Grays River man requests county action on river

A Grays River man on Tuesday asked Wahkiakum County commissioners to help fix an erosion problem which he claims was caused by a faulty county road project.

The man, Phillip Zerr, said the county road department in 2002 had placed rock fill along the Grays where it was eroding the bank under Loop Road. The project wasn’t finished, however, and now the altered river current is eroding land belonging to Zerr and a neighbor.

County Commissioners Dan Cothren, George Trott and Blair Brady said they would refer the request to Public Works Director Pete Ringen for an evaluation.

Zerr said the work was done under a previous administrator. For some reason, J hooks, rock or wood structures designed to slow currents, weren’t installed as called for in the original project plans.

“That work was never done, and now the Sorensons and I are suffering property damage,” he said. “Ultimately, it was a county project.

“When you people did the project, you didn’t follow through and finish it.”