OLYMPIA — A bill introduced Friday in the state House of Representatives would prohibit the Department of Transportation from selling or otherwise disposing of its abandoned graving yard property without legislative approval.
HB 2283 was co-sponsored by 13 lawmakers, including 24th District Reps. Jim Buck, R-Joyce, and Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, as well as Rep. Bev Woods, R-Poulsbo, the ranking Republican on the House Transportation Committee.
The 24th District includes Clallam and Jefferson counties and part of Grays Harbor County.
The last day for bills to get out of committee was Tuesday, but parliamentary procedures can rescue bills that a large number of legislators — or influential ones — want considered.
Old archaeological reports
The bill was prompted in part by the discovery of three archaeological reports written in 1991 and 1992 by Larson Anthropological and Archaeological Services of Seattle for construction projects at the former Daishowa America paper mill — now Nippon Paper Industries USA — west of the unfinished graving yard on Marine Drive.
The reports refer to the location of an ancient Klallam village site named Tse-whit-zen “west of the present (1920) city of Port Angeles, just at the base of the spit.”
Larson is the archaeological contractor which studied the site around the time of an agreement last April between the state and Lower Elwha Klallam tribe.
It led digs on the 22.5 acres of state-owned properties over the summer, and the magnitude of the findings — including about 300 intact skeletons as well as nearly 10,000 artifacts from the 2,700-year-old Tse-whit-zen — surprised both professional scientists and tribal members.
That magnitude led the tribe to declare “enough is enough” to the Transportation Department last Dec. 10, and the agency canceled the graving yard project Dec. 21, at a cost of at least $58.8 million.
‘Intriguing’ 1991 study
“It’s intriguing that Larson did a 1991 study that showed the approximate location of the cemetery,” Buck said.
“So more than ever, we need to put the brakes on the disposition of the graving yard property.
“It’s pretty intriguing that this information didn’t turn up during the initial survey.”
In an interview Saturday night, Buck said that since the bill was introduced Friday after the deadline for bills to get out of committee, he didn’t know how far it will proceed.
But exceptions to parliamentary rules are made every session if something important comes up, he said.
“We just dropped the bill to have a tool in case we need it,” Buck said.
“[The $58.8 million] is a sizable amount of money, and the Legislature has not been consulted about what happened.
“It is the responsible thing for the Legislature to get an answer to this question before any further action is taken.”
Talks fail, Kessler said
Kessler said House Transportation Committee Chairman Ed Murray, D-Seattle, asked her to talk with Transportation Secretary Doug MacDonald rather than introduce the bill.
But talking to MacDonald hasn’t worked, Kessler said she told Murray.
She wouldn’t elaborate.
Kessler said she doesn’t know if Transportation intends to sell the property, which the agency purchased from the Port of Port Angeles for $4.8 million in 2003 — while the project was idle between the discovery of remains in August 2003 and agreement with the tribe to restart last April.
