Top 10 news stories of 2024

1. Port of Grays Harbor expansion

Blue skies, cranes, heavy equipment and a vessel loading at Terminal 2 were the background as the Port of Grays Harbor and AGP welcomed more than 125 elected officials, project partners and community and business leaders for the official groundbreaking of the Terminal 4 Expansion & Redevelopment Project in late November.

The Port’s Terminal 4 Project will add more than 40,000 feet of additional rail within its Marine Terminal Complex, a new fendering system and a stormwater collection and treatment facility at T4 and create more than 30 acres of additional cargo laydown area to support future operations at Terminal 4A.

AGP’s $170 million project broke ground a month ago and will construct a new commodity export facility at Terminal 4B resulting in increased ag exports generating additional vessel calls and more than 80 full-time, family-wage jobs.

2. Flood control efforts

Investments in pump stations are helping communities in the lower Chehalis River Basin protect and reduce damages to homes, businesses and infrastructure when floods occur.

In the past 50 years, there have been 14 federally declared flood disasters in Grays Harbor County according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Most were due to flooding in the lower Chehalis River basin, located within the county.

Aberdeen and Hoquiam make up the largest population center on Washington’s Pacific Ocean coast. More than 25,000 people reside in the two cities, which support numerous businesses as well as critical infrastructure such as roads, bridges and utilities.

Area homes, commercial buildings and infrastructure, valued to be worth more than $1 billion, are at risk during a flood. Existing flood-control facilities, such as pump stations, are aging and outdated. They cannot keep up with current demands, much less the more frequent and intense storms caused by warming temperatures due to climate change.

One answer is the development of pump stations on the Harbor.

Pump stations move floodwaters away from residences, businesses and roads, and have played a major role in protecting lower basin communities during floods. Over time, these critical public investments need to be upgraded and improved. Plans to upgrade existing pump stations started in 2012.

In 2024, the new Fry Creek Pump Station (Aberdeen) was completed, protecting 395 properties and eight businesses at a cost of $1.3 million (Ramer Street) and $22 million (Fry Creek).

In September the Hoquiam City Council approved a $873,378 bid for the Queen Avenue Stormwater Pump station, which will help as the North Shore Levee West Project gets closer to being built.

There are several other pump stations in various stages of development. When they are complete, they will protect 5,100 homes, 1,354 businesses and 1,292 jobs in Grays Harbor County.

Investing $50 million to upgrade the region’s aging pump infrastructure will help protect public and private properties worth over $1 billion in assessed value.

3. Opposition heats up over proposed Hoquiam wood pellet mill

Environmentalists and locals are worried about pollution from the planned Hoquiam facility and are asking for a state air quality permit to be rescinded.

Environmental groups and residents are pushing back against the wood pellet production facility, the second plant of its kind approved in Southwest Washington.

Conservation groups are challenging an air quality permit for the proposed wood pellet mill, arguing the approval is based on faulty data and that the plant will cause more pollution than its backers claim.

Friends of Grays Harbor, Grays Harbor Audubon, Twin Harbors Waterkeeper, Natural Resources Defense Council and Wild Orca filed an appeal over the project’s permitting with the state’s Pollution Control Hearings Board.

Pacific Northwest Renewable Energy said in its permit application that it hopes to have the Hoquiam site running by early 2025.

The planned 60-acre site near the Port of Grays Harbor would produce, store and export up to 440,800 short tons of wood pellets a year, according to the company’s application.

Last April, the project received a $200,000 grant from the state Department of Commerce through a program meant to accelerate manufacturing job growth. The project is supposed to create 53 jobs and generate $155 million in capital investment, according to the department.

The U.S. Forest Service also approved a $300,000 grant for the project as part of their Wood Innovations grant program to expand forestry and lumber-related projects nationwide.

There is no timeline yet for the appeal, but Boyles said it will likely go in front of the Pollution Control Hearings Board within the next year.

4. Aberdeen city council approves homeless camp closure

Once the Grants Pass, Oregon decision came down from the U.S. Supreme Court this summer, it gave cities the power to enforce laws on where the unhoused could reside.

So, after a 30-day extension that the Aberdeen City Council voted for on July 3, the city and the many organizations involved picked a day in early August to clear out the homeless encampments on State and River streets.

The many people who were living at the camps were supposed to clear out, regardless if they had a place to go or not. They were given information on organizations around the city and county where they could turn for help. If they had somewhere to go they were offered rides, but they had to go.

A lot of the unhoused people throughout Aberdeen had already appeared to leave town. Housed residents have questioned if the unhoused residents have actually left, or are just out of sight. They’re also wondering where the homeless people who are no longer in sight have gone. Last month the mayor complained about homeless from Aberdeen coming to the capitol city.

5. Grays Harbor College opens new $52M student center

Grays Harbor College celebrated their brand new 3000 Building at the grand opening of the tulalW Student Center this past September.

The name tulalW, shared with the college by Quinault Indian Nation President Guy Capoeman, means “together,” fitting nicely with the gathering spaces that are housed in the new building, like the Diversity Equity Center and Student Life Lounge, a 450-person event center, dining areas, and conference rooms. The tulalW Student Center provides a welcoming gateway to campus and an easy entry point for those looking for help starting their college journey as it also centralizes the college’s financial aid department, Workforce funding and support programs, student services center and college bookstore.

Construction on the $52 million building started in the fall of 2022. The cost of the project was funded by the state Legislature at $52 million, including $3.7 million funded by students through a fee voted on and approved by the student body.

6. Modular Building Assembly Plant approved for South Shore Mall

The city of Aberdeen announced in September that the property on the former South Aberdeen mall property has been sold to a developer to operate a modular building assembly plant in the former South Shore Mall.

