PORT ANGELES — It’s coming down to the wire for the National Park Service to complete a water treatment plant for the city — a milestone in the colossal effort to remove the two Elwha River dams — but project engineers say they are on track to meet the Dec. 31 deadline.
As of last week, workers of Watts Constructors and Korsmo Construction were making the final touches to the 19,000-square-foot facility adjacent to the city’s garbage transfer station at the far west end of 18th Street, doing test runs and training the city’s staff who will run the plant.
The current completion date is Dec. 11, but project managers are aiming for “mid-December,” said Jeff East, civil engineer for HDR Inc., which is managing the construction project for the park service.
The plant would be put to use immediately.
Olympic National Park spokeswoman Barb Maynes said some sort of ribbon-cutting ceremony will occur, but such plans are still in the works.
“At this point, everyone is looking forward to it being done,” she said.
“Completion of the plant means we are one step closer to restoring the Elwha River, the fish [runs] and environment.”
The Elwha and Glines Canyon dams are expected to be removed from the river west of Port Angeles beginning in 2011 in a $308 million project — the largest dam removal in the country — that is intended to restore the river to its natural state, including its historic salmon runs.
First of four projects
Construction of the $24.5 million municipal water treatment plant, funded entirely by the federal government, began in January 2008. It will be the first out of four new facilities built for the dam removal project.
The others are a $69.6 million industrial water treatment plant — due to be fully completed by March, a year ahead of schedule — a new fish hatchery for the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe on the Elwha River, and a fish rearing facility on Morse Creek.
The industrial water treatment plant, otherwise known as the “Elwha Water Facility,” will be the water intake for Port Angeles’ industrial waterline, the city’s municipal treatment plant and the fish hatchery.
The water intake is ready to be used, Maynes said.
The municipal water treatment plant has two purposes: to sift sediment released when the dams are removed from the city’s drinking water and to put the city in compliance with new, more strict water quality regulations from the state Department of Health.
The industrial water treatment plant will also sift sediment for the industrial waterline once it is completed.
Deadline for compliance
Port Angeles must comply with the new requirements by the end of the year, which is why the municipal treatment plant is intended to come online before dam removal begins in spring 2011.
City Public Works and Utilities Director Glenn Cutler said Friday that he has requested a 30-day extension from the state just in case completion of the treatment plant slips into next year.
The city currently gets its drinking water from a well adjacent to the Elwha River downstream of the Glines and Elwha dams.
The well is fed by water from the river that seeps into the ground.
The treatment plant is needed as part of the dam removal project, park service and city staff say, because water from the river — whether surface or ground water — will contain more sediment when the dams are torn down.
Sediment has collected behind the dams since the first one was constructed in 1913.
Dam removal will last for two to three years, Maynes said.
As the dams are removed, the sediment will wash downstream toward the city’s well.
The extra fine particles of dirt that make their way into the groundwater over that two- to three-year demolition period could end up clogging the well’s pumping system if it is in use, Cutler said.
During that time period, the city will be using surface water attained from the river. The treatment plant will sift the sediment from the water as well as treat it for bacteria to make it drinkable.
The well treats the water, but can’t remove the sediment.
Water treatment at the well doesn’t meet the state’s new requirements, although it is safe, Cutler said.
The state is requiring Port Angeles to do further treatment since the state considers the well to be close enough to its surface water source to cause it have a higher amount of bacteria than typical groundwater.
Faces fines
If the city does not meet the state’s Dec. 31 deadline, it could face fines between $5,000 and $10,000 for any public health emergency that occurs from drinking water.
But does anyone know for sure if the well will fail if in use while the dams are removed?
Cutler said it is likely to happen and that the risk of using the well for those few years is not something that the city can take.
“The Elwha River is our only source of potable water for the city, and water is the lifeblood of any community,” he said.
The city could switch back to well water after the dams are torn down and the backlog of sediment has been washed away, Cutler said.
Running the treatment plant will cost $674,000 next year, but the city will only pay about $156,000 in 2010.
The difference is made up by the park service.
The new cost is partially responsible for water utility rates going up 8.5 percent next year.
The city’s share of the cost is merely what it would pay to come into compliance with Health’s new requirements for disinfecting drinking water if the treatment plant wasn’t built.
The city will take on the full operating costs after 27 years.
During that time period, running the plant will cost the city $3.8 million, Cutler said.
The treatment plant has a life span of at least 50 years, he said.
It can treat up to 10.5 million gallons of water per day.
The city currently uses about 2.5 million gallons of drinking water per day.
The plant was also designed to be expanded, Cutler said.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.