PORT ANGELES — The Clallam County Board of Health issued its written affirmation Friday of a closure permit for Rayonier Inc.’s Mount Pleasant landfill.

The 19-page document formalizes a decision last month by the board, which consists of Clallam County’s three commissioners, to reject an appeal by two environmental groups.

“I think the (county) staff did a lot of work to both answer the appellants questions and to provide for a safe closure,” said Commissioner Steve Tharinger.

On March 20 the commissioners rejected all 11 points of the appeal by groups seeking to block a landfill closure permit issued to Rayonier in December.

Olympic Environmental Council and Protect the Peninsula’s Future filed the appeal in December, arguing that the county ignored evidence of high levels of toxic chemicals like cancer-causing dioxin at the landfill.

For the complete story see Monday’s Peninsula Daily News, on sale in Clallam and Jefferson counties.