PORT ANGELES — A fish hatchery — one portion of the project that will result in the removal of two dams on the Elwha River — is back on track after a delay because of protests from two contract bidders.
The National Park Service put construction of a new fish hatchery for the Elwha River on hold in the fall when the two unidentified bidders filed protests with the Government Accountability Office over the award of the construction contract to James W. Fowler Co. General Contractors of Dallas, Ore., said Barb Maynes, Olympic National Park spokeswoman.
The Park Service re-evaluated the bids last month and concluded Nov. 10 that Fowler, with a $16.3 million bid, “still represents the best value to the government,” park service spokeswoman Samantha Richards wrote in an e-mail.
Maynes said construction of the fish hatchery will begin on the Lower Elwha Klallam reservation sometime during the first quarter of the year.
The GAO dismissed the protests when the Park Service chose to re-evaluate proposals, Richards said.
Details unavailable
She said further information, such as who protested and why, would have to come from the GAO.
Those details weren’t available this week from the federal oversight agency.
The fish hatchery will be owned by the tribe, since it replaces its current hatchery, and will be used to restock the Elwha River fishery after the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams are removed, beginning in spring 2011.
Maynes said the removal date has not changed.
The actual removal of the two dams will take about two to three years.
The cost of the entire project is estimated at $308 million.
The tribe’s current hatchery will be too small for the job and the level of the river will rise too much after the dams’ removal, the Park Service says.
The level will rise because additional sediment will be released, raising the river bed.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.