Our mission is to protect the habitat of Puget Sound tidelands from the underregulated expansion of new and intensive shellfish aquaculture methods. These methods were never anticipated when the Shoreline Management Act was passed. They are transforming the natural tideland ecosystems in Puget Sound and are resulting in a fractured shoreline habitat. In South Puget Sound much of this has been done with few if any meaningful shoreline permits and with limited public input. It is exactly what the Shoreline Management Act was intended to prevent.

Get involved and contact your elected officials to let them you do not support aquaculture's industrial transformation of Puget Sound's tidelands.

Governor Inslee:

Monday, November 12, 2012

Taylor Shellfish Mussel Farm Appeal, Nov 14

November 14, at 4PM
Thurston County Courthouse
Building One, Room 280
Before Thurston County Commissioners

Taylor Shellfish will appeal the mussel farm permit denial before the Thurston County Commissioners Wednesday, November 14. When Taylor Shellfish was asked to provide additional information to the Hearing Examiner, Mr. Thomas Bjorgen, to address cumulative impacts, Taylor instead asked Mr. Bjorgen to deny the permit, which he did. [click here for mussel farm documents]

Now, Taylor has appealed the denial they requested to the County Commissioners. It will be a public hearing, but no new evidence nor public testimony will be allowed. At the hearing the County Commissioners will be asked to consider the legal arguments supporting Taylor's position, the Hearing Examiner, and APHETI (Association for the Protection of Hammersely, Eld and Totten Inlets). APHETI's attorney will testify in support of the decision to deny the permit.

Taylor's primary concern, and why they asked the Examiner to deny the permit, is their fear of what an analysis of cumulative impacts from expanding commercial shellfish operations will show. They should be concerned.

No comments:

Post a Comment