Glacier Northwest

Glacier Northwest is the Pacific Northwest’s largest supplier of ready mixed concrete, sand, gravel, rock, cement and building materials.

History

Glacier Northwest is one of the largest suppliers of ready mixed concrete, sand, gravel, rock and cement in the Pacific Northwest. With headquarters in Seattle, Washington Glacier Northwest has operations in the U.S. in Oregon, Washington and Alaska, and in Canada in British Columbia.On Maury Island, Glacier Northwest today takes some responsibility for the operation of Vashon sand and gravel. Glacier Northwest will operate the facility at 6829 SW 248th Street, Vashon Island, Washington under a long-term contract. About Glacier Northwest:

The parent company of Glacier Northwest is Taiheiyo Cement. This Japanese corporation was formed as the successor to Onoda Cement, which was accused of war crimes during World War II.

Environmental impact

The National Ready-Mix Concrete Association has been sponsoring the Commitment to Environmental Excellence Awards competition for nine years. This competition offers concrete producers the opportunity to obtain national recognition for outstanding contributions to protecting the environment and applying sound management practices to their operations. The awards salute those facilities that have achieved and surpassed established compliance thresholds, and demonstrated a commitment to environmental excellence through plant and staff investment. Glacier Northwest sites received special recognition in 2003 for First Place, Category C, for facilities producing more than 100,000 cubic yards (80,000 m³) of concrete by the Glacier Northwest Seattle Ready-Mix Plant in Seattle, Washington.

It is useful to note that, when considering the enviornmental impact of Glacier Northwest projects, the permit issued by King County WA for their the mine expansion on Maury Island includes language that would enable the company to work the mine 16 hours daily, six days per week, and allow barge traffic from the island 24 hours each day, 7 days per week.

Glacier Northwest has plans to open the largest sand and gravel mine in the United States on Maury Island in the Puget Sound. In addition to the mine, Glacier Northwest plans to construct an accompanying industrial dock in an area that has been designated a State Aquatic Reserve which is home to endangered Orca Whales and Chinook salmon. Not only would the new mine and dock pose a threat to the populations that depend on the area but the high levels of arsenic and lead present in the soil could, when disturbed, leech into the protected environment where they would pose serious health risks for clean drinking water. How, when Seattle is committed to a multi-billion dollar plan to protect Puget Sound, could such an environmental risk be allowed to exist? In the past decade alone, Glacier Northwest has been required to pay more than $600,000 in fines related to environmental violations. Should the welfare of such an important part of the Puget Sound ecosystem be left to that kind of organization? In order to protect the Sound, first Maury Island must be protected. [Preserve Our Islands http://www.preserveourislands.com]

References

External links

[http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/tcp/sites/Glacier_NW_NRDA/NRDA%20CD%20Glacier%20NW.pdf Glacier news]