Graving Yard (Port Angeles, Washington)

USA / Washington / Port Angeles / Port Angeles, Washington
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The city was going to do something with this land, but they uncovered indian bones or artifacts or something. The local indian tribe raised a stink and now it's a place that the tribe says is very important and they're going to do important things with it, but to this day I don't think they've done anything with it. If a natural casino reserve is discovered underneath the land, expect them to do something with the land immediately, but until then, they'll leave it a vacant, unsightly lot.
The facts..............
The Port Angeles graving dock was chosen to build the Hood Canal Bridge pontoons. Before purchase, the National Historic Preservation Act required archaeologists to perform a review of the historical site. At that time, “there was no evidence of historic properties or cultural resources” and WSDOT was able to purchase the site and begin construction.

Within the first two weeks of construction, artifacts were found from an ancestral burial ground from an ancient village called Tse-whit-zen. All work on the site stopped. On August 14, 2006, WSDOT agreed to donate the site to the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe, rebury all remains uncovered, and pay $2.5 million in damages.
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Coordinates:   48°7'49"N   123°27'44"W

Comments

  • This case stand out as a fine case study of what is wrong with low bid contracting of all sorts. If the state had hired contractors who had then undertaken an in0 depth and properly conducted study of the location then they would have identified that there were intact archaeological deposits (thereby warranting further study). Instead they hired a contractor who used dubious if ostensibly "qualified" (in terms of Section 106) talent who had little actual experience in coastal sites. After relatively hasty and shallow trench work it was then claimed the entire site was "disturbed" when in fact it was merely the uppermost portions largely consisting of historic fill and milling debris. If further study had happened then the state would not have rushed to begin construction and the true nature of the site could have been determined. Unfortunately upon the discovery of human remains many town's people and most local politicians failed to recognize an opportunity to promote improved relations with Native peoples and did not understand that the presence of the most significant archaeological site since Ozette could have reaped huge tourism benefits, especially in connection with the nearby ONP. Rather they chose to polarize the issue based on ethnicity and have driven a wedge between two groups with otherwise similar economic goals.
This article was last modified 19 years ago