Right on schedule, Ecology received from Rayonier yesterday a deliverable that’s key to finishing the upland cleanup investigation at the company’s former mill in Port Angeles.
Rayonier submitted what’s known as a work plan for the upland property. The plan details where groundwater, shoreline seep and soil samples will be taken.
Once sampling is done and results verified, we’ll know how deep contamination goes and how widespread different toxic materials are across the property. In other words, some significant gaps in what we know about upland contamination will be filled.
This is a huge step in the long process to design actual cleanup in the study area (upland and marine).
What’s next?
My team is now double-checking the work plan. But once approved, sampling can begin. There won’t be a comment period on the plan, but Ecology will make the final plan available to the public.Rayonier has tentative plans to start the sampling in the second half of August. The first phase includes collecting samples from existing wells and from areas where groundwater seeps/discharges into the harbor. The second phase will likely start in the fall and involve drilling new wells and taking soil samples.
Timeline
We’ve added a new timeline feature to the Rayonier Mill cleanup page. It’s also a visual indicator of our progress under the agreed order Ecology and Rayonier signed in March 2010. We also have a list of other cleanups – known as interim actions – that have happened on the property since 2000.We have a lot of work to do, and I’ll be using Ecology’s blog, Twitter and our news page to keep you posted on accomplishments large and small.
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