PORT ANGELES — City, port and Jamestown S’Klallam officials are seeking state help in ensuring that the Rayonier property on the Port Angeles waterfront will be available for development.
Rayonier Inc. is considering restoring the property’s shoreline and inland habitat — and limit or prohibit development — to settle its liability for damages the mill caused to natural resources during its 67-year existence, said Matt Beirne, Lower Elwha Klallam environmental coordinator.
A state Department of Ecology spokeswoman confirmed that Rayonier has spoken to the agency about the concept, but Rayonier spokeswoman Robin Keegan could not comment, beyond saying that the company is “exploring some alternatives” for environmental restoration.
Charles Hood, Rayonier vice president of corporate affairs, and Carla Yetter, the company’s environmental affairs director, did not return multiple phone calls requesting comment Friday.
Beirne said the Florida-based company approached the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe last summer about the concept.
The tribe is a partner in the environmental cleanup of the property because at least part of it was built over the site of the ancient Elwha Klallam village of Y’ennis.
The Port Angeles-area tribe is backing the idea because it meets its goals of environmental restoration and protection of artifacts and burials known to exist there, he said.
“We’re looking at restoration of Ennis Creek,” which runs through the property, “and the ecosystem so it’s a fully functional ecosystem,” Beirne said.
“It would create a very unique environment among Puget Sound cities.”
But Beirne acknowledged that such a move would prohibit development along the shoreline and possibly the entire property.
That is why the heads of the city of Port Angeles, the Port of Port Angeles and the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe will meet with state Department of Ecology Director Ted Sturdevant on April 14 to make their case.
(The state, which oversees the cleanup of the property, would also have to sign off on any efforts made by Rayonier to compensate for damages it caused to natural resources, Beirne said.)
The three governments also have requested a meeting with Gov. Chris Gregoire.
Clallam County Administrator Jim Jones said he will attend the meeting, but only for informational purposes.
The 75-acre property remains the largest undeveloped industrial waterfront property on the North Olympic Peninsula since Rayonier closed its pulp mill in 1997, and the city, the port and the Jamestown tribe each see a stake in the redevelopment of the property.
The property is contaminated with pockets of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxin, arsenic and other toxins left by the mill that operated there for 68 years.
The site became an Ecology cleanup project in 2000. A cleanup plan is expected by the end of 2013.
“The loss of that waterfront property means a loss of economic opportunity for the community,” said port Executive Director Jeff Robb.
The city and port have perhaps the most at stake. They together sank $1.3 million into the Harbor-Works Development Authority, which they created in 2008 to acquire the site and determine its future use.
The public development authority dissolved in November, four months after Rayonier declined to continue negotiations with it.
The business-keen Jamestown tribe, long sitting on the sidelines of the cleanup effort, unveiled a proposal for the property in August that combines environmental restoration and tribal facilities with commercial and residential development.
Neither Rayonier nor the Lower Elwha Klallam has signed on to Jamestown’s idea nor any other development proposal.
Jamestown Chairman Ron Allen said Saturday there is no ill will between the two tribes, though they have differing opinions on what should be done with the property.
“We’re pretty clear that Lower Elwha is just focused on getting it [the property] cleaned up,” he said. “And they have differing opinions about development opportunities down there.
“We just shrug our shoulders about that, and that’s OK.
“At the end of the day, the issue will be: We probably will be pushing for a cleanup that allows for development.”
The Lower Elwha Klallam has “good working relationships with the agencies and tribes,” Chairwoman Frances Charles said in an email. She couldn’t be reached for further comment.
Beirne said Rayonier and the Lower Elwha Klallam have held several meetings with Ecology and the state Department of Natural Resources on the company’s restoration concept over the past few months but could not comment as to how far those discussions have gone.
Ecology spokeswoman Kim Schmanke said in an email that no decisions have been made on Rayonier’s concept. Schmanke could not be reached for further comment.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
