Granite Construction Co. last week filed a request for an informal hearing to discuss a $240,000 fine levied by the Oregon Dept. of Environmental Quality. In the Sept. 20 request, the Watsonville, Calif.-based firm disputes the charge of “acting recklessly” in alleged en-vironmental violations associated with the U.S. 20 highway realignment be­tween Pioneer Mountain and Eddyville.

Yaquina River Constructors Mountainous site has underground slides, which has halted work.

DEQ is looking at scheduling a hearing this month, says agency spokesman Jeff Bachman.

Widespread surface ero­sion on the 10-mile project site over the winter led to the largest fine ever issued by the state DEQ. The $150-million project had already hit two snags at the start in summer 2006: ob­taining right-of-way access and the discovery of ancient underground landslides throughout the mountainous site that created un­stable conditions for bridges.

While right-of-way was eventually granted, Granite found the underground landslide conditions would make the existing design prohibitively expensive, estimating cost overruns of up to $61 million. In July the firm agreed to a nine-month work suspension to analyze alternatives.

Geoff Boraston, Granite’s director of environmental affairs, says that, during summer 2006, the Oregon Dept. of Transportation requested that the firm accelerate the project to compensate for delays. This led to the clearing of some 160 acres of forest. Crews were forced to move to new areas before finishing old ones. By the end of the summer the firm was unable to secure the cleared area for the winter to keep soil erosion from impacting salmon streams, he says.

“The original plan was to work in stages, so we would work in one area and then close it up,” Boraston says. “Because of the ancient landslides, we could not proceed with that approach.”

Bachman says the explanation is unsatisfactory. “They fail to ex­plain what it was exactly about the right-of-way or landslide concerns that necessitated opening up large areas that were not being worked last winter,” he says.