Voice of the Mid-Columbia | Kennewick, Pasco and Richland, Wash. |
Print
E-Mail
tool name
closeSaturday, Jul. 04, 2009
Benton County gravel pit could bring 100 jobs
By Drew Foster, Herald staff writer
BENTON CITY -- A proposed gravel and sand pit on Bureau of Land Management-owned land south of Benton City could be mined for 20 to 30 years, yield about 16 million tons of material and create about 100 jobs.
The BLM has been working for about 2 1/2 years to turn the 72.5-acre piece of land into a working gravel and sand pit. It could be about 60 days from putting a contract to operate the pit to bid, said Scott Pavey, planner and public affairs officer for the BLM's Spokane office.
The final public comment period runs through Monday. Comments can be e-mailed to OR_Spokane_Mail@blm.gov or mailed to BLM District Office, 1103 N. Fancher Road, Spokane, WA 99212.
The pit's first environmental assessment was released in August 2007 but was amended after Benton City officials raised concerns, which, Pavey said, revolved around the future development of the area surrounding the proposed pit.
"We really worked with the city on this one to make sure we addressed their needs," he said, referring to the latest environmental assessment that was released in May.
Pavey said the BLM created caveats for future pit operators. These include mandated landscaping and fencing around the pit to hide it from interstate traffic and future neighboring developments and to restrict public access.
It also includes mitigation efforts such as dust control, replanting of mined areas, installation of septic tanks and water supply systems, and, toward the end of the pit's mining life, the creation of a recreation area around a small lake the BLM believes will develop due to mining.
Randy Rutledge, Benton City economic development council coordinator, said the city will welcome the pit as long as these caveats are in place.
"It sits right in the middle of high-end land right off the freeway," Rutledge said, adding that the city annexed that land about two years ago and planned for long-term development to take place there.
He hopes the pit and future development can co-exist. "That's the goal here," he said.
The creation of local jobs would be a plus, Rutledge said. However, he pointed out that if a company wins the right to operate the pit, it may just shift workers from an existing pit to the new one, which would affect how many jobs are actually created.
"It either creates or maintains 100 to 150 jobs," he said.
The proposed pit sits adjacent to an 80-acre sand and gravel pit being operated by A&B Asphalt, which Pavey said has expressed interest in operating the proposed pit. Other companies have as well, he added.
If the operation of the pit is put to bid, Pavey said the contract would be awarded based on how much money a company proposes to pay the federal government per ton of material mined. Pavey said the contract would be awarded for 10 years, at which time the company could request a renewal. The BLM expects the pit to produce about 500,000 to 1 million tons of material each year.
@Nyx.CommentBody@