PORT ANGELES — With the clock ticking on a key deadline, Navy officials will host an open house Tuesday on their plans to build a military pier at Ediz Hook.
The meeting at 6 p.m. at the Elks Naval Lodge, 131 E. First St., will offer information from the Navy and Coast Guard and solicit written comments on the project in anticipation of the Jan. 28 deadline for public input on the project’s draft environmental assessment.
Oral comments will not be accepted.
No formal presentation is planned.
The proposal would provide a staging area for vessels and crews escorting Navy submarines traveling between Naval Base Kitsap Bangor and the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
The security escort is operated by the Coast Guard and civilian mariners.
The escort vessels, called the Transit Protection System, presently tie up at Port of Port Angeles terminals to comply with Coast Guard underway-hour limits and crew rest requirements between trips.
Proposed pier
The proposed pier would extend from the southern shore near the eastern end of Ediz Hook at Coast Guard Air Station Port Angeles.
The Navy has budgeted $16.7 million to build it.
It replaced one of its original three alternatives with one that may please scuba divers and the Puget Sound Pilots.
The assessment, a 224-page document, is available online at http://go.usa.gov/tAr4. A printed copy can be reviewed at the Port Angeles Library, 2210 S. Peabody St.
Written comments also can be emailed to NWNEPA@navy.mil or sent to Naval Facilities Engineering Command Northwest; Attn: NEPA Project Manager/TPS Facilities, 1101 Tautog Circle, Room 203, Silverdale, WA 98315-1101.
Individuals requiring reasonable accommodations can contact Naval Base Kitsap public affairs at 360-627-4030 or pao.nbk.cnrnw@navy.mil.
