SEQUIM — A draft plan for cleaning up pollution in a shellfish protection district along Sequim Bay and in the Dungeness River watershed will be presented at 6 p.m. today.
The Clallam County Conservation District will present the draft pollution identification and correction plan at the at the Dungeness Schoolhouse, 2781 Towne Road.
Public comments on the plan will be accepted until Dec. 22.
The final plan will be available in January.
Plans for a pilot project also will be shared at the meeting.
The Sequim Bay-Dungeness Watershed Clean Water District, created in 2000, is bounded by land draining to Bagley Creek on the west and by land draining to Sequim Bay on the east.
Water quality declined in the once-rich shellfish area because of rising fecal coliform levels. Fecal coliform, a bacteria that originates in the intestines of people and animals, generally indicates sewage contamination.
The pollution in the area is thought to be created by on-site sewage treatment — or septic systems — storm runoff and pet and animal waste.
Improvements have been made
“While water quality improvements have been made within the clean water district, areas of Dungeness Bay remain restricted to shellfish harvesting,” the draft plan says.
Fresh water from the district drains to three designated shellfish growing areas identified as East Straits, Dungeness Bay and Jamestown.
Most are approved for commercial shellfish harvest with some exceptions.
Small areas near the mouths of the Dungeness River, Golden Sands Slough and Cassalery Creek are classified as prohibited because of fecal coliform pollution.
The inner portion of Dungeness Bay, including an area that extends east of Graveyard Spit, is conditionally approved, with commercial harvesting prohibited from November through January.
Also, a small area near the mouth of Bagley Creek is unclassified.
“Geoduck harvests occur throughout the shoreline of the clean water district, and commercial production has recently been proposed for Dungeness Bay,” the plans says.
Taylor Shellfish Farms, based in Shelton, has started the permitting process to establish a 30-acre geoduck farm in Dungeness Bay, it announced recently.
The goal of the plan is to coordinate water quality monitoring and cleanup efforts among area agencies and organizations and find stable funding for cleanup efforts.
Drafts of the draft plan and appendices are available for review at www.clallamcd.org/pic and at the conservation office at 228 W. First St., Suite H, Port Angeles.
Proposed edits and comments can be sent to Jennifer Bond at jennifer.bond@clallamcd.org.
