PORT ANGELES — Port of Port Angeles commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved a consent decree with the Washington State Department of Ecology to move forward with the Western Port Angeles Harbor cleanup.
The port is one of six parties in the decree, along with the City of Port Angeles, Georgia-Pacific, Nippon Paper Industries, Owens Corning and Merrill & Ring.
Under it, the port will help carry out the cleanup according a schedule and requirements outlined in the cleanup action plan.
“This is a milestone,” said Commissioner Connie Beauvais. “It has taken a long time, but the work that has gone on has been constant. All of the investigation and getting the six parties to agree to participate has been a tremendous task.
“Although it looks to the community that this has taken forever, it has moved fairly quickly compared to the other half of the harbor” (referring to the Rayonier Mill cleanup site).
The Western Harbor cleanup project will extend over 16 years and include remedial underwater work that will extend over six seasons, said Jesse Wakntiz, the port’s environmental manager.
It is in the process of hiring consultants to conduct the engineering and design for the cleanup as outlined by the Department of Ecology, Waknitz said.
The Department of Ecology will oversee the work and the port’s share of the expense will be covered by insurance, not by the public.
“We’ve gone from ‘this may be cleaned up,’ to “this will be cleaned up,’” Commissioner Steve Burke said.
The port’s liability stems from properties it has acquired fairly recently as well as those it has owned for decades.
The activities of lumber mills, wood processing and petroleum distribution facilities that once operated at the port sites released contaminants into the soil, groundwater and sediment.
Among the toxins the Department of Ecology found in the Western Harbor were metals; polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs); pesticides; dioxins; furans; and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).
There are eight formal cleanup sites in the Port Angeles harbor area.
Five are on port properties: the western harbor site; Terminals 5, 6 and 7 and uplands (located on Marine Drive); the former KPly site (439 Marine Dr.); the marine trades area and Pettit Oil Company site (617 and 637 Marine Dr.); and the Pettit Oil Company Tumwater Truck Route (220 Tumwater Truck Rte.) and former Shell Oil bulk plant (220 Tumwater Truck Rte.)
Commissioners on Tuesday also approved an agreement with the Maritime Administration to finalize a $9 million Port Infrastructure Development Program grant it was awarded in November. Grants and Government Affairs Manager Katharine Frazier anticipated the port would receive the funds later this summer. The port will use the grant to purchase two Wagner logstackers and a conveyor system and two material handlers. The port’s 20 percent share of the total project cost of $11.25 million is $2.25 million.
The port in 2024, received a $9.4 million grant through the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Ports Program to upgrade its shore power infrastructure, which is dated and underutilized by vessels. Commissioners voted to start the first step in the process by agreeing to a $200,250 contract with Harbor Power Engineers for schematic design and development, construction documents and construction support services. The Clean Ports Program is funding 95 percent of the total cost of the project, the Washington Department of Transportation and the port are each contributing 5 percent — or $10,012 each.
Commissioners unanimously approved a $99,982.85 one-year contract with Anchor QEA for assistance in project management, document review, program and mitigation review and permitting services for state and federal regulatory agencies. Waknitz said the work was part of an initiative to secure long-term permits for maintenance and repair activities.
The port has reforecast its 2025 budget due to changes in the economy, the enactment of stiff tariffs and unforeseen events like Amazon abandoning its plan to lease port property adjacent to William R. Fairchild International Airport, where it planned to build a distribution center, and a drop in the number of log ships it anticipated receiving.
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com
