February 22, 2001

For Immediate Release Contact: Mark S. Raney Sultan City Council Member 360-793-3474 Christie Amrine Sultan City Planner 360-793-2231

SULTAN TO STATE DNR RE GRAVEL PIT: DO IT RIGHT OR NOT AT ALL

City Council Rebukes State Over Flawed Process, Impact on Community

SULTAN, February 21 – The City Council of Sultan unanimously tonight passed a resolution telling the Washington State Department of Natural Resources that it rejects the Department’s plans to lease rights for mining and transporting gravel from the Sultan Basin area. The resolution, passed by a vote of 6-0 and was signed by the council and the mayor, follows a series of public meetings wherein residents and others who would be affected by the 600-acre site have expressed outrage at the proposed project.

The City Council’s resolution, number 02-01, opposes the DNR’s plans to proceed because the Department has not conducted the process in a manner consistent with the letter and intent of laws governing the state’s natural resources as well as for failing to comply with laws regarding notification of surrounding residents, property owners, jurisdictions and other interested parties, and for failing to disclose to Sultan city officials the Department’s plans for the site despite multiple meetings held to discuss the future of adjacent water resources and lands.

The resolution further notes that the Department has issued an Environmental Checklist that is "incorrect and incomplete in that it fails to list several endangered species native to the proposed site as well as critical habitat found inside the boundaries of the site including the Sultan River" and other waterways that the DNR has listed as Class III waterways.

In addition, the Council’s resolution notes that the DNR itself has released recent traffic studies that clearly state that the Sultan site is not acceptable due to safety issues surrounding US 2. The Gravel Pit constitutes a health and safety issue for the residents of the City of Sultan as well as any who use the Federal roadway that runs between Everett and over Stevens Pass.

The resolution demands that in the absence of a complete withdrawal of the gravel pit proposal, that the project be remanded back to the initial phase to insure that accurate information be included in the documentation that is required to be presented to interested purchasers of the mineral rights should the sale proceed.