In 2016 Lakeside Industries proposed building an asphalt plant along the Cedar River, less than 150’ from a community of over 550 homes, and in early 2017 requested a building permit from King County. The plant has been in the planning stages for over 6 years. It would have been operating in the summer of 2018 if not for the work of The Citizens Group “Save the Cedar River,” which has taken on the asphalt giant and King County, going head to head in public forums, meeting with elected officials, hiring attorneys, holding protests, and partnering with area businesses such as Patagonia, Globys and many others.
Despite over 10,000 citizens, numerous elected officials (including King County Council Members), municipalities, and corporations opposing the asphalt plant, with over 2,000 pages of scientific evidence delivered, on April 14th, 2022, King County issued the permit for a hot mix, recycled asphalt facility to be built in Unincorporated King County. Twenty days later, Save the Cedar River group filed appeals in King County Superior Court, King County Court of Appeals, and The Shoreline Appeals Hearing Board, with representation from the legal team of Bricklin and Newman in Seattle.
On November 28th, 2022, a ten-day Shoreline Hearing began with Our Citizen Group vs. King County and Lakeside Industries. The hearing board has until June 6th of this year to render their verdict, although we expect it to be sooner. The trial scheduled for King County Superior Court has been postponed until that verdict, and the King County Appeals Court case has been permanently canceled.
Without the hard work from group members, volunteers, community support, and financial grants from great companies such as Patagonia and Globys, our success would have never happened. But this success has come at a very high monetary cost from all the legal battles. We will be conducting numerous fundraisers in the coming months, applying for grants, and relying on citizen support to help us stop this environmental injustice from becoming a reality.
If you have any comments, questions, or concerns, please get in touch with us at Email: savethecedar.river@gmail.com or our website at savethecedarriver.org
Thank You