OLYMPIA — Representatives of the state Department of Ecology and Gov. Chris Gregoire agreed at a meeting Tuesday that they will do what they can to help Harbor-Works present its best deal possible to Rayonier Inc. for the acquisition of the company’s former mill site.
That came as good news to representatives of Harbor-Works Development Authority, the city and Port of Port Angeles who attended the meeting in Olympia.
“We were very pleased,” City Manager Kent Myers said.
“They are going to come back with some proposals that will help us work through this.”
The three local public agencies approached the state this week to seek a funding commitment from Ecology, which they say they need to bring Rayonier back to the bargaining table after the company ended negotiations about two weeks ago.
End to negotiations
An end to negotiations could result in dissolving Harbor-Works, which was created more than two years ago to acquire the 75-acre site on the Port Angeles waterfront, help expedite its cleanup and redevelop it.
Jay Manning, Gregoire’s chief of staff and a former state Department of Ecology director, told the Peninsula Daily News after the meeting that state money will be available to Harbor-Works only if it acquires the 75-acre property and that Rayonier will have to reimburse Ecology for any state money that the public development authority spends on the environmental cleanup of the land.
“We might up-front the money . . . but we’re going to turn around and expect Harbor-Works to work with us on this and try to recover those funds from Rayonier,” Manning said.
“Even if they become a [property owner], my position will remain that I still am troubled at the notion of taxpayers paying for cleanup when we have a liable party . . . who has plenty of money,” he added.
Harbor-Works board member Jim Hallett and Myers both said after the meeting that they didn’t recall Manning saying that Rayonier would have to reimburse the state for any public funds used on cleanup.
Not a deal-killer
Hallett said he doesn’t think that would necessarily be a deal killer for the company.
“It could indeed bring Rayonier back,” he said.
“What we want is to be able to make the case and be given that opportunity to say, ‘Here’s what we think are the best offers from our community.’
“Who knows what the parties are going to agree on at this point.”
He added, “We are going to ask Rayonier to take a look at it. It’s up to Rayonier to say yea or nay.”
Manning said after the meeting that Rayonier will be notified that Ecology will work with Harbor-Works to develop an offer that includes funding contributions from the state agency.
Needs $4 million
Harbor-Works says it needs $4 million in funding from Ecology’s toxics cleanup account to ensure Rayonier that it has money to cover higher-than-expected cleanup costs.
The company, with any deal, would pay for the estimated cost of cleanup, the public development authority has maintained.
The funds from Ecology, along with contributions from a private investor, would cover anything above that amount.
Hallett said Harbor-Works will remain in touch with Ecology, and expects the state agency to provide a more concrete proposal in about a month.
Also attending the meeting were Jim Pendowski, Ecology toxics cleanup program manager, and Rebecca Lawson, the program’s regional manager.
Thursday meeting
On Thursday, representatives of Ecology and the port, city and Harbor-Works will meet in Port Angeles to update each other on the cleanup of the Rayonier property and the city’s negotiations with Rayonier to acquire a large tank on the land.
The 75-acre property on the eastern shore of Port Angeles Harbor is contaminated with low levels of heavy metals, PCBs and dioxin left from 68 years of a pulp mill operation.
The Rayonier mill closed in 1997 and the cleanup of the site has been under Ecology since 2000.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
