The City of DuPont Planning Department was approached by the local gravel mine to use their south parcel and to de-water the aquifer in order to dig deeper for the gravel.
That parcel is along the descending portion of Sequalitchew Creek. The mining operation offered restoration of habitat in some areas in trade. The dewatering will lower the water levels int he creek and marshes around the town. No one can be really sure how many impacts it will cause, they are only best guesses.
The City Hearing Examiner and the Nisqually Tribe signed off on it. A local creek restoration group disagreed and decided to fight for the creek and the water levels.
Clover Creek Restoration Alliance is having a fund raiser on October 8 at the DuPont Community Center. If you are willing to help them fight the unintended consequences of this dewatering, please join them and give generously to the cause. It takes a lot to fight in court and pay the attorneys against these parge corproation.
Save Sequalitchew Fundraiser
You’re Invited!
Date: October 8
Time: 6:00 PM
Location: DuPont Community Center
Come celebrate our successful fundraising effort that started last June. With your help, we cleared our first major hurdle when CalPortland’s attorneys tried to strip us of our right to appeal their permit.
It was an expensive challenge, but our attorney was successful. When people in Dupont and the county learned that CalPortland held a permit to drain the water from Sequalitchew Creek, four residents stepped forward. Despite having zero court experience, they simply wanted to know they had done everything possible to stop this injustice.
Initially, we had no idea about the total costs because we hoped to handle the appeal pro se. We figured writing a few legal briefs couldn’t be that hard.
Then we found a local attorney to advise us. He explained that CalPortland’s high-priced legal team knew how to ask technical questions we had no answers for. He showed us that we would never survive the first court hearing on our own.
It didn’t seem to matter that city planning staff gave the mine a permit without requiring an updated, scientifically grounded, approved restoration plan before mine operations began.
It didn’t matter that state law explicitly prohibits mining without a restoration plan in place. The Clover Creek Restoration Alliance wrote a check for the initial filing fee, then over 50 grassroots donors stepped up to pick up the tab. That solidarity brought CalPortland into court. Come meet the team. You have an opportunity to ensure that
Sequalitchew Creek does not run dry, and that local salmon and wildlife habitats are restored with a guaranteed no-net-loss of water flow, forest cover, and wetlands.
This court appeal has cost more than expected because CalPortland deliberately inflated our legal expenses by trying to throw our lawsuit out of court. Help us fight the best case possible in Pierce County Superior Court.
Here’s how you can help:
Join us on October 8, at 6 pm at the DuPont Community Center at
303 Barksdale Ave, DuPont, WA 98327.
Can’t attend, then donate online:
sequalitchew-creek/
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Must be money involved for the tribe to agree. SOP for planning departments.