PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles Harbor-Works Development Authority board has formally voiced its disapproval of a three-year timeline by the Department of Ecology for the Rayonier mill site cleanup.
The four Harbor-Works board members present at the Monday meeting passed the resolution. Board member Howie Ruddell was absent.
“One thing I think the Department of Ecology was a little surprised about was the universal disappointment to the Rayonier situation,” the public development authority’s executive director, Jeff Lincoln, said.
Ecology’s timeline of three additional years, struck in agreement with Rayonier Inc., owner of the site of its former pulp mill, would extend the cleanup effort well into its second decade.
“We are not in any way asking them to violate any of the [Washington Administrative Codes],” Lincoln said.
“But there are many things they could do within the confines of the WACs that could still move forward a little faster.”
He noted that although the resolution is similar to those adopted by port commissioners and City Council members last month, the Harbor-Work’s document urges the Department of Ecology to define what “the site” means.
Three more years
The resolution also urges Ecology to expedite the timeline, which gives Rayonier three more years to develop further cleanup plans for its property and about 1,300 acres of Port Angeles Harbor bottom.
The three-year extension was contained in a new agreement signed by Rayonier on Jan. 22.
Ecology won’t sign it until after a public comment period ends Friday.
Pockets of PCBs, dioxin, arsenic and other toxins were found on the site, which is at the end of Ennis Street in northeast Port Angeles, after the pulp mill closed in 1997 following 68 years of operation.
It has been an Ecology cleanup project since 2000.
Rayonier has said it has removed 20,000 tons of contaminated soil from the property and spent about $25 million on cleanup to date.
Size of cleanup
The new agreement is intended to finish the cleanup on the property and the portion of harbor bottom that both parties have agreed that Rayonier is responsible for contaminating.
But Ecology continues to say the entire extent of the cleanup site has not been determined.
That’s what Lincoln and the Harbor-Works board hopes Ecology will define.
“If that site is indeterminate, then as we move forward in potentially acquiring some of this property and becoming a [potentially liable party], we would just be along for the ride,” Lincoln said.
“If they will go ahead and define the site, it helps us set limits on what we might be liable for.
“We have to be careful and cognizant in terms of Rayonier and Ecology.”
A potentially liable party is any property owner of a cleanup site.
Even if Harbor-Works had no part in the contamination, acquiring the site could legally make it partially accountable for some of the cleanup.
Before purchasing the land, the liability could be limited through the contract with Rayonier if the extent of the liability is known.
In other Harbor-Works business Monday:
• The board elected board member Jim Hallett as treasurer and Jerry Hendrickson as secretary.
• The board also discussed how to move forward with determining the chairman of the board.
The organization’s charter, which was written when the organization was formed by the city and port in 2008, says the four board members vote to select the fifth member of the board, who is then approved by the City Council, said board member Kaj Ahlburg.
The selected member automatically becomes the chairman of the board.
Hallett said he favored keeping current chairman Orville Campbell in place, and both Ahlburg and Hendrickson concurred. The board must vote by the May meeting, which is when Campbell’s term ends.
No vote was taken at Monday’s meeting.
• The board also approved 4-0 a $25,000 budget for a consultant to be hired for “communications assistance.”
Lincoln said he and the board needed help in preparing materials and information for the public as more information on the Rayonier site becomes available.
The consultant will be chosen at Lincoln’s discretion with the advice of the communications subcommittee consisting of Ruddell and Hallett.
“We probably have about 30 presentations out there, but they aren’t fleshed out and don’t have notes,” Lincoln said.
“The consultants are also good because they know how to ask the questions the public will ask and how to answer them.
“The figuring out what the public will ask and how to answer is a skill set beyond my capabilities.”
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladaily news.com.
