Lower Elwha Klallam and state Department of Transportation leaders are preparing for the unknown as officials from the Federal Highway Administration determine how extensive excavation of the graving yard should be
One of those unknowns: Whether the graving yard will stay in Port Angeles.
The federal highway officials said a decision should be made by Wednesday.
Their ruling is the first step in determining how much archaeological items and remains must be recovered from Transportation’s 22.5-acre waterfront site before full construction of the Hood Canal Bridge graving yard can resume.
Lower Elwha Klallam tribal leaders say they could lose what is left of their ancient village known as Tse-whit-zen if a giant hole is dug and concrete poured to create the onshore dry dock.
Or they could start an appeal process in an attempt to protect ancestral remains still in the ground.
On the other hand, Transportation officials say they could lose another year on an already tight timeline to replace the eastern half of the Hood Canal Bridge.
Or they could be forced to relocate the graving yard, in which floating bridge pontoons and anchors are made and floated.
National archaeology panel
Once the opinion is issued, either party can appeal, which results in Federal Highway Administration, or FHWA, officials consulting with a national archaeology panel before issuing a final ruling.
“We are waiting to see what the Federal Highway Administration says to see what our next appropriate action should be,” Lower Elwha Klallam Tribal Chairwoman Frances G. Charles said Monday.
State Transportation Secretary Doug MacDonald said he is anxious to hear FHWA leaders’ determination to see if construction of the graving yard can continue in Port Angeles.
“People are already having a very hard time looking into the crystal ball and seeing 2007 (for bridge replacement) with all of the problems we are facing today,” MacDonald said in a telephone interview with the PDN on Monday.
The replacement project has already been delayed one year to 2007 because of what archaeologists are calling the largest and most significant village site ever uncovered in the state.
“When the determination is received, we expect to consider with the tribe and others, like the Army Corps of Engineers, whether any way can be found within reasonable and definite limits of time and money to move forward at the site,” MacDonald wrote in a letter to area legislators Monday that he also shared with the PDN.
“It is not clear whether an agreement of that kind can be reached.”