Pinnacle eventually plans to convert and occupy all 280,000 square feet of the former shopping center to fabricate, manufacture and process materials for the purpose of assembling modular buildings. Pinnacle has also committed to setting aside part of their 31 acres for future development of mixed-use housing and commercial development.”

Once the facility’s at full capacity it’s projected to produce over one million square feet of completed modular building units annually. The production will create“over 300 jobs for the local economy.

7. Westport Golf Links closer to EIS

Westport Golf Links, the David McLay Kidd seaside links-design currently being planned in partnership with the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission (WSPRC) in Westport, will soon enter the 45-day public comment period, expected in early 2025, in response to the project’s Environmental Impact Study.

The $30 million project (to be paid for by private investors), five-plus years in the making, is projected to bring recreation, economic, environmental and health/safety benefits to Washington’s picturesque Pacific Coastline. Westport Golf Links investors and the WSPRC have been working together on plans to enhance and improve the 600-plus acre Westport Light State Park by adding the new public golf course to approximately 200 acres of the State Park, on land that is currently serving no public recreational benefit. In addition to a new public golf course, improvements will be made to Westport Light State Park with new public trails, a new surf shack food and beverage concession area, new picnic tables and fire pits, as well as additional parking for State Park visitors (separate from the golf course).

The current Dune Trail alignment will remain and will be widened by two feet to provide more room for pedestrians and bicycles. The wider trail will also provide better access for first responders to the beach.

Westport Golf Links will construct over two miles of new, formal interior park trails and provide multiple safe beach access points to increase public access to Westport Light State Park.

Westport Golf Links’ year-round golf and hospitality operations will bring 300-plus jobs to the region.

Two environmental groups are suing Washington state to stop the development of the 120-plus acre golf course project on coastal state park land in Westport.

Friends of Grays Harbor and Grays Harbor Audubon Society filed the complaint in Thurston County Superior Court on March 29, alleging the golf course developers and Washington State Parks Commission are ignoring past agreements that limit wetland development at the site.

8. World Music Day unites Aberdeen

It was a whirlwind on a Friday this summer in downtown Aberdeen.

The point of World Music Day was to unite people, get everybody involved and enjoy a free, family-friendly event where people can just have fun. Wil Russoul, one of the main organizers for Aberdeen’s version of the event, was running left and right, coordinating with every volunteer to make sure Aberdeen’s day in the limelight went as planned. All of his left and right-hand folks from The Music Project, Downtown Aberdeen Association, did the same thing. With music all down the street on Wishkah, plus the shared intersection with South K street, it was a massive success.

At the many venues involved and at the live shows, people laughed. People danced. June 21, was a day and night to remember for Aberdeen.

The Bona Fide Band featuring Krist Novoselic played, a highlight of the event. Novoselic, who residents joyfully mobbed for autographs, signatures on anything they could muster, and “selfies” with the Nirvana star.

“June 21 in Aberdeen is about a downtown-wide stage, allowing each person to share their creative moment with the world,” Russoul said. “I believe each artist from a child to Krist Novoselic did that. For what stories will be remembered of a day when everything happened everywhere at once belongs now in the warm memories of a very huge number of people. Thank you all.”

9. Stafford Creek Detention Center near Aberdeen chosen for youth facility

The state of Washington plans to open a new, 48-bed juvenile rehabilitation facility in an unutilized building at Stafford Creek Detention Center near Aberdeen by early March, 2025

Gov. Jay Inslee unveiled his 2025 budget proposal, which includes $33 million to fund the facility in the next biennium. The money would fund the costs to prepare the building, which has not been in regular use since 2018, and operate it for two years.

When operational, residents of the new youth detention center will be largely separated from the rest of the Stafford Creek population. Residents will eat meals in the unit, away from the DOC inmates’ house at the facility.

The residents will be housed in single-bunk units that include a desk, shower and sink.

10. Aberdeen city councilor charged with first-degree rape

Riley T. Carter, a former Aberdeen city councilor arrested and charged with first-degree rape of a child, was arraigned late July in Grays Harbor Superior Court.

The court entered an initial plea of not guilty for Carter.

Carter was arrested by the Aberdeen Police Department after a witness contacted police with allegations of sexual assault of a child. Aberdeen police located him and arrested him during a traffic stop around 8:30 p.m. on July 30.

The Grays Harbor County Sheriff took the lead in the investigation to avoid any possible conflict with Carter’s status as a city councilor. During an interview, Carter detailed an extended and involved history of sexual assault against a child under the age of 12, court documents state.

Carter was previously arrested for domestic violence — assault in January. Carter is required to surrender any firearms, vacate his residence, give up his passport, and have no contact with involved parties, with bail set at $150,000, according to the pretrial conditions.

Aberdeen City Administrator Ruth Clemens stated that Carter had resigned from his city council position, effective immediately. Carter took the seat in January in the most recent election.

Conservation groups challenged an air quality permit for the proposed wood pellet mill in Hoquiam.

The Daily World file photo People at the homeless encampment just off State Street were seen covering their heads from the hot sun in July. The city of Aberdeen passed a law allowing them to close the homeless camp.

The new, $52 million tulalW Student Center at Grays Harbor College. (Greater Grays Harbor, Inc.)

Westport Golf Links The Westport Golf Links project remained moving forward in 2024.

The Daily World file photo Krist Novoselic, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame bassist from his stellar work with Nirvana, plays with The Bona Fide Band during World Music Day in Aberdeen.

Ridley Hudson photos / The Chronicle The new youth detention center is pictured during a tour of Stafford Creek Corrections Center in Aberdeen in mid-December.