November 2008 Meeting Minutes

7:00 PM

Call to Order

Pledge of Allegiance

Roll call

Review and approve agenda

Public comment on topics which are not listed on the agenda

Approval of minutes

Public Comments

Dick Bonewits, a member of the Flood Advisory Committee, reminded us that we pay a property tax of 10 cents for every $1,000 of assessed value. There are many projects scheduled for the Cedar River by Mark Issacson from the Water and Land Division. Dick mentioned that Mark would be a good person to meet with our committee.

7:10 PM: Landsburg Mine Cleanup

Jerome Cruz, Site Manager with the WA Dept. of Ecology and Nancy Liu, WA State Dept. of Ecology. Barbara Smith and Bob Warren were also in attendance; they assist with the Landsburg Mine.

Jerome began by giving us a history of the mine. For more than 30 years, they have not found any groundwater contamination. As regulators, they have a process for cleaning up hazardous areas; this begins with an initial investigation and "ranking" of the site, in which they evaluate the risk to people. A rating of one is the highest risk and five is the lowest risk. Then they go through a feasibility study and look at the cleanup action. Jerome reminded us that when the coal was extracted, the ground below actually collapsed. The mine operated from 1959 through 1975. Between 1969 and 1978, there was some illegal dumping of hazardous materials. In 1980, they started putting wood waste in the area. In 1989, the Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA) went into effect and the initial investigation began. The Dept. of Health was the first responder. An emergency removal of 120 drums was conducted. In 1993, the EPA looked into this and referred the site to the state authority. From 1994 to 1996, a study was completed which included testing of surrounding wells. The site is still being tested because they want to ensure that nothing happens to the wells.

The question was asked, "How do you know your monitoring is adequate?" It relates to the geology. One of the things they did is install a well at the site to mointor the water. Jerome provided a list of Potentially Liable Parties (PLPs) and this information can be found on their website. PLP assumes that there could be other PLPs and if so, then the original group has the right to go back and ask for damages. The PLPs are responsible for paying the oversight costs.

Doug Morrell then spoke about the mine itself. The mine was a vertical mine and the coal was mined in four layers. He reviewed the pictures of the drums that were dumped in the north side of the trench. They have not found any on the south side. There were three mine areas - the Frasier, Rogers, and Landsburg Mines. The waste was disposed of in the Rogers seam. There are several wells between 300 and 700 feet deep that are used to monitor the groundwater in the area. The water is tested bi-annually. They tested in the spring and are getting ready to test again. It has been since 1995/6 that private wells were sampled. There were 16 private wells that were tested during this period.

The question was asked, "After 12 years, do you think it is time to test again?" This is available; however, the wells that are tested in the mines would reveal any contaminants before they reached the wells in the area. Gordon attended the public meeting and said that people were more concerned about the level of water in their wells than about contamination.

Doug then spoke about the cleanup approach, which restricts where and how development can occur. There is currently an environmental covenant on the title, and groundwater monitoring will continue in perpetuity.

Jerome then summarized the presentation and spoke about the next steps. They are looking at groundwater monitoring frequency along with the contingency plan and response times that will be presented to the public. If the cleanup action is approved, then in 2011 the cleanup action will be finished.

7:45 PM: Shoreline Program Update

Harry Reinert, DDES

This is Harry's third visit to the Area Council and he began by reminding us of what the Shoreline Management Act is. The cities have their own Master Plan and King County has jurisdiction in the Unincorporated Areas. The cities have the same responsibility as the county, but are responsible for designing their own plans. They have done some refinements of the designations; however, not many of the changes impact the rural areas. The major change people will see is that it will be easier for landowners to install a dock on a lake. They are also trying to integrate their permitting process so that it is simpler and takes less time. The Executive hopes to transmit his proposal to the council at the end of the year. They are taking comments through November 14. The area council has until December 5 to send in comments. If citizens have questions on determining their shoreline responsibilities, they can find details on the website.

The qustion was asked, "Why is there a 165 foot setback in the rural area, and only a 115 foot setback in the ruban area?" It was determined that the rural area should be preserved at a higher level. There is already land use degradation in the urban area and we do not want the rural area to become like the urban area.

The question was asked, "What monitoring programs are in effect to determine whether the urban area is impacting the rural area?" The point was made by several members that the rural citizen is held to a higher standard and in some cases cannot develop their land. One member mentioned that it is a 165 foot setback with an additional 15 feet for a structure. The fringe around the urban growth area impacts the rural area, but it doesn't appear that this issue is being monitored by the county.

The question was asked, "Will the rural stewardship program continue?" DDES may have a bigger part in this process because of the budget cuts. The lake and river miles have increased because the US Forest lands are now included in the new plan. There are now over 100 lakes in the plan and there were only 50 in the last plan.

The question was asked, "What is marine water?" This is salt water and Vashon Island is the only marine water left.

8:15 PM: Train Show Review

Steve thanked everyone for their help at the train show, and said that the details will be given at the next meeting.

8:30 PM: Council Businesss and Committee Assignments

Gordon pased out a recap of his DDES committee meeing.

9:30 PM

Adjourn