Pope Resources, Washington State Agree on Port Gamble Cleanup

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Pope Resources, Poulsbo, Wash., USA, together with the State of Washington's Department of Ecology this week announced that they have agreed on the scope for the final portion of the environmental clean-up effort in and around Port Gamble Bay, a process that began in 2002. Pope Resources and the Department of Ecology will sign a consent decree, which is a legally binding agreement that will lay out how the remaining clean-up of contaminated in-water sediments will be designed and carried out.

The agreement, which was reached after lengthy negotiations, includes:

• Removal of about 2,000 creosote pilings
• Excavation of intertidal areas and dredging of wood waste from the bottom of Port Gamble Bay
• Installation of a sand-cap of up to 4 ft in specific locations in Port Gamble Bay
• Removal of all existing docks and overwater structures on and around the former Pope & Talbot Port Gamble mill site by the fall of 2015.

The clean-up effort, which will likely take a few years to complete, is estimated to cost $17 million. This cost will be shared by Pope Resources and the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the other Potentially Liable Party as determined by the Department of Ecology. The agreement between the Department of Ecology and Pope Resources opens the way for the company and DNR to engage in discussions regarding how costs for the clean-up effort will be shared.

As part of the clean-up agreement, Ecology will allocate $2.0 million for the removal of Pope Resources' sewer outfall that drains into Hood Canal and will also contribute about $2.0 million to assist in the acquisition of Pope Resources' nearly 500-acre "Shoreline Block," which contains nearly two miles of shoreline on Port Gamble Bay. The Kitsap Forest & Bay Coalition has been working to obtain grants to acquire this $4.6 million property for conservation.

The negotiations between Pope Resources and the Department of Ecology also included extensive discussions on a voluntary Natural Resource Damages (NRD) assessment entailing restoration projects on and around the former Pope & Talbot mill site. These discussions were not conclusive and the parties agreed to end negotiations. A separate process to determine any potential NRD liability will be forthcoming.

As part of its effort to redevelop the historic town of Port Gamble, Pope Resources is preparing an application to build a new community dock to serve the town and local community. As part of this application, the company wanted to delay the removal of two small docks used by current mill site tenants as mitigation for the new dock. The company has agreed to remove these docks as part of the clean-up effort, but to stage the timing of the removal to 2015. By phasing the removal of these docks within the broader clean-up effort, the company will be able to apply for advanced mitigation credit as part of its new dock application.