For Immediate Release

December 11, 2007

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE TO AWARD CONTRACT
FOR ADDITIONAL ELWHA WATER FACILITY

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Park Service Director, Mary A. Bomar, informed U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks today that the agency will award a contract this week for an additional water treatment facility associated with the Elwha River Ecosystem Restoration Project.

            The contract for $69,649,900 is for the second stage of the water treatment project, funding the construction of facilities that will remove sediment from the water supply for the City of Port Angeles, the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and its fish hatchery as well as the Washington Dept. of Fish &  Wildlife fish rearing channel.  Rep. Dicks said the National Park Service has selected the joint venture of Watts Constructors LLC and DelHur Industries, a Port Angeles firm, to complete the construction work.

            The filtration facilities are necessary to remove the large amount of sediment that is now trapped behind the two dams on the Elwha River.  Particularly in the initial years after the dams are removed, a substantial amount of sediment will be transported downriver, affecting water quality the congressman said.

            The replacement of the water supply for the City and other local users of Elwha River water was specifically designated in the original bill that authorized the Elwha River Ecosystem and Fisheries Restoration Act in 1992, Rep. Dicks noted.   On Sept. 7, 2007 the National Park Service awarded the initial contract for $24.5 million to pay for a water treatment plant.  Construction on both facilities will begin in early 2008, the congressman stated.

            "This is another important step forward in the Elwha project, and it demonstrates real progress toward reaching the goal of complete restoration of the river's 70 miles of fishery habitat," Rep. Dicks said.

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