PORT ANGELES — A solution to the impasse over Tse-whit-zen, site of the former Hood Canal Bridge graving yard, could come soon through the efforts of U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks.
Dicks, D-Belfair, whose congressional district includes Clallam and Jefferson counties, facilitated a meeting Tuesday outside of Port Angeles among members of the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe, officials of the state Department of Transportation and other parties to the problem of what to do with the 22.5 acres on the Port Angeles waterfront.
“We had some discussions with him, but we’re still talking,” Tribal Chairwoman Frances Charles said Wednesday.
She declined to reveal details of the meeting or when a settlement would be forthcoming.
State Rep. Jim Buck, R-Joyce, a critic of how the Department of Transportation spent almost $60 million on the project with nothing to show for it, said he didn’t attend the meeting but had been asked to be available for a conference call today among principals in the controversy.
Tim Thompson, a former aide to Dicks, also confirmed the meeting and said it had put the talks back on track.
Thompson has moderated negotiations over the site since shortly after the graving yard was shut down in December 2004.
