WHEN CITIZEN CONCERNS ARE IGNORED...

  
Submitted to Shelton Blog by Patricia Vandehey    Mason County Progressive 

HOW THINGS ARE DONE IN MASON COUNTY

ROUND ONE: 

In an August issue of the Mason County Journal’s "Public Notice" section, I saw the announcement that the City of Shelton was planning to dredge the Shelton Creek. Because of the build up of sediment, there was a distinct possibility of flooding in some of the surrounding neighborhoods.

It spiked my curiosity, so I looked up the SEPA report. There already had been a Determination of Non-Significance (DNS) issued. DNS notices seem to be given out like Halloween candy in the County and City. One thing I noticed when reading the SEPA, was item #12: it stated that the sediment would be dredged and hauled off to an upland site so as not to enter State waters. There was no information as to where this “upland site” is located.

So being a "Nosy Nelly", I requested information from the Public Works Department, including questions about what sediment testing is done, as it was stated that this sediment should not enter State waters. Approximately 700 to 900 cubic yards of sediment were to be removed. One of the reasons I was concerned about the sediment was the fact that some of the water coming down to Shelton Creek is from Goose Lake, a very highly contaminated body of water. 

This was the response I received form Jerry Haut, Project Manager: 

“For this project it will be the contractor’s responsibility to properly dispose of any dredging materials. There are a number of local sites that have been permitted to accept contaminated materials and our contractor will be responsible to select who they want to team with for this project. There is no testing proposed if the material is contaminated and it is subsequently disposed of at an approved disposal site, we will ultimately have less contaminated material in the stream and bay.” 

This response completely baffled me. No information was given as to where these sites are located; contractors are responsible for picking the correct disposal sites; no testing is done; and if sediment is contaminated, it will be put in an "okay" place.

A meeting was set up with Steve Goins, Community and Economic Director for the the City of Shelton. Terri Thompson, Doug Sayan and I attended. We had no additional information after the meeting that we didn’t have before it. It was basically the same thing I was told before.

ROUND TWO:

Next, on July 26, 2012, I sent a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to Mason County Health Department requesting all information about hazardous and non-hazardous dumping sites, and whether any were located over critical areas such as wetland CARAs (Critical Aquifer Recharge Areas), or near bodies of water, etc.

On August 6, 2012, I received a letter, not signed, from Mason County Public Health telling me:

“Mason County does not currently have a landfill that disposes of hazardous or non hazardous material. There are several intermediate solid waste collection sites that collect solid waste for transfer to other locations for final disposal.” 

No information was given about where these “other sites are located”. Only two places were mentioned: Belfair Drop Box and Transfer Station. There are 14 recycling operations and 2 composting facilities. I received the permits for the solid wastes and compost sites, but only 2 recycling operations.The ones I received were either not completely filled out, or the information given seemed questionable. There was no information about critical areas. I wrote a letter on Aug. 14, 2012, again asking for that information. I also requested information about sites other than Webb Hill that accept sludge as a land application.

On August 14. 2012, I received a response, again not signed, stating:

“You requested information that is not maintained in this office. I will attempt to direct you to the best location to secure your requested information. The City of Shelton and the Mason County Planning Department both have rosters of Critical Aquifer Recharge Areas. These two rosters are different. You can determine the proximity of the business to the recharge areas in question using the address provided." 

I was also referred to Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Department of Ecology (DOE) about land application. So it was back to square one.

On August 17, 2012, I sent another letter: To Whom it may Concern at Mason County Health Department (MCHD).  I told them as I do not work for the County or the Health Department, there are no "rosters or lists" available. There are two maps, one the City’s and the other the County’s, but both have the same information source: Gordon Adams, who did the originals for free. It is not exactly clear about his qualifications. Anyhow, the maps are completely different. Where the City of Shelton shows a Class I area, the County shows Class II, and vice versa. There has never been a study done to correct the differences.

On August 30, 2012, my final correspondence from MCHD was signed by the Environmental Health Manager, Debbie Riley. In her comment it states:

“The purpose of a records request is to make existing records available to the requestor, not to research or analyze data.  Your questions go far beyond providing existing records and I will address them to the best of my ability.”

Apparently, CARA is not an acronym the Mason County Public Health Department uses. I cannot tell where or if any of listed facilities listed are over or near critical areas. MCHD does not issue permits to exempt facilities. Note: The copies of many of the listed facilities have a heading  of “Mason County Public Health Permit”.

I stand corrected in thinking that Mason County Public Health would have public health related information. The only information I have heard given at the Board of County Commissioner Meetings was when Vicky Kirkpatrick, our Public Health Director, gave such earth shattering statements as: “Get a flu shot" and "Smoking, drinking alcohol, and not exercising are bad for your health", and a report by Johnson & Johnson saying the same things. 

Bye the bye, one of our illustrious commissioners received a nice campaign donation from the aforementioned company, and Kirkpatrick received a salary increase due to her good friend Ring Erickson. Well, there still was no information. So on to…

ROUND THREE:

On Sept 4, 2012, at the open comment period of the County Commissioners' Meeting, I tried to find out again for the umpteenth time where are the CARAs. I explained all the above, and then read the RCW used by the Growth Management Act requiring the County to keep accurate information regarding location of the CARAs. 

This was totally ignored except the part about the dredging. Commissioner Shelton did not like the word “dredging” and thought “excavating” was a better word. Commissioner Ring Erickson did not have a clue as to what I was saying, and Commissioner Bloomfield started yelling at me that I was trying to shut down the project and would be responsible for the flooding of the residential areas.  When I tried to explain my question, Ring Erickson started gaveling and telling me I was out of order and to sit down, while Bloomfield continued shouting. Ring Erickson almost broke the gavel.

So ended my adventure with the City of Shelton, Mason County Health Department and the Mason County Commissioners. I never found out any of the information I requested, and was knocked out in all three rounds.
 
And that is how things are done in Mason County...