PORT ANGELES — The National Park Service is seeking public input on a third water treatment plant project linked to the removal of two dams from the Elwha River.
This project would improve an existing plant rather than build a new one.
The proposed upgrade of the Nippon Paper Industries water treatment plant would allow sediment strained from the Elwha River to be deposited 1,200 feet into the Strait of Juan de Fuca at a depth of 30 feet, said Barb Maynes, Olympic National Park spokeswoman.
Tons of sediment are expected to pour down the river after the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams are taken down sometime after 2012.
The dams are being removed in an estimated $318 million National Park Service project to restore the Elwha River to a natural state and open up salmon habitat.
To protect the drinking water supply of Port Angeles, and the industrial water supply for other users of Elwha River water, two water treatment plants are under construction now.
The Nippon project would retrofit and upgrade the existing plant so that it can handle increased sediment from the river, Maynes said.
The change would protect the Strait, as well, she said, since the proposed 20-inch diameter outfall pipe would extend much farther into the Strait then the present pipe at the plant on Ediz Hook does.
“Since sediment levels will increase during and after dam removal, additional sediment will be released into the Strait,”Maynes said in a written statement.
“In order to insure proper mixing and dispersion, the sediments must be released at a greater depth than they currently are, necessitating the outfall pipe to be extended further into the Strait.”
Proposed cost and timing of the work are unknown now, she said.
Beginning of process
“We’re just at the very beginning stages of preparing an environmental assessment,” she said.
“We don’t have a lot of details yet. At this point, it’s just proposed. The proposal hasn’t been fleshed out.”
Nippon’s water plant cleans sediment from the Elwha River water that it uses in manufacturing. It is the sole user of the Elwha River industrial water supply line, Maynes said.
“The proposed improvement project will protect the water supply” for the Nippon plant, Maynes said.
“The NPI paper-making process requires particularly clear water, requiring the plant to have its own water treatment facility.
“The Elwha Water Treatment Plant, currently under construction by the National Park Service, will remove sediment during dam removal to maintain existing turbidity levels for the city’s industrial water users.
“The proposed modifications to the NPI water treatment plant will provide a continued supply of water that will meet the mill’s requirements.”
Public comment will be used to help define issues that should be addressed in the environmental assessment.
Comments must be received by Nov. 10.
The can be submitted on-line at http://parkplanning.nps.gov; mailed to Olympic National Park – Elwha Restoration Project Office, 826 E. Front St., Port Angeles, WA 98362; or faxed to 360-565-1325.
The proposal is expected to be available on Tuesday on the National Park Service’s Planning Environment and Public Comment Web site at http://parkplanning.nps.gov.
More information also is available by phoning the Elwha Restoration Project Office at 360-565-1320.
