It’s difficult to find definitive answers about the future of the state Department of Transportation’s graving yard on the Port Angeles waterfront.
Excavation of the huge dry dock that will be used to build the pontoons and anchors to replace of the eastern half of the Hood Canal Bridge was stopped Aug. 26 after remains of Lower Elwha Klallam tribe ancestors were found.
No further digging has taken place at the graving yard, the delay costing taxpayers about $30,000 a day, according to Transportation officials.
Here’s an example of how confusing the situation is.
During a telephone interview on Friday, Transportation Secretary Doug MacDonald said he hopes work can resume in the next few weeks on parts of the 22.4-acre site.
But a short time later, Linda Mullen, director of communications for the transportation department said continuing the project isn’t a sure thing.
“We don’t know if we have a show stopper or not,” Mullen said. Show stopper is Transportation jargon for a situation that could force the graving yard to be moved to another location.
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The rest of the story appears in the Sunday Peninsula Daily News.
