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From: Stephen Willing < lo (3~ 'Dr'": N~ ~ 4'f'3~7
Subject:
Date: December 22,200511 :43:09 PM PST
To D. Johnson, project planner. ~1 . " U ,A
Jefferson County Dept Community Development e (.. ~ ( ~, {~Wr
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This letter addresses the issue of Shorelines and Wetlands protection requirements during pipeline construction of the Tri-Area
water service system expansion to extend distribution of water onto Marrowstone Island.
Many ill defined and undocumented claims and criteria regarding the very legality of this project are and have been brought up but I
wish to abjure you to reconsider the position taken by the Commissioners on the subject of Shorelines significance vis a lIie the
construction of the pipeline portion of the project. Specificly I take exception to the assertion by non-trained individuals that there
would be no impact from construction in the complex vadose of Marrowstone Island. We are talking ground water and on
Marrowstone Island ground water and surface water are one and the same. 1lli& is 8t.IppOf1e& by the EPA designatiortof soI& source
aquifer. Mess with surface structure and one is messing with the ground water complex. If said messing takes place in the shoreline
zone there is risk to the hydrostatic balance in the producing strata that interacts with the inter-tidal zone and near sub-tidal
margins. Another way of expressing this is to state that surface recharge areas exist in close proximity to and within the Shoreline
zone, disturbance of said recharges zones may restrict flow to many fine wells thereby triggering saline intrusion into the aquifer
when lens pressure is reduced from interupted surface water recharge. These interuptions are a direct outcome of the mechanical
disturbance of the soil peels in the ditch structure. This occurs irrespective of the size of pipe being laid which obviates the claim of
insignifcance based on project pipe size. { after cursury e~amination of a pipe friction loss table, I have some doubt that mains as
small as proposed would support any fire flQhting capacity which is one of the alleged banifits being claimed in support of the
project.} One of many outcomes would be Salmon nursury degradation from loss of "flow" to natural springs in the shallow
margins where fry of several species spend time in the maturation process. These outcomes are the exact issues causing the salt
water intrusion protection designation to be applied to Marrowstone in order to prevent them from happening. Ironic.
Long runs of deep trench in the zone may act as a dike to the natural flows of water when the trench is filled and tamped which is
required to assure support of the pipe to prevent stresses on the pipe. This issue is also critcal to wetlands which by definiton
recieve a large percentage of their water from lateral surface movement. An equally injurious effect would be the creation of a
surface contaminant infiltration source into the aquifer [s] by "fluffing up " the long settled surface soils. Many good wells on
Marrowstone are not deep wells rather they are shallow. Those wells are also the ones in service the longest and with senior water
rights. As an aside they are also the most reliable and least prone to saline issues or production degradation. In short, people
settled and built where there was reliable water and of good quality. Many of these properties are within the Shorelines Protection
Zone. If a water system of limited benifit is to be built on Marrowstone Island let us at least take ample measures to prevent it from
doing grievious harm to the Island as a whole. To that end there needs to be a comprehesive and valid Environmental Impact
Statement prior to construction of the project.
That buying a property for residential purpose without proven water was ever continanced by community ~velopment is appalling,
had it been otherwise we would not be dealing with this issue now. That even worse problems be averted let all diligence and
prudence be exercised at the outset of this project rather than sometime down the road when irreparable harm has been done.
Sl~'~ w~
LOG \TEM
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