PORT ANGELES — The Port of Port Angeles may know by mid-July who will clean up the former KPly mill site — and how the contractor will do it.
The port’s three commissioners Monday ratified their staff’s request for bids on the environmental project that’s expected to cost up to $5.4 million.
Bidders will have their choice of methods to clean the 19-acre area on Marine Drive just west of downtown:
■ Excavate and haul to a licensed landfill the soil that’s contaminated by gasoline, diesel fuel, hydraulic fluid, heavy oil, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes, pentachlorophenol, dioxins and furans. The dirt would be replaced with clean fill.
■ Use what’s called evaporative desorption to heat the soil, vaporize contaminants, recover the chemicals and render them harmless.
Both methods are acceptable to the state Department of Ecology, according to Chris Hartman, the port’s engineering director.
Which strategy will prevail will depend on its cost, with the lowest qualified bidder winning the contract.
“The deciding factor is going to be which one is more cost effective for our site,” Hartman said.
The project is moving ahead of schedule to start work before winter weather sets in, he said.
“That’s why the rush,” he said. “This property is highly valuable.
“The cleanup of this site has been a priority for the port since the mill operations ceased in December 2011” when the operation’s final manifestation, called PenPly, went bankrupt.
According to estimates Ecology shared at an open house in April, the cleanup could last up to seven months.
The port will host a pre-bid conference and site visit at 10 a.m. June 24. Deadline for bids is 2 p.m. July 8. The next regular port commission meeting is set for 9 a.m. July 14, when commissioners could award a bid.
The port will pay for the cleanup from its capital reserves and hope to recover costs from its insurers, from companies that contaminated the site, and if necessary, from funds left from a grant that paid for the PenPly mill demolition.
In other action Monday, commissioners increased from $192,000 to $232,000 the “not to exceed” limit on its contract with Carletti Architects of Mount Vernon to design the interior of the proposed Composites Recycling Technology Center, 2220 W. 18th St., at William R. Fairchild International Airport.
The expanded plans will include a solar-thermal hot water system, solar panels on the center’s roof, freezers to store the pre-impregnated carbon-fiber composite material the center will recycle, backup electrical power to the freezers and security controls.
The proposed center has attracted about $3.7 million in federal, state and Clallam County grants toward its projected $5.4 million cost. With the funds came opportunities to refine the design, said Hartman, producing the $40,000 increase.
In related action, Commissioner Colleen McAleer reported on the testimony she gave June 9 to a U.S. Senate committee on a bill to fund a study and demonstration project for composites recycling.
“It was great for our community to be able to highlight the work we’ve done in this innovative area,” she said.
Other testimony to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources included the Boeing Co.’s support of the study and demonstration project.
According to a staff member on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, the Port Angeles center could receive some of the $10 million that Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell’s Bill 1432 would allocate for the study and demonstration.
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Reporter James Casey can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jcasey@peninsuladailynews.com.
