move was to appeal to the Shoreline Hearings Board.

"We actually requested that he deny the request," Steel said, adding that it would show that the group had legally exhausted all legal means.

By going to the Shoreline Hearings Board, Steel said, Conserve Water First could prove the county failed to follow SEPA.

Major hurdle cleared

Deputy Hearing Examiner Mark Hurdlebrink, a Tacoma-based lawyer, two months ago granted a substantial shoreline permit for Jefferson County Public Utility District, clearing a major hurdle in the district's efforts to construct a Marrowstone Island water system.

Hurdlebrink's decision granted PUD the shoreline permit, allowing it to build within 200 feet of the fresh-water-deficient island's shoreline.

Water for Marrowstone, the group that requested and supported the PUD project, cites about 100 wells of the estimated 500 in existence on Marrowstone Island that are either dry or contaminated by saltwater intrusion.

The shoreline permit clears the way for a conditional use permit for the Marrowstone water system project, which would allow PUD to lay eight-, six-, four- and two-inch water lines along county and state roads crisscrossing the island.

In about nine areas the waterlines would come within 200 feet of the shoreline.

Jim Parker, PUD general manager, said Monday that he was not surprised by the legal development since the SEPA issue is not a shoreline issue.

Parker said indications are that the county Department of Community Development is going to require a SEPA review of the PUD's Marrowstone water project anyway.

Meanwhile, Parker [and] the PUD commissioners are expected on July 14 to open bids on a project that would build the first 3,000 feet of Marrowstone pipeline from the Fort Flagler State Park reservoir to state Highway 116.

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Port Townsend/Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.