VANCOUVER, Wash. — A construction materials company has put the brakes on plans to build a concrete plant near a neighborhood in north Vancouver.
Knife River, which operates across Oregon and in select parts of Washington, initially proposed to construct their next concrete plant in a gravel lot near Northeast 101st Street and 72nd Avenue. The company said it notified Clark County on Friday that its proposal is on hold. The company has asked county officials for input on other possible locations.
"Vancouver is a great community that we already work in nearly every day. We want to have a long-term future there and that means finding the right location for a plant that works for all involved," said Tony Spilde, Knife River's senior director of communications, in a written statement to KGW.
The update comes about a month after several neighbors spoke out against the proposal during a Battle Ground School Board meeting in mid-February. One woman called the idea of putting an industrial plant so closed to an established neighborhood "bizarre."
At a Clark County Council meeting in January, residents voiced their concerns over noise levels and said the plant could obstruct views. During that meeting, a registered respiratory therapist also addressed worries over silica dust.
"What can come from inhaling silica dust?" the man asked. "The disease process would be silicosis, which occurs when the lungs harden and develop scarring around the inhaled and entrapped silica particles, decreasing the lung tissue compliance and elasticity."
Knife River hopes to start looking at alternative locations for a plant, but has not yet specified which areas could be up for consideration.
