PORT ANGELES — Rep. Norm Dicks is expected to attend the dedication ceremony of Port Angeles’ new municipal water treatment plant next month.
The ceremony is set for the afternoon of April 2.
The plant has been running since Feb. 11.
Dicks, D-Belfair, represents the 6th Congressional District, which includes the North Olympic Peninsula. The appearance will be his first on the North Olympic Peninsula since he rose to the chairmanship of the Appropriations subcommittee that controls all defense spending — the biggest single item in the federal budget.
The $24.5 million water treatment plant is located next to the garbage transfer station at the west end of Eighteenth Street.
Funded by park service
Construction was funded by the National Park Service.
The plant is part of the $308 million project to remove the two Elwha River dams.
Dam removal will begin in 2011 and take about two years to finish.
The plant was constructed because sediment released during dam removal may impact the city’s drinking water well, charged from river water.
It also brings the city into compliance with new state health regulations.
Running the treatment plant was estimated to cost $674,000 this year, but the city will only pay about $156,000.
The difference is made up by the park service.
The city will take on the full operating costs after 27 years.
