PORT ANGELES — Navy officials recently unveiled preliminary plans for constructing a pier and support facilities for berthing submarine-escort vessels on Ediz Hook.
Several of those at a Thursday night open house on those plans expressed concerns about one of the three options — Alternative 1 in the Navy’s proposal — to build a pier on top of an artificial reef near the entrance of the Port Angeles Coast Guard base (officially known as Air Station/Sector Field Office Port Angeles).
The 35- to 90-foot-deep reef is teaming with fish and shellfish and has become a magnet for Pacific Northwest scuba divers.
“It’s a smart idea for them to do what they’re wanting to do, but we’d hate to lose a valuable dive attraction in Port Angeles which brings in some revenue,” said James Trask of Kent, president of the nonprofit Washington Scuba Alliance.
“And if we do lose it, we want to have the alternative capability to put in our own dive park and be given the funds to make it happen by losing our dive spot.”
An environmental assessment is underway for an estimated $16.7 million project to build a pier for berthing seven vessels that escort subs back and forth between Naval Base Kitsap and the Pacific Ocean.
Some of the escort vessels now berth on and off at a dock behind security fences in the Port of Port Angeles.
Public comments will be accepted through Feb. 25 for consideration in the draft environmental assessment.
Potential sites
Three potential sites have been identified: one on top of the artificial reef at an unused barge landing about 100 yards from the western entrance inside the Coast Guard base, one expanding the existing T-pier near the middle of the Coast Guard base and one near the eastern tip of Ediz Hook.
The facility would include sleeping quarters for 20 to 30 Coast Guard personnel, providing a staging location for the Navy’s transit protection system, or TPS, along the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
The escort vessels would be 250-foot blocking vessels, 87-foot patrol boats and 64-foot and 33-foot screening vessels.
Construction would begin in summer 2016 and last about two years, according to Navy documents.
In the two-hour open house at the Elks Naval Lodge in Port Angeles, several scuba divers said they feared the artificial reef area — created when some boulders intended for a breakwater fell off a barge years ago — would be the most likely spot for the project because it would cost less than the other alternatives.
Area tribes and the Puget Sound Pilots have joined divers in raising concerns about Alternative 1.
“It shouldn’t even be on the table,” said Cathy Lucero, a local scuba diver.
Eelgrass, pilots’ station
The Lower Elwha Klallam, Port Gamble S’Klallam and Jamestown S’Klallam tribes are concerned about the potential impact of construction and vessel activity on nearby eelgrass beds.
Puget Sound Pilots, which operates a station just outside the base entrance, believes Alternative 1 would be so disruptive that Puget Sound Pilots might be forced to relocate, Executive Director Walter Tabler has said.
Navy officials stressed that the project is in its early planning phase and that public feedback will be incorporated into the draft environmental assessment.
All three sites would include berthing for up to seven escort vessels, construction of a second armory on the Coast Guard base for storing the vessels’ automatic weapons and ammunition, and the addition of a pier with a pontoon that may come from the state Highway 520 floating bridge replacement project.
None of the alternatives has been identified as preferred by Navy officials.
The Port of Port Angeles earned about $80,000 from the Navy in berthage fees from sub-escort vessels using the port’s docks in 2014.
Answered questions
On Thursday, Navy and Coast Guard officials were stationed at displays describing the project and answered questions from the public at the open house, which was attended by as many as 40 at one time.
Public comment forms were available.
“We want to make sure the public knows what’s going to happen,” said Ben Keasler, Navy environmental planner and National Environmental Policy Act project manager.
“We don’t just want to tell the public something. What we’re really here to do is to get feedback from the public,” Keasler said.
“We would like to know what the public thinks about what our proposed action is.”
The open house was “kind of an unusual step” for the Navy since the draft environmental assessment has not been published, Keasler said, adding that the Navy is aware of the concerns raised by divers, pilots and tribes.
“We’re aware of them, but we want them to have the opportunity to convey them to us so that we don’t misinterpret something or phrase it in a way that they would not,” Keasler said.
“It’s a great dialogue, and it’s cool to have that, but it’s really nice to have those comments written down so that we can capture that.”
A description of proposed action is available at http://tinyurl.com/PDN-navypier.
How to comment
Written comments can be submitted via email to NWNEPA@navy.mil or mailed to Commanding Officer, NAVFAC NW, Attn: NEPA PM, 1101 Tautog Circle, Silverdale, WA 98315-1101
“Today’s the first time we’ve been in front of the public, but it won’t be the last,” Keasler said Thursday.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
