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FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 15, 2006
Contact: Lisa Nickel, Prosecutor's Office, Civil Division
Office Phone: 360-337-4974
No. 06-102
County
Reaches
Settlement Agreement with
Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe
PORT
ORCHARD, WA—On
Monday, December 18, Kitsap County is expected to agree to a
$2.75 million settlement between the county, Waste Management of
Washington, Inc. and the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe regarding the Hansville
Landfill in
North Kitsap.
Both the county and Waste Management are expected to share in funding the
agreement. The county and tribe have been working together over the past 11
years to reach an agreement on the impacts of the Hansville Landfill on
tribal property. The agreement will become effective in the near future when
other conditions, such as approval by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Waste
Management, have been met.
The eastern
boundary of the tribe’s
reservation is adjacent to the Hansville Landfill, which is situated on a
72-acre parcel owned by the county and located 4.5 miles south of the
Hansville community. The landfill, which occupies 17.3 acres, began
operations in 1962 and was closed in 1990 under the oversight of the Kitsap
County Health District and Washington State Department of Ecology according
to accepted regulatory standards. Since closure, the county has been working
with ecology, the health district, the tribe and other parties to clean up
the landfill.
The
S’Klallam Tribe
believes that it has certain claims against the county and Waste Management
for on-reservation contamination originating from the Hansville Landfill.
While the county and Waste Management dispute the tribe’s claims, they have
agreed to resolve the dispute and address their respective concerns and
obligations so a Cleanup Action Plan can be developed.
"This has
been a really important issue for both the Port Gamble S'Klallam people and
Kitsap County. By working together and understanding each other's concerns,
we have been able to reach this agreement that will enable us to develop a
Cleanup Action Plan that ensures human health and the
environment
are being protected,” said Commissioner Chris Endresen, District #1.
The
preferred remedy, which the tribe supports under the agreement, is expected
to include natural attenuation of the contamination at or migrating from the
site onto the reservation and institutional controls on the reservation to restrict access to
surface water contact and groundwater use in the protected area.
Tribal Chairman Ron Charles said, "We have studied this problem for over six
years with the assistance of several federal agencies. Based on the results
of those studies, we have concluded that the settlement agreement provides
for a reasonable resolution of the issues involved with the landfill. We
look forward to continuing to work with the county, Waste Management and our
neighbors to make sure that the landfill does not threaten human health or
the natural environment.”
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