Ecology plans to stick with Rayonier cleanup

Published 1:30 am Saturday, June 27, 2026

PORT ANGELES — The state Department of Ecology has released its response to nearly 400 public comments on the cleanup plan for the former Rayonier Mill site in Port Angeles.

And, despite widespread opposition, it is sticking with its original approach to the contaminated site.

A consent decree requiring Rayonier to implement the cleanup was filed in Clallam County Superior Court on June 25.

Rayonier Advanced Materials and Rayonier A.M. Properties are the potentially liable persons (PLPs) responsible for the cleanup.

Ecology received 386 comments from 359 people during a public comment period that ran from June 12 to Aug. 12, 2025. The most common demand was for full removal of contaminated soil to an off-site facility. Commenters also challenged whether the selected consolidation-and-capping plan was adequate and questioned the cost analysis used to justify it over other options.

In its response, Ecology said it re-ran its cost analysis, considered recommendations from the city of Port Angeles’ consultant and explored whether contaminated material could be sent to a local landfill. None of these changed its decision.

State law requires Ecology to pick the most permanent cleanup option that isn’t disproportionately costly compared to other alternatives. The agency concluded that full removal of contaminated soil didn’t meet that test, so it was legally bound to go with capping instead.

The agency also brought in an engineering firm to assess climate change and natural disaster risks, saying those concerns would be addressed during the engineering design phase that is now underway. Ecology expects that phase to take about five years to complete.

Soil cleanup is expected to take about seven years, while groundwater and sediment work is expected to take about 10 years. Those efforts will run largely in parallel.

Rayonier already has started hydrodynamic modeling to evaluate how sediments may move after the removal of the large in-water dock and jetty at the site. Sampling work in Port Angeles Harbor is expected to begin in mid-September.

The company operated a pulp mill on the property from 1930 to 1997, releasing harmful chemicals into the air, soil, groundwater and marine sediments in the harbor. A series of cleanup actions in the 2000s removed roughly 30,000 tons of contaminated material from the site.

Current cleanup efforts focus on addressing the remaining contamination.

Ecology’s response to the public comments, additional cleanup information and a focus sheet summarizing the comment period and next steps of the cleanup process is available at https://tinyurl.com/2s4hkcnn.