King County Councilmember Dow Constantine and 34th District state legislators called today’s Washington Supreme Court decision to allow the issuance of permits for a massive gravel mining operation on Maury Island a major setback for Puget Sound.

King County originally denied the permit to multinational mining corporation Glacier Northwest, but its decision was reversed by the state Court of Appeals. King County and the environmental group Preserve Our Islands appealed that reversal, but the state high court declined to hear arguments and let the decision stand.

“It’s ironic that, even as we are asking state taxpayers to spend billions to clean up Puget Sound, this decision gives a green light to a project that will destroy a crucial piece of our remaining nearshore environment,” said Constantine. “I’m extremely disappointed by the court’s refusal to hear the case, but hopeful that federal regulators may yet intervene to halt this destructive project.”

“Obviously, we’re disappointed,” said Amy Carey, president of Preserve Our Islands. “But the fact remains that Maury Island is not the place to put a mine of this type or size. Nor is this the time to be rolling back protections for Puget Sound and public health. That’s why we’re working on a number of fronts to ensure that the nation’s largest mine of its kind is not put in the middle of prime orca and salmon habitat, and atop our community’s only source of drinking water.”

Last year, the state Senate approved a bill (SB 6011) that would have halted the Glacier mine, but the proposal died without a floor vote in the House of Representatives. The bill was backed by a broad environmental coalition, including Washington Conservation Voters, Washington Environmental Council, People for Puget Sound, Preserve Our Islands, Audubon Washington, former state Commissioner of Public Lands Jennifer Belcher, King County Executive Ron Sims, State Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, and Billy Frank, co-chair of the Puget Sound Partnership.

“Given today’s disappointing news, I will redouble my legislative efforts to protect Maury Island and the surrounding waters from this intrusive project,” said State Sen. Joe McDermott (D-34th).

“The Legislature must not give up on protecting protect Puget Sound’s salmon and orcas from the detrimental effects of this massive mine,” said State Rep. Eileen Cody (D-34th).

“A recent report to the state Legislature showed that fish and wildlife permits are not protecting our fisheries,” said State Rep. Sharon Nelson (D-34th). “The condition of Puget Sound reflects the fact that our system benefits corporations, not the Sound.”

Even with this decision, Glacier still must obtain federal permits to operate a barge-loading facility on the site. State Commissioner of Public Lands Doug Sutherland must also decide whether to lease publicly-owned aquatic lands to allow the operation of the barge-loading facility. “Those lands belong to the citizens of this state, not to a multinational corporation,” said Constantine.