by Ralph Schwartz
In a bid to keep operating, Skagit Hill Recycling’s owner came before the Skagit County commissioners to challenge a county order to shut down.
Commissioners heard testimony Tuesday and will hand down their decision next week.
In November, the county planning department ordered Skagit Hill on Highway 9 north of Sedro-Woolley to shut down because it didn’t have a permit to operate a recycling center in a rural neighborhood.
The department threatened to fine Skagit Hill $100 a day if it didn’t come into compliance.
Skagit Hill appealed the notice to the county hearing examiner in December, but that appeal was rejected in March on the grounds that Skagit Hill missed the appeal deadline.
Seattle attorney James Tupper, representing Skagit Hill, argued Tuesday that recycling center owner Scott Waldal didn’t receive the county notice when it was originally sent and therefore shouldn’t have been held to the county’s deadline.
County prosecuting attorney Arne Denny argued that the clock starts ticking on the appeal after the notice is mailed, not after it is received.
Tupper wants to get past this technical argument and give Waldal a chance to defend his business against the planning department’s claim that it is operating without a permit.
“I would ask the commissioners to give my client his day in court, to have this hearing on the merits,” Tupper said.
The commissioners are scheduled to rule on the appeal over the deadline at 9:30 a.m. Monday.
Skagit Hill also is appealing a decision by the county Health Department to deny the recycling business a permit to store inert solid-waste. The Health Department had determined that the business was accepting non-inert types of waste in violation of that permit that could pose a threat to water quality.
In a third dispute, Skagit Hill received a warning letter from the state Department of Ecology regarding a large pile of ash that both sides agree is improperly stored at the site. The ash contains heavy metals that could degrade water quality, according to Ecology.
Waldal has said the ash pile will be moved within a couple of weeks.
