Lloyd Logging has a current conditional-use permit from Okanogan County that covers mining for gravel at the company’s pit near Winthrop, and the company is not in violation of the county code, as had previously been believed, the Okanogan County planning director said last week.
When representatives from the Okanogan County Planning Department met with Lloyd Logging on May 4, the company presented two permits that had not been located in a recent search of the county’s records, Planning Director Pete Palmer said.
Questions had been raised about whether permits for the pit were up to date. The county had a copy of a conditional-use permit from 1985 that allowed Lloyd Logging to mine for two years, but had no record that the permit had ever been renewed.
But at the meeting with the Planning Department, Lloyd Logging provided a 1987 permit extending the 1985 conditional use permit for an additional two years, plus a 1990 permit with no expiration date, Palmer told the Methow Valley News last week.
After reviewing the 1990 permit, the Planning Department has determined that Lloyd Logging’s gravel pit operation is permitted with the county, Palmer said.
In a letter sent this week, Planning asked Lloyd Logging to show how the company will comply with state and county permit requirements including emissions standards and revegetation of disturbed areas. Planning will conduct annual inspections at the pit.
Lloyd Logging is also working with the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to update its reclamation permit to comply with Washington’s Surface Mining Act, according to a DNR spokesperson.
Both Okanogan County and DNR have instructed Lloyd Logging to restrict mining to the 6.8 acres covered by the original permits from the 1980s. After questions about mining operations were raised last month, the state and county found that the excavated area had increased to more than 11 acres.
Lloyd Logging has been mining for gravel and other materials at the site for years. Neighbors voiced questions last month about operations at the pit when they saw excavation occurring on part of the hillside that had screened the pit from Highway 20.
