PORT ANGELES — The city of Port Angeles has signed a “memorandum of agreement” with tribal, state and federal governments for the handling of archeological artifacts found on the former Rayonier site during an upcoming large sewer project.
The agreement, adopted unanimously by the City Council on Tuesday, outlines a process for how artifacts are to be reported and handled while the city constructs new sewer lines across the property.
The property was the home of the Klallam village of Y’Innis and the Puget Sound Cooperative Colony before becoming the location of a pulp mill and now an environmental cleanup site.
The agreement is with the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the state Department of Ecology and the state Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation.
The agreement, which includes an archeological work plan, says any finds must be reported to the tribe and monthly reports must be submitted to Ecology.
Frances Charles, Lower Elwha Klallam chairwoman, said the tribal council has adopted the agreement.
“We had discussed it and are all in agreement with it,” she said.
The new pipes will cross the property from the west and connect with a 5 million-gallon tank the city purchased from Rayonier.
The tank will temporarily hold untreated sewage and stormwater that would otherwise overflow into Port Angeles Harbor during heavy rainfall.
The city, with the tribe’s consent, dug 14 test pits along the planned path for the pipes last summer.
An ax handle and remnants of old bottles were found but nothing city archaeologist Derek Beery said he would consider an “intact archeological site.”
Construction set later
Construction of the $40 million sewage overflow elimination project will begin later this year.
New sewer pipes will be placed into the city’s industrial waterline west of the property sometime in the spring, city staff have said.
That work will stop before the North Olympic Discovery Marathon in June.
The water line is no longer in use east of the Nippon paper mill.
The pipes will also be placed through the water line at two locations downtown around October: the intersections of Lincoln Street and Railroad Avenue, and Oak Street and Railroad Avenue.
The pipes will exit the water line at the Rayonier property.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
