Senate Bill 5805 Supporter Says, “It’s all about gravel” – Bellingham Herald

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Al B.

A very insiteful article showing that this bill, moving through the Senate, and according to Democrats in the House is DOA, is actually about taking any local control away from Jefferson County on Pit To Pier, and moving this project forward. Please call your Senator or Representatives and let them know that this bill should die.

February 27th, 2013 9 AM PST by john - The Bellingham Herald

By John Stark

A Washington State Senate bill calling for expedited processing of permits for–among other things–”basic commodity transportation” is getting a lot of attention from opponents of the Gateway Pacific Terminal coal export pier proposed for Cherry Point.

Filed under: Around the Sound, Jefferson County, legislation, Olympic Peninsula, Pit To Pier | Leave a Comment »

Action Alert from Friends of Hood Canal re: Pit To Pier

Posted on March 17, 2011 by Al B.
We received this from John Fabian Thursday:
Dear Friends of Hood Canal:
Please send a quick email to the Chair of the House Committee on Community Development and Housing in Olympia.
They are considering a piece of legislation that would strongly favor the pit-to-pier project and Fred Hill Materials.
Please ask that the Chair oppose this special interest legislation called SB5676 which deals with “projects of statewide significance.”
Fred Hill Materials wants to greatly relax the requirements for such a designation and to put pressure on the system to get their project approved.
The Chair’s email is Phyllis.Kenney@leg.wa.gov
Just a short email asking her to oppose SB5676 with your name and address will make a huge difference.
Thanks for your support.

John Fabian

Filed under: Hood Canal, Jefferson County, Olympic Peninsula, Pit To Pier | Leave a Comment »

Fred Hill Materials Inc., files for Chapter 11 reorganization

Posted on February 8, 2010 by Al B.

2/5 Peninsula Daily News–Fred Hill Materials Inc., files for Chapter 11 reorganization
Peninsula Daily News

Fred Hill Materials Inc., has filed for protection under Chapter 11 of U.S. bankruptcy laws.

Alex Hill, president and CEO of the Poulsbo family-based company, announced the move Friday, saying it follows the May closure of Westsound Bank.

The company will continue to deliver concrete products from its operations in Port Townsend, Sequim, Poulsbo, and Bremerton, Hill said in a statement.

“Chapter 11 is reorganization, not bankruptcy,” Hill said. “We are not closing, nor going anywhere.

More at
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20100205/NEWS/100209994

Filed under: Hood Canal, Pit To Pier | Leave a Comment »

Pit To Pier – A reversal and a second reversal- Canadians buy into 1/4 of Pit to Pier- PDN

Posted on January 13, 2010 by Al B.

As you can see from the comment by the PDN publisher, apparently there was a mistake in the PDN source on the story. I feel better in that I’m not the only one making mistakes today (I inadvertently went to Seattle for a board meeting that I have gone to for two years every third Weds!). Luckily I had other business down there…No problems Mr. Brewer, I’ll leave this up for a day or so, so that the correction can be noted.

Not sure yet whether Chris Dunagan’s article was a mistake, or whether this reversal happened just afterwards. But as I said before, it’s appears to be another new chapter.
1/13 Peninsula Daily News
Canadian firm buys quarter share of ‘pit to pier’ gravel mining project near Hood Canal Bridge

http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20100113/news/301139979

By Jeff Chew
Peninsula Daily News

SHINE — Athabasca Minerals Inc. of Canada will purchase a 25 percent stake in the Thorndyke Resource “pit to pier” gravel mining project now under Jefferson County planning review.

According to a statement from the publicly traded company based in Edmonton, Alberta, it will invest $3 million and assume a minority partnership in Thorndyke Resource, the company formed by the Fred Hill Materials family to develop and operate the pit-to-pier project proposed south of the Hood Canal Bridge.

Fred Hill Materials proposes building a 4-mile-long conveyor belt to Hood Canal to move gravel to a 1,000-foot pier and load it on barges for transport.

Alex Hill, Fred Hill Materials and Thorndyke Resource chief executive and a grandson of the company’s founder, said Athabasca brings additional experience and financial backing to the pit-to-pier project.

The rest of the story is here…

Filed under: Pit To Pier | 1 Comment »

Pit to Pier funding falls through – End near?

Posted on January 11, 2010 by Al B.

