That’s the word from Pierce County deputy hearing examiner Terrence McCarthy, who decided this week that a Taylor Shellfish geoduck permit has run out.

“Good,” Case Inlet resident Sherilee Luedtke said Thursday. “That’s what the law says. It’s good to see the rules are going to be followed.”

But it’s unclear how the decision will affect the 12-acre plot leased by Taylor Shellfish Farms, the West Coast’s largest grower. The disputed operation is on the east side of Case Inlet, about half a mile northwest of Joemma Beach State Park.

Taylor spokesman Bill Dewey promised an appeal.

“There’s no question. We have way too much at stake out there not to do that,” he said. The company also might seek damages. “It’s a huge disappointment,” he said.

Among Taylor’s many lingering concerns is whether the company will be allowed to harvest the estimated 900,000 geoducks still buried in the sand. Taylor values them at between $15 million and $20 million.

The geoduck – pronounced “gooey duck” – is the world’s largest burrowing clam and native to Washington. Divers have taken wild geoducks from Puget Sound for decades, but the geoduck aquaculture business is only about 10 years old.

Producers ship the clams live to Asia, where geoducks are a pricey delicacy. Taylor aims to raise 2-pound clams. They take from four to seven years to grow.

McCarthy’s decision results from a conflict over the use of a mile-long stretch of beach that’s been in the family of Everett teacher Leslie Foss for two generations. Foss leases the land to Taylor.

It was the first geoduck farm approved by Pierce County after the government started asking growers to obtain shoreline development permits. The permits are good for five years, with an optional one-year extension.

The county granted Taylor’s permit in 2000; the first geoducks were planted in 2001.

Neighbors who live north of the farm have complained about litter, erosion and harm to fish and wildlife. Taylor disputes those claims.

Last April, Luedtke, a Case Inlet Beach Association member who also is a lawyer, wrote a letter to county planners, asking them to revoke Taylor’s five-year permit to grow geoducks because it had expired.

In July, a group of neighbors filed a similar petition, stating that county law allowed only a one-year extension.

“People need to read their permits and understand it’s not forever,” Luedtke said.

In August, Pierce County planners told Taylor that if the company wanted to continue raising geoducks on the Foss beach, a new permit would be needed. But county officials never ordered Taylor to quit working.

Taylor appealed to McCarthy, who heard testimony on the dispute in November and December. His decision was filed Wednesday.

Since August, Taylor has continued to harvest clams, but workers didn’t plant new ones, said spokesman Dewey.

“We didn’t dare,” he said.

On Feb. 27, Taylor applied for a new permit, which might affect how the county handles McCarthy’s decision, said Chuck Kleeberg, director of Planning and Land Services.

Vicki Diamond, Pierce County planning supervisor, said officials are just beginning to review the ruling, and that the department’s lawyer was out of town. It’s too early to say how planners will apply McCarthy’s decision to ongoing Taylor operations at the site, she said.

Susan Gordon: 253-597-8756