By Claudia Yaw
The Chronicle
As the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) looks to acquire 9,600 acres of old mining land from TransAlta, Lewis County and city leaders are joining forces to oppose the transaction, arguing that it will stifle economic development and that the region doesn’t need more public land.
“This would be a massive economic hit to our area,” Commissioner Sean Swope said at a meeting of local mayors Friday. “We need to be very vocal about this transaction, that we oppose it.”
Mayors Steve Dobosh, of Toledo, Dennis Dawes, of Chehalis, and Susan Luond, of Centralia, all echoed commissioners’ concerns and said they were interested in providing public comment before WDFW’s extended timeline of Feb. 12.
“I’ll drive around with you, (Commissioner Gary Stamper), if we have to, to get this message out,” Dobosh said. “We need to nip this in the bud as quickly as possible.”
WDFW plans to turn the land into a wildlife area for Lewis and Thurston counties.
While TransAlta — a multinational power company — says the transaction aligns with its sustainability goals and would benefit the community, commissioners disagree.
“We don’t need more open land,” Swope said. “If people want to go fishing, hunting, skiing, we have plenty of land out in east county.”
Swope also raised concern with WDFW’s plan to use the land for threatened or endangered species. On its website, the agency said some of the habitat would be ideal for the western pond turtle, Oregon spotted frog and streaked horned lark.
“Let’s say they bring a frog in and that frog doesn’t stay in that little area of the pond, and it begins to hop over to the Port of Centralia,” Swope said. “Well, now economic development is going to stop there as well. And then it begins to hop around and onto your property. Well, now you can’t build your house on that land, you can’t do any sort of development.”
Commissioner Gary Stamper said he was “quite surprised” about the proposed acquisition, noting that the old mine, which stopped operations in 2006, used to provide “incredible family wage jobs.”
“There’s got to be some alternative industries in there that will use more green energy and could go in there and take over,” Stamper said. “The infrastructure’s there, the power’s there, the water’s there. All the things you need.”
While other officials expressed concern that the acquisition would mean the state would acquire local water rights, TransAlta business developer Cody Duncan, who attended Friday’s meeting, said the move “will not affect our Skookumchuck River water rights whatsoever.”
“We’re handling our water rights separately,” Duncan said. “We intend to make a water bank, to make our water rights preserved to be used in the community and downstream of the Skookumchuck and the Chehalis river.”
According to WDFW, the water bank would be the largest in the state.
“Downstream municipal and domestic communities can enjoy water rights for future homes and businesses, while farmers will have access to an additional supply to make their rights more reliable,” according to the agency. “Revenue from sales and leases of water rights will help offset the cost of closure of the plant.”
