I am angry. I’ve been involved in the Yacolt Mountain story since 2002. The major worries are still the same — our drinking water, the roads and property values.
Rotschy construction company made big promises and kept changing the answers. The well water was to be tested, pre- and post-mining, until the gravel quarry became a significant 10 acres. The testing stopped in 2008 prior to mining. Neighbors worry about what is going down through the fractured, hydrologically unstable subsurface. We have consistently tried to get the conditional-use rules enforced.
SEPA conditions have been ignored for eight years and no one is held accountable. It’s aggravating to see our taxes that pay for enforcing the laws, and then have to use our taxes to force these promises to be upheld.
Dust from trucks has long been an issue because quartz silica and mordenite are both cancer-causing agents. I have provided the Clark County council with that information only to be ignored. Promises from J.L. Storedahl & Sons to county officials to tarp these trucks have been lies. Roads and lawns are covered with dust. Neighbors suffer from breathing problems. It is a slap in our faces to live here and have our safety risked, without the help of state and county officials.
Please take time to read this and tell us we should not be angry. Lend your understanding to me and my neighbors; help us change our futures.
