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Stop Hazardous Material
Transportation
Please copy and
paste this letter/proposal and send to the e-mail addresses below
as part of a petition effort to prevent a major disaster waiting
to happen on State Route 821--Yakima River Canyon Road...The
correspondence I have personally rcvd are listed below the white
line.
To whom this may
concern;
I have become
aware of a near catastrophe recently on I-82. A Ford truck
and a large semi tractor/trailer collided head on. This
resulted in a fatality and the semi tractor/trailer in the river
near Roza Dam. Because this trailer was filled with onions
a major disaster was averted. Had it been filled with hazardous
waste, the situation would have been catastrophic. I submit the
following to the Washington State DOT and the Kittitas County
Commissioners for the immediate adoption of a new rule.
Subject: Transporting
hazardous materials via truck on SR 821, Yakima River Canyon
Road - Between Ellensburg and the Selah Gap
Proposal:
To require all trucks with hazardous materials (such as diesel,
gasoline etc.) to travel via I-82 from Ellensburg to the
Selah Gap instead of SR 821, Yakima River Canyon Road (which parallels
the river.) With two routes available...it only makes sense
to adopt this proposal.
Goal:
To prevent a spill of hazardous materials causing a man
made disaster, by routing trucks with hazardous material
on Interstate-82 instead of SR 821.
-
Aside
from the economic value lost due to a hazardous spill,
more importantly the environmental impact would be devastating.
This has nothing to do with politics and all to do with practical
common sense.
-
The
river is home to native trout, whitefish, salmon and steelhead,
etc.
-
The
river provides recreation for multiple users-Rafting/Kayaking, Fly
Fishing, Hunting
-
Animals
that would be affected-Bobcats, Deer, Elk, Bighorn, Beaver,
Water Otters, Mink, etc
-
Birds
- Eagles, Hawks, Osprey, Blue Heron, Geese, Mallards, Mergansers,
Coots, and many other species including the Western Tanager,
Cedar Waxwing, our State Bird- the Gold Finch, Red Wing Blackbird
etc...
-
The
river has a diverse aquatic entomology base that is at the root
of the food chain.
All of these organisms
would be negatively affected and/or potentially destroyed.
Let's be pro-active instead of re-active.
Please pass this
proposal NOW!
Respectfully,
E-mails to send to
parker@yakama.com Steve
Parker, Department of Fisheries with the Yakama Nation
director@dfw.wa.gov Washington
State Dept of Fish and Wildlife -
Dr Jeffrey P. Koenig
___________________________________________
1st Response rcvd...Friday Jan 21st
Dear Mr. Mitchell:
Thank you for your
input related to SR 821 and trucks hauling hazardous materials.
Mobility, safety and environmental issues can be a difficult
balance to strike.
SR 821 is
currently closed to all commercial vehicles from May 15 through
September 15 every year. However, during the winter, SR 821
becomes a viable detour route when I-82 becomes impassable for
commercial vehicles. This happens fairly frequently due to the
increased elevations of a majority of I-82 compared to SR 821.
Because of this, we allow trucks to use SR 821 from September 16
through May 14. During the times when I-82 becomes impassable
due to weather conditions, we significantly increase our snow
and ice removal effort on SR 821 to provide as safe of a roadway
as possible for truck traffic to pass. Not allowing truck
passage on SR 821 while I-82 is shut down or restricted due to
weather conditions would leave no viable route for truck
traffic.
A very brief
assessment of the accident history and documentation we have did
not indicate there is a higher than normal occurrence of
accidents along SR 821. Given the lower speed limits of the
route, the increased level of snow and removal that we perform
and the freight mobility issues described above, WSDOT would be
reluctant to modify the restrictions currently in place on SR
821. That being said, we would also be interested to hear the
perspective of other entities, such as the Kittitas County
Commissioners as well as the Washington Trucking Association.
Thanks again
for your input.
Kimberly Colburn
Customer Service
WSDOT Communications Office
PO Box 47326
Olympia, WA 98504-7326
(360) 705-7438
colburk@wsdot.wa.gov
and the response I made is as
follows...
Kimberly,
Thank you for the
quick response and I understand the nature of the challenges
that the
WSDOT Commission Staff
faces. If I-82 is impassable for the commercial trucks I
can completely understand the need to use the SR-821 route
during the time period of Sept16 and May 14. However, I
submit that the commercial trucks carrying hazardous materials
not use SR 821 if I-82 is open during the Sept 16th to May
14th time period.
I can attest
that the commercial trucks do use the SR 821 route while at
the same time the I-82 route is open between the 9/16 and
5/14 period. How many are carrying hazmat? Is there a way
to make the aforementioned suggestion a viable restriction
which ultimately will decrease the chance of an
occurrence?
Thank you for
your time and consideration.
Respectfully,
Jack Mitchell
Jack and
Shawn Mitchell
The entire staff with
The Evening Hatch Fly Shop/Guide Service
& Riverside Adventures
Ship to: 2308 Yakima Canyon Road
Mail to: PO Box 1295
Ellensburg, WA 98926
509-962-5959
0
www.theeveninghatch.c
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