OLYMPIA — The state Department of Ecology said today that Rayonier Inc. has signed a draft agreement for a study and partial cleanup of the 75-acre site of the old Rayonier pulp mill on the Port Angeles waterfront.
Ecology will begin a 30-day public comment period on the agreement, called an “agreed order,” on Feb. 1. The comment period will extend through March 5.
After comments have been received and reviewed, Ecology can sign the agreed order, the state said in a statement.
No comment from Rayonier was available this morning.
Ecology plans an open house from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Feb. 10 at the Port Angeles Senior Center, at 328 E. Seventh St. Ecology staff members will answer questions and collect comments.
The new accord replaces two older agreements and defines a “study area” where Rayonier will conduct additional groundwater and soil investigations, ultimately resulting in a plan for cleanup of the site at the end of Ennis Street, Ecology said.
The state added that the agreed order incorporates Rayonier’s previous work and requires additional data collection for a full understanding of the cleanup work needed in the study area, and includes an enforceable schedule of tasks to keep Ecology and Rayonier on track.
Pockets of PCBs, dioxin, arsenic and other toxins were found on the site after it closed in 1997 after 68 years of pulp mill operation.
It has been an Ecology cleanup project since 2000.
In December, both sides had agreed to extend the negotiations on the legal agreement to this month. Ecology proposed a draft legal agreement on Sept. 28.
At that time, the draft agreed order required Rayonier to finish soil sampling to fill data gaps on the property at the foot of Ennis Street.
It also required Rayonier to develop a plan to clean up the study area, which includes the mill site and a portion of Port Angeles Harbor extending one mile to the northeast.
Ecology maintains that the study area does not define the extent of the cleanup area, which could be expanded if Rayonier is found responsible for further contamination.
Rayonier will still be accountable for cleaning up any contamination outside the study area that can be linked to the mill’s 68 years of operation.
The Lower Elwha Klallam tribe, which is a partner in the cleanup process because an ancient Klallam Village once existed on a portion of the site, has reviewed the agreed order, and concurred with it, although with reservations about the length of the new time line extending the cleanup.
Ecology said that the document can be viewed online at Ecology’s Rayonier mill cleanup Web site at http://tinyurl.com/y92qqm8. It had not been posted by 11:30 a.m. today.
Ecology also said that the document can be viewed at the Port Angeles Library, 2210 S. Peabody St., and at Peninsula College, 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd., Port Angeles.
Comments be mailed to Marian Abbett, SWRO Toxics Cleanup Program, Department of Ecology, PO Box 47775, Olympia, WA 98504-7775; or e-mailed to her at Marian.abbett@ecy.wa.gov.
