PORT ANGELES — Rep. Norm Dicks will attend today’s 10 a.m. signing of an agreement over water treatment and other issues during the Elwha River dams removal project.
The ceremony will also include representatives from the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe, city of Port Angeles and National Park Service, who all are involved in the project.
The signing ceremony, open to the public, will be held in the council chambers of Port Angeles City Hall, 321 E. Fifth St.
The memorandum among the tribe, city and national park spells out who does what during the dams removal process, expected to begin in 2007.
The Port Angeles City Council reluctantly approved its participation in the agreement by a 6-1 vote following a two-hour executive session Tuesday night.
The council also decided to include a letter outlining its concerns along with its signed copy of the memorandum.
Mayor Richard Headrick voted “no,” citing concerns about the agreement’s potential future impact on the city’s water rights and supply.
He is not expected to attend today’s ceremonial signing.
Water treatment plants
The 20-page document details the roles of the city, tribe and park in the design, permitting, construction, operation and maintenance of the municipal and industrial water treatment plants for the city, and a water pipeline to the tribe’s hatchery.
The water treatment plants and pipeline are needed to ensure water quality after removal of the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams.
They will filter out an estimated 17.7 million cubic yards of clay, silt, sand and gravel that will be released downstream as the decades-old dams are removed.