PORT ANGELES — The Lower Elwha Klallam tribe wants to see the former Rayonier Inc. pulp mill site cleaned up, said tribal chairwoman Francis Charles at the first meeting of the tribal council with the Harbor-Works Public Development Authority Board of Directors, but the tribe has a key question:
“How are you going to treat our ancestors?” Charles asked during the three-hour meeting at the tribe’s housing office on Friday.
Y’Innis, a large Klallam village, was located near the present Rayonier-owned site in the 1850s, and remnants are buried under part of the property, east of Ennis Creek.
The Lower Elwha Klallam tribe is a partner in the environmental cleanup of the former pulp-mill site on Port Angeles Harbor at the foot of Ennis Street.
Harbor-Works was formed in May to acquire or get control of the Rayonier property, oversee the cleanup and direct redevelopment.
“How are we going to be protected?” Charles asked. “And how are our ancestors going to be protected?”
The question brought up memories of the ancient Klallam village of Tse-whit-zen.
Artifacts and human remains were found in the site on Marine Drive when digging began there in August 2003 to build a state-funded graving yard where pontoons and anchors would be made for the retrofit of the east side of the Hood Canal Bridge.
Digging continued for most of 2004 until, after more than 300 graves had been disturbed, Charles withdrew the Lower Elwha’s support from the project on Dec. 10 of that year.
The graving yard in Port Angeles was abandoned, along with the jobs the project represented, and the state Department of Transportation had the Hood Canal components built in Tacoma and Seattle facilities.
Two months ago, the tribe re-buried 337 cedar boxes containing human remains in the Marine Drive site, where it plans to create an information center and museum on land given it by the state.
The money to set up Harbor-Works originally came from a state settlement prompted by the abandoned graving yard project.
The state gave the city and port $7.5 million each for economic development. Both put the money in their economic development funds.
Each of those entities provided $150,000 from their economic development funds for startup costs for Harbor-Works.
Tribal officials were not consulted on the formation or any of the planning for Harbor-Works.
On Friday, the two groups shared a cordial exchange, talking primarily about the Rayonier cleanup project.
The meeting also served as a seminar about the tribe.
“We want to work with you in a way that will meet your needs, so that all of the issues that you have will be on the table and get appropriate consideration,” said Orville Campbell, chairman of the Harbor-Works Public Development Authority Board of Directors.
Tribal culture
Topics at the meeting included tribal culture, education and services, as well as the planned removal of two dams from the Elwha River and salmon restoration.
The tribe officials also discussed their plans to open a casino on the reservation in January.
“Our goals are all the same, to see the economy pick up for the surrounding community,” said Dennis Sullivan, vice chairman of the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe.
“We’re looking for ways to provide jobs for the community, too, and to help support our own tribal people.”
The tribal council provided tribal statistics, information brochure and satellite map of the area showing tribal boundaries.
“One of the things I assure you we will do is to study the information that you’ve provided,” Campbell told the tribal council.
Campbell asked the council if it would provide tribal experts to address the board on specific issues in the future.
“We would be more than honored and privileged to do that,” Charles responded.
Future meetings between the Harbor-Works board of directors and the members of the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe were discussed, but no meetings were set during Friday’s discussion.
“This is really a great opportunity to do something like this,” Sullivan said.
“This is great that you guys are willing to come down and listen to us, and we share our views with each other.
“We all depend on the economics here in this community. We do all our banking in town and buy our cars locally. We count on each other; we support each other. Without it, it just won’t work. “
Campbell opened the meeting by explaining Harbor-Works’ mission to the tribal council.
“I think you’re probably all pretty familiar with it by now, but I think it would be useful just to hear it from us,” Campbell said told the tribal council.
“What we’re really chartered to do is to implement the appropriate measures to remediate and redevelop the Rayonier mill property so that it will contribute to the local economy and serve the general welfare of the community.
“We’re also very much aware that the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe has very unique authority in the regulatory side in the cleanup and the redevelopment of the Rayonier property and the harbor.”
Cleanup for the 75-acre Rayonier property began in 2000 under the auspices of the state Department of Ecology.
No significant action, other than soil and water sampling, has been taken.
The U.S. Environmental Protection in 2000 described the Rayonier site as “moderately contaminated.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
