Judge rejects Maury Island gravel-mine permit
Article in The Seattle Times.
"The metal supports had been fabricated. The contractors were on standby. And angry island neighbors were ready to chain themselves to construction cranes or block incoming barges with a rainbow-colored array of boats and kayaks.
But days before a gravel mining company was set to resume building a controversial 305-foot dock in an aquatic reserve on Maury Island, a federal judge late Thursday tossed out the company's permits.
After 11 years of political and legal wrangling, U.S. District Court Judge Ricardo Martinez ruled the Army Corps of Engineers erred by not thoroughly assessing how noise and shading from construction and operation of the pier might harm Puget Sound's chinook salmon and orcas, which are protected by the Endangered Species Act..."
