Guess Who Almost Came to Town

Meredith Moench is president of the Lummi Island Conservancy. For updates and additional information go to www.lummiislandquarry.com

Part 9

Deal Fails

British mining company, Astar Minerals PLC, had its eye on local assets. Publicly traded and headquartered in London, Astar Minerals operates quarries in British Columbia. On November 12 they announced failure of a deal with Whatcom County’s Aggregates West, Inc. whereby the UK company would have taken over the American company’s operations and further “developed” company mining sites in Washington. Unable to raise the financing needed to finalize the agreement, Astar Minerals has announced suspension of trading and termination of the agreement.

Aggregates West,Inc.

Incorporated in the state of Washington since 1988, Aggregates West is a private company headquartered in Everson, Washington. Astar Minerals (as Pan Pacific Aggregates) was incorporated in British Columbia in 2004 for the purpose of developing mining claims on the B.C. Sunshine Coast with a view toward global markets. Aggregates West took over operations at the Lummi Island quarry in 2005; the company has ownership/access to additional pits/mines in the county.

Refinanced and renamed Astar Minerals in July 2012, Pan Pacific had ambitious plans for the Sunshine Coast’s Sechelt Peninsula. These included a deepwater ship loading facility with a dock large enough to accommodate Panamax freighters up to 250 meters long and a 10-kilometer conveyor belt that would connect the dock to an open pit gravel mine, threatening sensitive coastal areas. Ultimately the project failed.

Announcing the preliminary agreement in September, Astar chairman hoped, “The agreement with Aggregates West represents a quantum leap in both the scale of operations, revenues and access to reserves for Astar.”

Who Owns the Lummi Island Quarry?

In a shell game of sorts, the ownership of the Lummi Island quarry is associated with Aggregates West, Inc. through Valley View Sand and Gravel, Inc., managing partner for Lummi Rock LLC, owner of the Lummi Island quarry. Behind the LLC’s and Inc’s, is Canadian David Grainger, with long-standing ties to the British Columbia aggregate and mining business. He is President of both Aggregates West and Valley View Sand and Gravel, another private company registered in Washington. His companies are therefore both operator and managing partner/owner of the Lummi Island quarry. As part of the agreement he would have joined the Astar Minerals management team.

Compliance Issues

Since 2010, the Lummi Island quarry has come under increased regulatory scrutiny in large part due to citizen actions. Unpermitted expansion at the quarry led to violations from the Northwest Clean Air Agency, the Department of Ecology and Whatcom County Planning and Development Services. Three separate Stop Work Orders and penalties were issued during the first half of 2012. These orders have shut down a mining haul road built outside of permitted operating boundaries, and a barge loading pier and moorage constructed on the shoreline outside of the quarry’s state aquatics lease boundaries. This commercial loading pier also lacks required permits from the county, state, and Army Corps of Engineers. The quarry owner appealed the three Stop Work Orders before the Whatcom County Hearing Examiner in October 2012. A decision is expected shortly.

Oil Spills

In March and August 2012, quarry operators removed two sunken barge hulls discovered on state aquatic bedlands in Smuggglers Cove where the quarry has its loading operations. Removal of the derelict hulls resulted in oil spills into Hales Passage and surrounding critical habitat areas, including mapped forage fish habitat critical to endangered salmon and other species. Additional oil spills at the quarry site have been reported to the Department of Ecology.

Future Expansion?

Was this deal with Astar, at least in part, an attempt to bring an infusion of cash and muscle into a planned expansion of the Lummi Island quarry? Although the Lummi Island quarry was not mentioned specifically in Astar’s press releases, one could conclude that given Astar’s history they would have been interested in the profit potential of this shoreline asset.

Regarding expansion, a zoning change application was submitted by Lummi Rock LLC in 2010 requesting mining approval for an additional 27.5 acres at the Lummi Island quarry site. If approved, this would more than double the current footprint of the quarry pit seen on the eastern flank of the Lummi Island shoreline. Over 90 per cent of the rock and crushed gravel produced at this quarry is barged off to Bellingham, Everett, Anacortes and Seattle.