PORT ANGELES — City Council members want the National Park Service to pay all of the costs for a test of the city’s main water-supply well to determine what impacts Elwha River sediment could be having on the well and its water pump system.
Council members voted 5-2, with Deputy Mayor Brad Collins and Councilman Dan Di Guilio opposed, to delay a vote on signing a $50,000 agreement with Columbus, Ohio-based Layne Christensen Inc. to conduct a performance test of the city’s Ranney well, which collects water from an underground aquifer along the Elwha River and is the primary source of drinking water for city residents and businesses.
After discussions with Olympic National Park Superintendent Sarah Creachbaum, City Manager Dan McKeen told council members that the park proposed to pay for half of the $50,000 study.
“It is the city’s position that the park should be paying for the evaluation of the city’s Ranney well,” McKeen said later.
McKeen said he will set up a meeting with park staff to discuss the park’s ability to fund the Ranney’s well performance test.
On Tuesday, Public Works Director Glenn Cutler told council members that city staff feel the performance test is needed to study the potential impact that sediment released from the National Park Service’s $325 million Elwha River dam-removal project is having on the well.
The potential impacts stem from the city’s having to collect more water than expected from its Ranney well.
That is because the federally funded Elwha Water Treatment Plant and surface water intake have failed since November to provide enough pre-treated water to the Port Angeles Water Treatment Plant.
“We’re proposing to pump-test on the Ranney well to determine its yield to see if [it has] been impacted or not,” said Cutler, adding that the test would involve drilling two wells reaching down to the aquifer from which the well takes its water.
“From an engineering perspective, I’d like to see this move sooner rather than later to begin collecting data,” Cutler added.
City public works staff have said Monday was the first time since November the city has been able use water from the Elwha Water Facilities, mixing it with Ranney well water at a roughly 50/50 ratio.
McKeen said the Ranney well is still producing high-quality water for the city, though he said “there is some concern that it will be able to provide the quantity of water based on higher demand conditions, like the summer, [if] the Ranney well is used exclusively.”
The decision to delay a vote on the agreement with Layne Christensen came after several council members asked why the city should be on the hook at all for paying for a test of the Ranney well that was requested because the national park-built Elwha Water Facilities have not been doing their job.
“I’m very uncomfortable that this federal initiative is suddenly requiring us to fund a study,” City Councilman Max Mania said, adding that he also was concerned that the city splitting the study costs with the national park could set a precedent for future cost-sharing.
Mayor Cherie Kidd said she felt agreeing to share the cost with the national park would go against agreements between the city and the National Park Service signed before dam removal began, agreements that made the park responsible for protecting the city’s water supply.
“I would like to postpone this for two weeks so we can have the opportunity to discuss with the park our legal agreements,” Kidd said.
“I think on behalf of the citizens, I want to make sure we’re doing the right thing at the right time.”
Deputy Mayor Collins said the Park Service should be financially responsible, though he did not want to delay the vote on the Layne Christensen agreement and push back the start of Ranney well testing.
“I feel that if we have a claim against the park, that’s fine, but our priority right now is protecting the Ranney well,” Collins said.
McKeen said Wednesday that the city is not discussing filing monetary claims against the Park Service.
“It is our intent to work cooperatively with the park to resolve these issues,” McKeen said.
Creachbaum said Wednesday she is limited in the amount of money she can expend outside Olympic National Park boundaries, which include the city’s Ranney well.
“I don’t have the legal authority to expend funds any place I want to,” Creachbaum said, “should I have the funds to expend.”
Creachbaum added that the initial offer was part of a preliminary discussion with the city.
“We’re going to continue to talk with the city,” she said, adding that she could not speculate if the national park would at some point be able to pay for the entire test.
McKeen said he didn’t want to speculate on the city’s response if park staff retain their position on splitting the cost of the study 50/50 with the city.
“It is our intent to move forward, and hopefully the outstanding issues can be resolved cooperatively,” McKeen said.
Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
