T Bailey and herons can both thrive

Skagit Valley Herald, 11/5/02

Voices of the Valley

By Ken Howard

I remember the spring day when I was a second-grader at the old Fidalgo School on March Point when Principal Arnell Johnson informed us that the school would soon have to be located. Two oil companies had purchased the land with plans to build refineries on it. It was hard then to understand why our school needed to be destroyed and our playground converted into an oil-refining plant. I would miss the school, but especially the open expanse and splendid view from our playground.

Forty-six years later the two refineries still stand, along with several chemical plants. Closer to the port property are a waste-oil recovery plant, two junkyards, two large auto dealerships and a host of other industrial users. This is industrial property. Adjacent to the port property is a sawmill, built on the site of the old landfill, and a large parking lot for semi truck trailers. Directly across March’s Point Road is the tribal-run smoke-gif shop and fireworks sales complex and one-quarter-mile form it is the Swinomish Indian Casino complex. The southwest corner of the site abuts Highway 20 with a daily vehicle count of 23,000 as of the year 2000. The Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad tracks run adjacent to the north.

Why would herons decide to build among such conditions, much less flourish?

While recently working at the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, I was astonished to see herons gliding between the runways and surrounding wetland as A6s performed land and takeoff maneuvers.

The opponents of this project pose a list of potentially harmful or fatal impact the T Bailey project could have on the heron rookery. From excessive noise levels, lights, air emissions, increases in traffic, disturbances caused by construction equipment and workers, are all simply conjecture lacking scientific proof.

Yet T Bailey addresses all opponents’ concerns, and adjusted their site and building layout and design to protect the herons. T Bailey agreed to stop or curtail construction from February through July while the herons are nesting despite their need to stay on a tight construction schedule.

The March Point rookery is thriving (estimated 1984: 42 nests; present estimations are 400-plus). Let’s examine the conditions that have existed at this site during this time frame.

Concrete Nor’ West started operations at the T Bailey site in 1971 from 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily until May of 1996, batching an average of 30,000 cubic yards of concrete per year and excavating 3 to 4 million cubic yards of material, according to company officials. Operations included bulldozers, loaders, excavators, a complete concrete batching plant, a sorting yard and a fleet of trucks. Herons were monitored and no restrictions were deemed necessary for Concrete Nor’ West.

In 1993 a study was conducted to determine if the sawmill was causing a disturbance to the colony (Norma 2001). “Specific observations of herons just prior and after the starting up of the mill in the morning and after shut down in the early evening were made to see if herons moved away from the noise during their flights to and from Padilla Bay. The observations, which totaled 18 hours, found no difference in the percentage of flyovers between periods when the mill was in operation and when closed. More important than the accumulated observations were the direct individual observations of herons that occurred just before the mill started up or shut down. These observations showed no sudden veering away or move off the arrival or departure time. … It was also clearly observed that herons did not alter their course to the nest unless there were strong winds.”

Documents show a growing colony at Ault Field, Whidbey Island Naval Air Station. “A recent survey of heron nests in King County found many colonies with human activity within 50 ft of the nesting trees” (Stabins 2001). Herons have a remarkable ability to adapt and thrive.

T Bailey has made a very positive commitment to our community and local economy as well as to the herons. TO date T Bailey officials estimate the cost to mitigate the heron issue in excess of $400,000.

It is my experience the bar of acceptance of the T Bailey project will never reach a level to please the opponents, and their true motivation is about growth, not herons.

The T Bailey project offers our community, city and port another chance of much-needed jobs. If we allow the opponents to succeed again other cities will welcome this project, perhaps Port Angeles.

Ken Howard is a fourth-generation Fidalgo Island resident.