There is a critical shortage of sand and gravel in Washington State, especially in the Puget Sound region. According to a 2003 study by Pacific Lutheran University, the Puget Sound region, including King, Pierce, Snohomish, Kitsap and Thurston counties, will need approximately 8 million more tons (16 billion pounds) of sand and gravel per year by 2020. Right now, the Puget Sound area is importing sand and gravel from Canada, increasing the cost of just about every construction project that needs these materials. But the mine in British Columbia that is the principal source of sand and gravel shipped to our region is nearing depletion.

At a time when we need to make major investments in taxpayer funded road and transit projects, having an economical source of sand and gravel close to where it is needed will save taxpayers millions of dollars.

More than 50 percent of aggregate (sand, gravel and rock) are used for public projects. Even the State of Washington's construction projects are facing this shortage. At the September 13, 2007 meeting of the state Department of Natural Resources Surface Mining Advisory Committee, State Geologist Ron Teissere said that "the state currently has more projects on the books (slated for construction) than we have permitted aggregates." In other words, there are not enough aggregates in currently permitted mines to build the projects the state has scheduled for construction.

The PLU study found that increasing by 25 miles the distance that aggregates must be hauled to reach their destination doubles their cost. So adding 25 miles to the distance that sand and gravel must be hauled will increase the cost of building an average home by $2,000 and add $190,000 to the cost of building one mile of four-lane interstate highway.

Due to the shortage of sand in the area in recent years, much of the regional supply has been shipped in from Producer's sand and gravel mine in Southern British Columbia. Glacier has been notified that no more shipments will be made from that site after December 31, 2007. Without this source, sand will be shipped into the region from much further distances until the source on Maury Island is accessible.

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