I was amused to read in last week’s edition that the prospective

operator of the Grouse Ridge gravel mine has become an environmentally

friendly company. According to Cadman’s spokesperson, the German owned

firm is concerned that using Exit 38 to access Grouse Ridge may put the

South Fork of the Snoqualmie River at risk. Shouldn’t this same logic apply to

the lower site at Exit 34? Cadman’s lower site plan includes a mining

operation and processing plants within 20 vertical feet of the aquifer. The risks

of puncturing or polluting the aquifer, and/or depleting water flows,

are frightening, yet Cadman trivializes them as “manageable”. The only

reason Cadman claims that the environmental problems at Exit 34 are

easily mitigated is that it’s their most profitable alternative. A truly

environmentally friendly company wouldn’t consider endangering our county’s

drinking water. Let’s grow up. Cadman is a public corporation seeking profits

for shareholders. That’s its management’s job. We are residents with a long

_ term stake in the safety and quality of our environment. That’s our

job. Rather then naively accepting Cadman’s assurances, we must

demand that the county take a hard _ nosed look at the inconvenient facts.

Jackie TayloR

North Bend