Group nears final OK for 220-job factory in Winlock
Wednesday, August 11, 2004 10:03 AM PDT
By Courtney Sherwood
Printable version
E-mail this articleCardinal Glass officials hope to break ground on a new 220-job factory near Winlock by the end of October.
Once complete, the factory would ship the raw materials of glass --- soda ash, silica sand and lime stone --- by rail to its site on Avery Road, west of I-5, then truck clear panes to be sold by window manufacturers such as Pella and Anderson.
Before construction begins, however, the Minnesota-based company must survive a final round of Lewis County permitting, which starts with an Aug. 23 public hearing.
At the dual-purpose public hearing, the Lewis County Planning Commission will consider changes to the county's comprehensive plan that would allow industrial development on 90 acres currently designated for rural homes and farming. Also at the meeting, the county's hearings examiner will consider an appeal of a review that concluded that Cardinal Glass' environmental impact was within state and federal limits.
State politicians, local business leaders and job seekers have publicly supported the $110 million glass-manufacturing factory, which would take 12 to 18 months to build. According to documents filed by Cardinal Glass, 90 percent of its mostly blue collar factory jobs would be filled by local people.
About a dozen of the proposed factory's neighbors have spoken against the factory at past hearings, expressing concerns about Cardinal Glass' impact on quality of life and the environment. Members of this group have appealed Cardinal Glass' environmental review.
The Olympia Building and Construction Trades Council also has raised concerns about the project. Cardinal Glass plans to build without union labor, according to Bill Lotto, executive director of Lewis County Economic Development.
To Lotto, the advantages of Cardinal Glass are as transparent as the windows the company makes.
"For a county like Lewis, which is well below the state average as far as per capita income, this will be one of the better-paying companies in the entire county," he said. "When you calculate bonuses into the base rate, they pay around $18 an hour."
"This will be, environmentally, the cleanest glass plant in the entire United States," Lotto said. "They're putting a lot of effort into making sure that air particulate, noise, all the things that could be a problem are minimized."
Richard Battin, who owns a tree farm next door to the proposed plant, said he is suspicious of claims made by Lotto and other Cardinal Glass supporters.
"The proposed facility is a major stationary source of air pollutants," Battin said, although a study commissioned by Cardinal Glass states that air emissions from the factory would be within state and federal limits.
Battin said he also is worried that residents who rely on wells for drinking water might have their water rights infringed on by the plant and that the business would bring too much traffic to a rural area, and that.
"Ground water investigations indicate that ground water withdrawals from an on-site well field will not impair current water rights," according to the Cardinal Glass environmental impact study.
A study by Cardinal Glass predicted 35 truck trips per day, plus the extra traffic of workers heading to the factory. This additional traffic would not be significant, according to the company, but Battin said that the company underestimates the traffic already on the road.
"Like any big project, people who live next door have legitimate concerns," Lotto said. "You can stand right next door and you don't hear anything. Still, if you're used to having a horse pasture, you're not going to have that anymore."
Cardinal Glass West Coast Vice President Steve Nelson declined Monday to answer questions about his company's proposals, saying that he trusted Lotto to represent the company's position.
Unable to predict just how many people will show up to testify at the public hearing Aug. 23, Lewis County has set aside six days for testimony, said Phillip Rupp, principal planner for the county.
After the hearing, Rupp said the Lewis County Planning Commission and hearings examiner likely would issue recommendations by Sept. 3. The Lewis County Board of Commissioners will then approve or reject the recommendations at upcoming meetings, tentatively scheduled for Sept. 14 and Sept. 16, Rupp said.
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