Island Guardian

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Tip of the Iceberg

A lot of money has been spent with the intention of building a new Solid Waste Transfer Station. If you count the $1.8 million purchase price of the Kellsey South property, and add the cost of a $150 thousand Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), plus approximately $338 thousand in materials, staff, and administration this is already a really big investment and we haven’t even started building yet. With this kind of financial commitment it becomes hard to change course. But is this ship headed for disaster?

Yes. There is an iceberg right off the bow of this Titanic. What lies below the tip is the hidden cost of the new facility. I have always thought it made sound financial sense to begin with a cost vs. benefit analysis. In this case the essential part of the equation, estimated cost, is unknown. The public has not even been given a ballpark figure for this new facility.

Five sites are being studied in the EIS. Did you know that the county has no written agreements with the property owners of 3 of the sites? Concerning the Golf Course Rd, Daniel Lane, and Egg Lake sites our County information spokesman stated, “The owners were informed that their properties would be considered and Public Works obtained verbal permission to access the properties to perform inspections and studies for the EIS.”

If the Public Works Department was serious about the potential use of these sites wouldn’t it be in the public interest to at least have an option agreement so the potential purchase price would be known? If the county didn’t even take the first step toward making a serious deal with owners of these sites we can conclude that they were included as red herrings to be tossed aside in favor of the new site that we are already heavily invested in.

If you consider that the cost of studying 5 sites for $150k we just blew $90 thousand to evaluate 3 sites where the County has no formal agreements with property owners, no financial investment in, and no intention to purchase. County leaders are treating our tax dollars like solid waste!

That leaves us with two sites for comparison, the existing site at Sutton Rd. and (drum roll please) the obvious favorite choice of Public Works, the Kellsey South property off Beaverton Valley Road. The truth is even though we have a huge investment in this site we can’t afford it.

It defies common sense to move the transfer station from its present location. The existing site has utilities and permits in place and the zoning is appropriate. The impacts and expectations of surrounding property owners are known. It is wrong to trash another site in a residential neighborhood and create two transfer stations on our island.

Building a new facility does not make financial sense. We are in a situation where the existing tipping fees do not provide us with much of a capital reserve. If we build it with all the bells and whistles and fill it with County workers the tipping fees will be astronomical! If the rates are set too high the Town of Friday Harbor may find it in their best interest to continue using the existing site. That will remove their cash flow contribution from the County operation leaving a big budget shortfall. If the County can’t subsidize operations self haul customers will be forced to make up the difference. The County could potentially end up with an expensive site that few people can afford to use.

We need to change course before we hit the iceberg. Our top priority should be to improve the existing site and find ways to consolidate loads into more efficient trips to the site that reduce traffic, improve safety, and limit the impacts to the existing Sutton Road neighborhood. A separate site for recycling should be a priority.

The public really needs to be engaged in this process. It is not just a NIMBY issue. Before tipping fees go up all around the County to pay for this Titanic failure it is in everyone’s interest to find a solution we can afford. We simply can’t keep treating tax dollars like solid waste.

(Gordy graduated with honors from Seattle Pacific University with a degree in Philosophy. He also attended Theological Seminary. He has spent most of his life in the San Juan Islands. He once owned a small chain of grocery stores in the islands. He has many years of active participation on utility boards
and in countywide planning under GMA including membership on the original Citizens Committee for drafting the Comprehensive Plan, Vice Chair of the Countywide Steering Committee, and Chairman of the San Juan County Planning Commission. Most Recently, he served our community as an elected Freeholder from District 1. He is currently running for County Council in District 1. Read more at: http://www.gordyforcouncil.com )
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Supernatural BC

I recently made a video on Victoria’s sewage problem. It has caused an international stink. Did you know there is an organized group of “sewage deniers” in Victoria BC? Well there is, and when they got a whiff of what we islanders think about their sewage they were quick to react in a hostile way.

The group that supports Victoria’s sewage dumping policy has a web site. They say that using the Straight of Juan de Fuca for their toilet is “natural”. Anyone who challenges this assertion is simply an idiot that doesn’t know what he is talking about. Is it possible that Victoria is the only city in the world whose sewage doesn’t stink? How “Supernatural” is that?

The list of adherents to the “dumping-raw-sewage-is-natural” movement is diverse and impressive. This group is made up of physicians, health professionals, scientists, and community leaders. They all have one thing in common. They do not want to pay any money to fix the problem (What problem?). They are a miserly lot. Will they ever get off the pot and do something? Perhaps it would be more expensive not to.

Last year BC increased its tourism promotion from 25 million to 50 million.
Tourism creates jobs for over 114,000 British Columbians and $8.9 billion in economic activity in communities throughout the Province. With the Olympic games coming to the to Canada in 2010 these numbers could more than double.

That is why the threat of a boycott has created such a stink. BC environmentalists and the sewage deniers are united in that they all fear any kind of media focus on the sewage problem that could flush their “Supernatural” image down the toilet. This is why we absolutely need to make a stink now!!

Here is what happened when I attempted to do this. I got several calls and emails from Canadian sewage experts saying that the plastic tampon applicators that I found on the beach and featured in the video could not possibly have come from Victoria. They have been screening out plastic debris for several years now. The offending flushed plastic feminine hygiene products that they call “whitefish” must have come from “local beach campers or ships transiting the area.” Therefore I am an idiot that doesn’t know what I’m talking about.

Okay, first let’s put this all in perspective. It is not the whitefish that are the problem. Yes, they gross me out. The problem is that Victoria residents treat our shared environment as their toilet and don’t seem to care what we think about it.

Now let’s examine the arguments from the sewage experts shall we? As for the beach camper theory, camping is not permitted on our beaches. The transiting ship theory is a classic. How many ships transiting the area have large numbers of women crew whose periods are cycling together and all flush their tampon applicators when they get close to Victoria? What are the odds that the print on their tampons reads in French and English?

Upon closer cross- examination I got an admission that “it's possible that those whitefish are from multiple overflow events (during heavy rains).” It is also possible that they have been on the beach for a long time. Any casual beachcomber can find them.

I was told that some treatment facility is expected to be in place by 2016. Still, 8 more years of dumping raw sewage into the straight is not something that should boost Canadian national pride. Victoria is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I used to visit regularly. I don’t go there anymore because of their callous attitude about this problem. If others do this too there may be hope that solutions will come sooner and the pollution will stop.

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