Wayne King, vice president of Public Utility District 1, is committed to "doing the right thing" - for PUD ratepayers, county taxpayers, and the general public.
But with the unexpected discovery of what appear to be Native American bone fragments unearthed in the path of a PUD sewer project at Beckett Point, King worries what "the right thing" will mean.
The PUD is now out of the driver's seat and waiting for the next step involving representatives from three tribes and the state Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation. King remains optimistic but knows that after the state's fiasco in 2003 involving a shoreline project in Port Angeles that unearthed a Native American burial ground, "this is potentially a huge deal."
"We have to look at the hard reality here," King said of the ongoing archaeology research regarding the 58 bones found May 28. "Everything we've done [on this project] is by the book as required by law. We want to do the right thing in terms of dealing with the remains. But this adds up to a lot of money we ain't got. If we fold up [this project], the PUD has to foot the bill. That's what it's all about."
Beckett Point
Beckett Point juts from Discovery Bay's eastern shore about two miles south of Cape George. Since the 1980s, the PUD has supplied water to about 80 cabins and small homes on the spit a few feet above sea level.
Several years ago, the Beckett Point Fisherman's Club, which has sole ownership, petitioned the PUD to install a sewer system. There is concern that aging septic systems are leaching effluent into the saltwater.
"The septic systems are weak, that just about spells it all out," said Bill Sahlinger, who has owned a cabin at Beckett Point since 1984. "The septics don't drain well, and you really have to be careful about what goes down and how many times you do laundry or do the dishes or take showers."
The PUD worked through Jefferson County for the appropriate sewer system permits. An archaeological survey was not required at that time, King noted.
The ongoing project involves two side-by-side, onsite septic systems, each of which can handle 14,500 gallons of effluent a day, which is above the minimum state Department of Health level. Up the steep road from Beckett Point, tucked in the woods, are the drainfields and two booster pump stations. The land for the drainfields has been cleared and concrete poured for the pumps.
Most of the transmission line has been installed, starting from the point's south side and working toward the hill. The contractors were working last week near the boat ramp on the point's north shore, ready to trench for the line that extends to the dozen or so residences on View Lane.
An excavator digging holes dumped the dirt in a pile, and that's when the bones were noticed - and work was stopped. Initially, only the area around the holes was taped off, and now the piles of dirt are covered and restricted too.
The bones remain at the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, where King said tribal officials are coming later this week to perform DNA tests.
Historical evidence
Beckett Point is not on record anywhere as being a burial ground, but it certainly was a spit of land that tribes used.
Early settlers once termed the spit of land "Fort Point" because of a wooden stockade that Chimakum tribe members apparently used to protect themselves from marauding Indians coming from what is now Vancouver Island.
"As much digging as [the contractors] did, as much pipe is in, this is the only thing that turned up," King said of the one spot where bones were unearthed.
Historically, the lagoon still on Beckett Point had an in-flow point from the north and an out-flow to the south. It's obvious that fill material was used to plug both entrances, King noted, and he wonders if the bones themselves were found in the fill dirt near what had been the northern inlet rather than in dirt original to the site.
PUD officials have met with representatives of the Skokomish, Jamestown S'Klallam and Port Gamble tribes, touring both the upland and lowland portions of the Beckett Point project.
Money matters
The PUD is financing this sewer project with a state Public Works Trust Fund loan and planned to use commercial financing to complete the estimated $2.8 million job. No grant money has gone into the local improvement district project.
The sewer contract calls for the work to be done by year's end, but PUD Manager Jim Parker said the project has gone so smoothly that the contractor had expected to be done by the end of September. Excavation can't be done during the winter months because the high daytime tides make it impossible to dig even two feet below the surface.
The contractor cannot be held liable for the current delay, Parker noted, and the PUD faces the possibility that a longer delay means the contractor would need to move to another job. Waiting to finish means waiting longer for user-fee revenue, Parker noted.
State relief
The PUD has sought legislative aid in dealing with the financial ramifications. Rep. Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, and Rep. Kevin Van De Wege, D-Sequim, have been helpful, King said. Two requests are in the works:
• Secure a $100,000 loan, interest-free for six years, from the state Public Works Trust Fund to do an archaeological study for Beckett Point. This is key to determining if the project can go forward. The PUD has hired a special consultant from Seattle who has experience working with the local tribes.
• Obtain an emergency permit to allow the contractor to finish the upland work. Tribal members have toured the pump station and drainfield sites, and there seems to be agreement that no remains could be expected in those areas, King said.
"We need to have the new system ready to go before anyone can go off their old septics," Parker said.
How long the archaeological study will take, and what would happen if more bones are found, has PUD officials feeling uncertain.
"That's why we've got to figure out if we're going to stop and suck down all the money we've spent so far and walk away," Parker said.
(Contact Patrick J. Sullivan at psullivan@ptleader.com.)
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