PORT ANGELES — The property of the former Rayonier pulp mill near the mouth of Ennis Creek could become site of the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe’s second archaeological survey for ancestral remains and artifacts.
If and when that takes place is unknown, but it could uncover more of what has already been discovered 2.5 miles west — at the state Department of Transportation’s Hood Canal Bridge graving yard under construction at the western end of Port Angeles Harbor.
“I do not have a crystal ball to look and see what is the potential for the Rayonier mill site as far as what we might find,” said Lower Elwha Klallam Tribal Chairwoman Frances G. Charles.
“If we had a crystal to look at what we have there, we would all have a better understanding. . . . We will deal with that when the times comes.”
The Rayonier site is in the fourth year of a toxic waste cleanup supervised by the state Department of Ecology, Rayonier Inc. officials and the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe.
That focus could shift once the cleanup is completed, once Klallam remains or artifacts are discovered, or before or after Rayonier sells the property.
Bronze monument
The Klallam village was designated as a state historic place in 1972, marked with a bronze plaque on the east bank of Ennis Creek in the heart of the 75-acre site of the mill, which was closed in 1997.
The site fronting Port Angeles Harbor is bisected by Ennis Creek. It is at the north end of Ennis Street in eastern Port Angeles.
The toxic waste assessment and cleanup under way has involved soil testing, studies and reports, some cleanup work and public comment periods.
Charles compared the Rayonier mill site with that of the future graving yard, off Marine Drive just east of the Nippon Paper USA mill.
The latter property once hosted a Klallam village named Tse-whit-zen, which carbon dating has indicated might have been populated as long as 1,700 years ago.
“They are pretty much comparable . . . because I know from the stories told, and from what we’re receiving from the Native community,” Charles said.