PORT ANGELES – Two water treatment plants that are to be built as part of the Elwha River dams removal and river restoration project are funded, Rep. Norm Dicks said during tours in town on Thursday.
Future funding also won’t be a problem, given his position as chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, which controls funding for the National Park Service, he said as he toured projects in Port Angeles.
“We’ll just keep bankrolling it,” said Dicks, D-Belfair.
President Bush and his predecessor, Bill Clinton, both had the Elwha project in their budgets, he said.
That also will help the project’s continued funding.
“We just need to get the two water treatment plants done,” Dicks said.
The longtime congressman visited Port Angeles on Thursday afternoon for a brief tour that included stops at Peninsula College, Olympic National Park headquarters and the Port Angeles International Gateway Transportation Center construction site.
Dicks talked briefly about the Elwha River project after the tour.
Dam removal had been scheduled to begin in 2009.
The park service recently backed away from a target date for dam removal to focus on near-term projects such as the water treatment plants.
But Dicks said that also won’t be a problem.
“It will take a few more years to do,” he said.
“I’m glad to see people here are patient. I’ve been patient.”
The 1992 Elwha River Restoration Act that authorized removal of the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams on the Elwha River also required construction of two treatment plants to protect the city of Port Angeles’ water supply.
The National Park Service will seek contractor proposals for the municipal water treatment plant until 4 p.m., Denver time, on July 23.
The project contract could be awarded in September.
The project is estimated to cost between $15 million and $25 million and take two years to complete.
The request for proposals for the industrial water treatment plant could be released in September with a contract award later in the year.
The estimated cost is between $60 million and $80 million and the project is estimated to take three years.
