PORT ANGELES — The site of the former Peninsula Plywood mill is a step closer to being cleaned of petroleum byproducts and other contaminants.
Port of Port Angeles commissioners last week unanimously approved a $417,830 cleanup-related contract amendment with Floyd Snider, a Seattle environmental consulting company.
It will set the stage for cleaning up the 19-acre former industrial site at 439 Marine Drive, where PenPly closed in 2011.
Under different companies, plywood had been manufactured at the mill over seven decades.
Floyd Snider will prepare a draft cleanup action plan, draft a final remedial investigation-feasibility study-report, write a cleanup feasibility study and implement the study’s work plan, the priciest part of the contract at $181,420.
A two-part process is involved, port Director of Environmental Affairs Jeff Robb said Friday.
“The remedial investigation is when we go out and do the field work, and we do sampling, install ground monitoring, that sort of thing — evaluate what the contamination is and the degree of contamination,” Robb said Friday.
The feasibility study will include a set of scenarios that could be implemented to clean up the site, he said.
“Many different options come into play depending on contamination, what byproduct it is and where it’s located.”
The draft cleanup action plan will be submitted to the state Department of Ecology for approval.
“All of this goes under a public review process at various steps,” Robb said.
Once the draft is approved by Ecology, the remedy outlined in the cleanup action plan will be implemented.
Funding options
Funding options for the contract amendment commissioners approved include environmental insurance and 75 percent reimbursement of costs from a state Department of Ecology $2 million remedial action grant, Robb said at Monday’s port commission meeting.
Sampling for contaminants is being done in various stages.
Sediment sampling of the mill pond next to PenPly has been completed, with results expected back from Ecology in the next 30 to 60 days, Robb said.
Under an agreed order with Ecology, the port was required to demolish the site, a task that was completed this past spring.
The preliminary draft cleanup action plan is due by May 2015, with public comment scheduled for July 2015.
Actual site cleanup will occur under a separate contract.
A subsequent agreed order between Ecology and the port will cover final cleanup, which is not expected to be completed until the end of 2017, Rebecca Lawson, regional manager for Ecology’s toxic-cleanup program, has estimated.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
