PORT ANGELES — The site of the former Peninsula Plywood mill is finally bare of its remains, but demolition cost more and took
longer than anticipated.
Port of Port Angeles commissioners Monday accepted the port’s agreement with Rhine Demolition of Tacoma, signing off on a $1.68 million contract that was $56,416 higher than the original agreement with the company.
The 3.3 percent increase is “well within” the $1.75 million budgeted for the project, port Director of Engineering Chris Hartman told commissioners.
Hartman said the bulk of the extra expense — $46,308 — was spent on trucking off the rubble from PenPly’s 175-foot, 1,000-ton chimney stack, which defied efforts to topple it April 8 before it was taken down with a 70-ton jack.
Rhine had planned to recycle the debris and be done by May 3.
But after the stack came down, dioxin levels in the concrete were found to be higher than anticipated, so the rubble had to be trucked to a landfill.
Rhine will now receive a $77,762 retainer fee.
Demolition was the most visible part of a process under way to clean up the 439 Marine Drive site, where a plywood mill was located from 1941-2011.
The port has contracted with Floyd Snider Inc. to put together a work plan to assess pollution levels on the 19-acre property, where the port wants to lure marine trades.
A draft plan was submitted to Ecology in May. Its comments should be returned to the port by mid-June, port Environmental Specialist Jesse Waknitz said after the meeting.
The firm will extract soil and water samples, determine pollution levels and write a feasibility study on making the property suitable for a new tenant.
The port has a $220,000 professional services agreement with Floyd Snider, an amount that commissioners increased by $35,000 on May 28 to meet the requirements of the port’s agreed order with the state Department of Ecology.
Those requirements include conducting surface sediment sampling in Port Angeles Harbor.
The cleanup plan will ensure that ground contaminants cannot migrate into the harbor. Ecology estimated cleanup will be completed by the end of 2017.
Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.