PORT ANGELES — The Port of Port Angeles will not have to go it alone on an estimated $4.4 million-$6.4 million environmental cleanup of the former Peninsula Plywood mill site.
A $2 million state grant is available to help soften the financial blow, a state Department of Ecology official said Monday.
Port Board President John Calhoun has estimated that cleanup of the 439 Marine Drive site, the former home of K Ply and ITT Rayonier before that, will cost $4.4 million to
$6.4 million, including the $1.6 million demolition of mill-related buildings slated to begin next month.
“We were able to secure a $2 million remedial action grant for K-Ply that you can use now,” Rebecca Lawson, Ecology’s regional manager for the state toxics cleanup program, told port commissioners at their regular meeting Monday.
“We didn’t think there would be any money available this [2011-2013] biennium, but we were able to do that,” Lawson said.
“It can be challenging to get the funding cycles to work with the cleanup process,” she added.
“This is one of those times where I’m really happy we were able to work it out.”
Integrated planning grants of up to $200,000 also will be available for boundary surveys, cultural reviews and budget and financial planning related to the cleanup, Lawson said.
Commissioners and port staff lauded the announcement.
“Our cash flow was dramatically impacted by K Ply, so that’s a big help,” Port Executive Director Jeff Robb said.
Port commissioners have authorized the signing of an agreed order between the port and Ecology for a remedial investigation and feasibility study on cleaning the site of petroleum-based contaminants including benzene, toluene and pentachlorophenol, also known as PCP.
Ecology officials were scheduled to give a public open house on the project Monday night in an Olympic Medical Center auditorium.
Grant funding is typically a 50 percent match of eligible cleanup costs, but economically disadvantaged counties such as Clallam can receive a 75 percent match, and Ecology Director Ted Sturdevant can alter grant match requirements “under certain conditions,” Lawson said in her presentation.
The grant, funded by a tax paid by manufacturers of hazardous substances, covers most investigation and cleanup costs but not legal costs and not most retroactive, operating and maintenance costs.
The tax also feeds a Department of Ecology account that is paying for a Port Angeles Harbor cleanup study and an off-site soil dioxin study related to the former industrial operations of the Rayonier Inc. pulp mill about 11/2 miles east of PenPly.
Soil cleanup on the Rayonier site has been continuing since 2000.
Port Commissioner Jim Hallet said the community “is fully aware” of the time it’s taking to clean up the Rayonier property, a process for which Ecology has no timeline for completion.
People may worry that, “Oh, my gosh, here go again, down a rat hole, and we’ll never see the light of day,” Hallet quipped.
“It can go as quickly as everyone wants it to go,” Lawson responded.
“The sad truth is, if a liable party does not want to do it, they can drag things out for a really long time,” she said.
Port Angeles is a high priority for the southwest region, Lawson said.
And cleanup of the PenPly site is a top priority for the port, too, Calhoun said.
“That’s why this endgame for us is redevelopment, and we can’t do that without cleanup, so we have to get cleanup done as expeditiously as possible.”
The port and Chevron Corp. also are doing a remedial investigation and feasibility study of an existing marine trades parcel next to the PenPly site to assess the impact of two petroleum plumes, Lawson said.
The property, home to a mill for 70 years, is targeted for marine trades businesses.
PenPly closed in December 2011 after fewer than two years of operation, owing the port, city of Port Angeles and state Department of Labor and Industries $2.4 million.
Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.