PORT ANGELES — Beginning later this summer, a Seattle firm will install wave-energy monitoring devices at the base of the closed city landfill and evaluate an existing sea wall at the base of the bluff on which the landfill sits.
City Public Works & Utilities Director Glenn Cutler said Thursday that the contract with Herrera Environmental Consultants will be signed by next week.
“I am pleased that we are moving forward and that the council is supporting this action,” Cutler said.
“It’s the right thing to do to protect the environment and limit the city’s liability.”
Installment of the devices is among the first steps that will be taken as Port Angeles city officials decide what to do about erosion that is eating away at the bluff, the lip of which is 125 feet above the Strait of Juan de Fuca and, at one point, within 11 feet of the edge of the landfill.
The steps are called for in a contract amendment approved Tuesday by the Port Angeles City Council.
By a 5-1 vote, council members approved a $300,000 amendment to the contract with Seattle-based Herrera to examine options for addressing bluff erosion.
A story on Page A1 in the Clallam County edition Thursday incorrectly said the council had voted on a proposal from Councilman Max Mania to remove all of the landfill’s garbage.
City Council members did discuss a proposal by Mania to consider removing all of the refuse but did not vote on it.
Mania, who did not make a motion to remove all of the refuse, voted against the contract amendment.
Options that Herrera will consider include placing geometrically shaped dolosse at the toe of the bluff to disperse wave action and relocating much of Cell 304’s garbage elsewhere in the dump, which closed in 2007.
Herrera already has been contracted to design repairs to a damaged drainage system along the bluff that has exposed garbage at the landfill, located at the end of 18th Street.
Tasks
The contract amendment also includes the following tasks:
— Construction services to correct the drainage system, which will include a new pipeline support system.
— Delineate the extent, depth and volume of landfill refuse and alternative areas of relocation for garbage that is in the cell and which is in danger of compromising the bluff.
— A summary of the data collected by Herrera with an outline of design and cost alternatives to protect the bluff and relocate the refuse.
— Evaluate the 450-foot-long, 15-foot-high sea wall to determine if it can withstand relocation of garbage from the area of the cell that’s severely close to the bluff.
— Assess the effects the project will have on the nearby environment and develop a plan to offset environmental impacts.
— Help the city seek grants and other funding for stabilizing the bluff, which could cost a total of $11.1 million, according to a Herrera report on the landfill.
Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.