Well, well well. Not totally surprising, given the economy. But here it is… end of the story or just another chapter closing?

1/10/10 Kitsap Sun —Financing Deal for Hood Canal Pit-to-Pier Project Falls Through
By Christopher Dunagan

POULSBO —  A Canadian company and the Hill family of North Kitsap have broken off a relationship that could have brought $3 million to a pit-to-pier gravel project proposed in Jefferson County.

Athabasca Minerals Inc. of Edmonton, Alberta, and Thorndyke Resource of Poulsbo never completed the terms of an agreement, which would have given Athabasca a 25 percent ownership <http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2009/sep/11/pit-to-pier-mining-operation-expands-ownership/>  in the pit-to-pier project.

Alex Hill, owner of Thorndyke Resource, said he has received “considerable investment interest” in the project.

“After further considering their (Athabasca’s) proposal, we have chosen another funding alternative more beneficial to the Thorndyke Resource project,” Hill said.

More at
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/jan/10/financing-deal-for-pit-to-pier-project-falls/

Filed under: Pit To Pier | Leave a Comment »

Shine Pit Expansion Upheld by Court

Posted on November 10, 2009 by Al B.

The Pit to Pier project moves on… I’ll update this as I better understand the next battle to stop this.

*11/10 Peninsula Daily News Jefferson County mining expansion OK upheld by appellate court By Jeff Chew SHINE — A Washington State Court of Appeals ruling upholds Fred Hill Materials’ right to expand gravel mining at its site south of state Highway 104. The decision released Monday upheld a visiting Kitsap County Superior Court judge’s ruling. Judge Anna Laurie a year ago affirmed a 2004 Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board finding that a Jefferson County-approved 690-acre mineral resource land overlay for Fred Hill Materials complies with the state Growth Management Act. The overlay is tangential to Fred Hill’s proposed pit-to-pier project — a controversial plan to build a four-mile-long conveyor belt from the company’s Shine gravel pit to a 1,000-foot dock to move gravel to barges in Hood Canal — which Jefferson County is environmentally assessing separately from the land overlay. … Hood Canal Coalition was joined in the state Court of Appeals petition by Olympic Environmental Council, Jefferson County Green Party, People for a Livable Community, Kitsap Audubon Society, Hood Canal Environmental Counsel and People for Puget Sound.

More at http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20091110/news/311109995

Filed under: Hood Canal, Pit To Pier | Leave a Comment »

Pit-to-pier’s ‘significance’ spurned by Jefferson County commissioners -PDN

Posted on September 15, 2009 by Al B.

Fred Hill continues to struggle to get traction for their long running project to create a new port facility on Hood Canal.  The interesting part of the story is that when F.H. sold part of it’s Shine operation, it resulted in layoffs rather job creation. Their claims of creating thousands of jobs have to be taken into question. My basic math says that if you change from trucks to loading ships with the same raw material, you probably end up eliminating truck driving jobs. The likely outcome of P2P, if it ever happens, is less workers, industrialization of Hood Canal in an area without industry now, and immense noise pollution of a wide residential area around the facility that currently is quiet. We’ll await the EIS to see what else there may be lurking in the eel grass.

9/15 Peninsula Daily News –By Jeff Chew –Peninsula Daily News

PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson County commissioners on Monday took no action on a Fred Hill Materials’ request to designate the company’s proposed pit-to-pier project as an “industrial project of statewide significance.

County Administrator Philip Morley’s recommended against the designation.

Seeing it as a “risk potentially,” Morley said the county could legally be viewed as a “co-applicant” and an advocate for the project.

More at
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20090915/news/309159989

Filed under: Hood Canal, Jefferson County, Pit To Pier | Leave a Comment »

Pit 2 Pier – Fred Hill sells partial ownership to Canadian company

Posted on September 13, 2009 by Al B.

POULSBO — A Canadian company, Athabasca Minerals Inc., has agreed to purchase a 25 percent stake in the so-called pit-to-pier gravel-mining operation proposed in Jefferson County.

Athabasca, a publicly traded company based in Edmonton, Alberta, will put up $3 million and assume a minority partnership in Thorndyke Resource, the company formed by the Fred Hill family to develop and operate the pit-to-pier project.

More at the Kitsap Sun: http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2009/sep/11/pit-to-pier-mining-operation-expands-ownership/

Filed under: Hood Canal, Pit To Pier, Projects | Leave a Comment »

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