PORT ANGELES — Clallam County commissioners Tuesday held firm to their decision not to sign a letter asking Gov. Chris Gregoire to help ensure the Rayonier property on the Port Angeles waterfront is available for development.
City, port and Jamestown S’Klallam officials are seeking state help after hearing that Rayonier Inc. is considering restoring the property’s shoreline and inland habitat, as well as limiting or prohibiting development, to settle its liability for damages the mill caused to natural resources at the site at the end of Enis Street during its 67-year existence.
The heads of the city of Port Angeles, the Port of Port Angeles and the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe will meet with state Department of Ecology Director Ted Sturdevant on April 14 to make their case — and also are seeking a meeting with Gregoire.
All three county commissioners — Commissioner Steve Tharinger, who also is a 24th District representative in the state Legislature, participated by speaker phone from Olympia — emphasized Tuesday that they were in favor of the site’s cleanup but that they were not ready to sign the letter.
The letter said Rayonier doesn’t want to develop the site and wants to close it off to public access and asks that Gregoire weigh in on the issue.
A state Department of Ecology spokeswoman confirmed that Rayonier has spoken to the agency about the concept of limiting development, but Rayonier spokeswoman Robin Keegan could not comment last week beyond saying that the company is “exploring some alternatives” for environmental restoration.
Kaj Ahlburg, who became involved with the Rayonier mill site as a board member on the Harbor-Works Development Authority — which dissolved last year after Rayonier declined to continue negotiations to sell the site to it — asked the commissioners to reconsider their position during the public comment period at their Tuesday meeting.
Disappointment
“I want to express my disappointment that the county commission did not add the weight of its voice to this attempt by the other local governments to avert what would be a very unfavorable outcome for our community on the Rayonier site,” Ahlburg said.
“This outcome involves no development, no jobs, no tax base, not even public access, given that the site would be fenced in to exclude the public.”
Clallam County Administrator Jim Jones said he will attend the April 14 meeting, but only for informational purposes.
Commissioner Mike Chapman said he was not in favor of signing the letter for several reasons, among them that he believed some of the wording of the letter — such as the property being “fenced off” — was not factual.
He also said negotiations with Rayonier were ongoing and that the county has not participated in conversations about the property.
“The county hasn’t had a seat at that table for a number of years,” Chapman said.
“Thus far, we haven’t really been engaged in the work with the port and the city, though [Jim Jones] is going down on Tuesday.
“I defend the position not to sign it.”
Chapman noted that the issue hadn’t been placed on the county agenda and said he was uncomfortable about signing a document with such a significant position without allowing the public significant time to comment.
“I also think that this involves private property rights, and it is very tricky for government to start telling a private company what to do with its property,” Chapman said.
Tharinger agreed that he didn’t want to inject the county’s voice while negotiations were ongoing.
‘Complex issue’
“This is a complex issue, and I don’t know if the points that are raised have to do with the current negotiations,” Tharinger said
“I would like to see them make use of the site, but I’m not sure if it is helpful for us to interject our voice at this time.”
Commissioners Chairman Mike Doherty said he would like to see the Lower Elwha Klallam and Jamestown S’Klallam agree before the county acts.
The Lower Elwha tribe is a partner with Ecology and Rayonier in the environmental cleanup of the property because at least part of it was built over the site of the ancient Elwha Klallam village of Y’ennis.
The Port Angeles-area tribe is backing the idea of restoration with limited or no development because it meets its goals of environmental restoration and protection of artifacts and burials known to exist there, Matt Beirne, Lower Elwha Klallam environmental coordinator, has said.
“I think it would be better urging the two tribes to come to an agreement before we take a position,” Doherty said.
The three commissioners agreed to allow Jones to gather information and, if he felt it was appropriate, to place it on a future agenda.
The 75-acre property remains the largest undeveloped industrial waterfront property on the North Olympic Peninsula since Rayonier closed its pulp mill in 1997, and the city, the port and the Lower Elwha tribe each see a stake in the redevelopment of the property.
The property is contaminated with pockets of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxin, arsenic and other toxins left by the mill that operated there for 68 years.
The site became an Ecology cleanup project in 2000. A cleanup plan is expected by the end of 2013.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
