Thuston County loses $12 million dollar lawsuit

A jury Wednesday awarded the Port of Tacoma $8 million in damages suffered because of actions by Thurston County to delay a gravel permit on property owned by the port in Maytown.

The Lewis County jury also ordered Thurston County to pay $4 million in damages to Maytown Sand and Gravel, the company that bought the gravel mining site from the port in 2010 and was forced to return it to the port in 2013 because of the county’s actions to delay granting a permit for operations as required under a 2005 agreement.

Property owners in the area had put significant pressure on the county not to allow gravel mining at the site despite an operating agreement in place.

The result – – Thurston County now has to pay $12 million dollars.