PORT ANGELES — The Port of Port Angeles has made a last-ditch, last-minute effort to convince the Navy to use existing port docking facilities instead of building a new pier for submarine-escort vessels at the Coast Guard station on Ediz Hook.
Port commissioners approved a draft version of a one-page proposal at their meeting Tuesday. They directed Environmental Manager Jesse Waknitz to revise and send it to the Navy on Wednesday.
Wednesday was the deadline for public comments on Naval Base Kitsap’s “Description of Proposed Action and Alternatives” for the pier and support facilities.
The document describes an estimated $16.7 million project with three alternative sites at Air Station/Sector Field Office Port Angeles, including disputed Alternative 1.
That plan proposes building a pier over an artificial reef about 100 yards west of the base entrance at the tip of Ediz Hook.
An environmental assessment of the alternatives is being conducted that will result in a draft environmental assessment this fall, which will be subject to further public comments, Navy spokeswoman Liane Nakahara said Thursday.
2016 start
Construction would begin in summer 2016 and last about two years.
It’s not common for alternatives to be added once they have been presented at this stage in a project, Nakahara said.
“Typically, that generally doesn’t happen,” she said.
But none of the alternatives is “set in stone,” she added.
The port’s proposal is a revised version of a 2011 plan offered by the port that was rejected by the Navy, which would no longer use port facilities if a new pier is built at Ediz Hook.
In 2014, the Navy paid the port about $80,000 in berthage fees at the Port Angeles Boat Haven and port terminals.
Port’s alternative
“The port believes that the combination of newly available and dedicated dockage space at the east berth of Terminal 1 and separate dedicated space at A/B Float in the Port Angeles Boat Haven would meet the selection criteria,” Waknitz said in the letter to the Navy.
“The port is ready to provide the Navy a cost-competitive proposal to meet your selection criteria at existing port facilities with a reduced environmental footprint compared to the existing alternatives,” the letter continued.
“We support the mission. Please continue to consider port facilities for interim moorage needs and reconsider port facilities as a real alternative to provide a permanent staging location for Navy submarine escort vessels.”
More space
Waknitz said changes from the port’s 2011 proposal include the addition of dock space at the Terminal 1 pier — which is in good condition and has security fencing, cameras and access-control, he said — and the elimination of the Terminal 7 pier, which has pilings that need to be replaced.
He said the port’s west main berth could be used by both the Navy and other tenants. The three Ediz Hook alternatives proposed by the Navy would be used exclusively by military vessels.
The armory and sleeping quarters could be built on existing port property, Waknitz said, adding that he did not know if the port proposal would meet the Navy’s requirements.
“There would need to be additional correspondence between the port and the Navy if they were interested,” he said.
Navy project
The project calls for the Navy to build a pier, armory and sleeping quarters for 20 to 30 Coast Guard personnel as a staging location for the Navy’s transit protection system for Naval Base Kitsap submarines.
Vessels docking at the pier would include 250-foot blocking vessels, 87-foot patrol boats and 64-foot and 33-foot screening vessels.
Navy officials say the Coast Guard personnel who staff the vessels need a resting point while accompanying submarines that traverse the Strait of Juan de Fuca between Naval Base Kitsap and the Pacific Ocean.
Nakahara said the port’s letter is one of about 50 comments the Navy received about the three proposed alternatives.
She said some of those comments focused on Alternative 1 and objections by Puget Sound Pilots, based near the Coast Guard station entrance.
Pilots officials have expressed concerns over potential disruptions caused by escort vessel activities.
Comments also focused on the impact of building the Alternative 1 dock over on an artificial reef popular with scuba divers, Nakahara said.
And area tribes have also expressed concerns about the impact on eelgrass that grows near the Alternative 1 site.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
