The company, based in Redmond, has 15 offices around the country including one in Port Orchard. Among its many projects are the restoration of the Beaver Creek system and the Bremerton Marina expansion.

Michelle Farfan, associate planner with Jefferson County, said contract negotiations among the county, Fred Hill Materials (which is paying for the consultant) and GeoEngineers were expected to conclude by mid-June. Once the contract is awarded it will be forwarded to county commissioners for their signatures.

“This is the first project of this type for Jefferson County,” she said.

The project, referred to as the “pit to pier” project, would include a 4-mile conveyor connecting to a 1,000-foot pier that would be built on the western shore of the Hood Canal, about 5 miles southwest of the Hood Canal Bridge. The pier would be used to load sand and gravel from the company’s onshore mine onto barges and ships, supplying the materials to regional and interstate markets via maritime routes. The mine is located on timberland leased from Pope Resources and the company is currently trucking the materials.

“Sand and gravel is a basic commodity, and there is not a lot of it left on the Kitsap Peninsula,” said Fred Hill Materials project manager Dan Baskins. “The pits are being depleted so we’re just (trying to provide) some basic commodities: 12 tons of sand and gravel is consumed per capita each year.”

Baskins said the company spent several years working with the best engineers and environmental agencies to design a light footprint that will not affect the immediate environment. In addition, he said the mining operation would provide rare sand that is the best match for beach restoration projects on Puget Sound.

The project, which is supported by union and labor groups, has met strong opposition from others. A group called the Hood Canal Coalition, created in 2002 as a result of the proposed project, says the pit to pier construction will have adverse economic and environmental effects. In 2004, Congressman Norm Dicks, whose district includes Jefferson County, wrote the county commissioners a letter urging them to deny the company’s request for a “mineral resource land overlay” designation on 690 acres of its land. He wrote, “I have stated publicly my objections to Fred Hill Materials’ pit-to-pier project. I fear that the project would unalterably change the character of Hood Canal, potentially leading to its industrialization.”

The state aggregate industry is one of the largest in the country, thanks to the glaciers that carved and deposited materials in Puget Sound. Various factors such as economic slowdown and oil prices have caused a downturn in the booming sector. It takes seven to 10 years on average to obtain permits for facilities, and the average cost of a 50-acre aggregate facility is around $5 million. Supporters say the industry is environmentally sound and good for the economy.

“It’s easy to create drama around a mining operation,” Baskins said regarding the opposition.

Fred Hill Materials lobbied for a bill in the last legislative session that would have recognized marine transportation of sand and gravel as “essential public facilities” alongside airports and waste water treatment plants. The two Senate and House companion bills did not make it out of committees.

Baskins said the company expected the permitting process to bring litigation and that the project would take about 10 years to get the final green light. “There hasn’t been a mining pit in the state that hasn’t been litigated,” he said.

“We applied for permits in 2003 and have been working on studies and data. It’s time to wrap that up,” he said, referring to the work that would soon start on the EIS.

Farfan said the company agreed to pay for the third-party consultant as well as to reimburse the county for staff time. “I know the health of the Hood canal is a major issue because of the location of the pier,” she said, adding that as soon as the project scoping and other steps are complete, the county plans to launch a public outreach process.