County board wants beach nourishment before inland disposal

Reacting to an article which appeared last week in a daily newspaper, Wahkiakum County officials this week said dredgers won't soon be dumping spoils inside the dike on East Sunny Sand Road.

The article quoted Port of Kalama officials who said sand will be deposited on the Philip Vik farm as part of the Columbia River Channel Deepening Project. The project would involve modifications to the county road and water lines so a pipe line could be erected to transport the sand to the farmland disposal site.

However, the association of upriver ports sponsoring the project don't have approval of permits they need from Wahkiakum County.

On Monday, Wahkiakum County Building and Planning Director Chuck Beyer said, ". . . to my knowledge the upriver ports do not have a valid shoreline permit for the sand disposal on the Vik property. The BOCC has not been asked by the applicant to revisit the shoreline permit to my knowledge.

"The project is in limbo until the upriver ports come to some understanding that beach nourishment is preferred to upland disposal along East Sunny Sands Road."

On Tuesday, county commissioners commented they want sand to be placed along the eroding East Sunny Sands shoreline before it is placed inside the dike on the Vik farm.

"That story was pretty premature," said Commissioner Dan Cothren. "Coming over the dike has to be okayed by this board. We don't have any papers on what they want.

"I'm adamantly against it till we get beach nourishment. That's part of the trade off."

He added that at a meeting earlier this year with representatives of the upriver ports, he had said the board wouldn't approve the permit until the eroding shoreline gets sand.

Cothren is working with Puget Island residents and the US Army Corps of Engineers to develop a project for sand disposal along the beach.

"I'm definitely against it till we get sand outside," said Commissioner Blair Brady. "It isn't going to happen."

"Yes," said commission Chair Mike Backman. "We all agree on that."