PORT TOWNSEND — A Discovery Bay shellfish farmer is negotiating with Port of Port Townsend officials for a lease at Jefferson County International Airport.
The Port-owned site near Four Corners Road and state Highway 20 is earmarked in three to five years for a geoduck processing plant.
Discovery Bay Shellfish Inc. President Peter Downey, who has leased about 3 acres of eastern shoreline on Discovery Bay for his geoduck farm, approached Port commissioners Wednesday.
“The Port is very excited about the proposal,” Larry Crockett, Port executive director, said before Downey met with commissioners.
Downey said the company’s immediate need was an acre of cleared, level land for processing 4-inch PVC pipe and materials and equipment storage.
Sections of the pipe are used to protect geoduck seeds in rows along the shoreline.
The company currently employs 25 part-time workers from April through September at $8.50 to $12 an hour, said Downey.
Plan is to build plant
In the long term, Downey said up to 2 acres would be needed for storage and packing mature geoducks for market. That would be three to five years in the future, he said.
Then, a 2,500-square-foot packing plant and 2,000 gallons of water daily from Jefferson County Public Utility District, plus a septic or sewer system, would be necessary, he said.
A 1,500-square-foot equipment maintenance shed and 500 square feet for an office would also be needed.
Once production and packing are up and running, Downey said, five to 10 employees would be needed full-time, making between $10 and $18 an hour.
About 35 part-time employees would be needed from April through September, making $8.50 to $12 an hour, he said.
Already, the company’s employees last year planted geoduck seeds in 60,000 tubes.
Ultimately, the large, mature clams will be marketed domestically and to Asia, said Downey.