LA PUSH (AP) — U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer and the Quileute Indian tribe are upset about delays in a dredging project at La Push, on the Olympic Peninsula coast, and they want the Oregon-based contractor held responsible.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is overseeing the dredging at Quillayute Harbor. The $1.5 million project is designed to maintain the tribe’s fishing fleet, which is vital to its economy, and the Coast Guard’s search-and-rescue station, the only such station for 100 miles of coastline.
Kilmer sent a letter to the Army last week alleging poor performance by the contractor, Marine Industrial Construction of Wilsonville, Ore. After about three months of work, only a fraction of what was supposed to be dredged has been completed, and the contract’s work period is up. The company’s equipment is due to be removed this week. The project is expected to be put back out to bid.
“I strongly urge you to take action to ensure that taxpayer dollars are recovered to the greatest extent possible and that the federal contractor is held accountable for the failure to complete this critical project in a timely fashion,” Kilmer wrote to Jo-Ellen Darcy, the Army’s assistant secretary for civil works.
But the company, which has previously completed dredging projects for ports of Portland and Vancouver, denied any allegations of mismanagement. Its project manager, Michael Harrison, called Kilmer’s accusations “completely wrong and disrespectful.”
Bad weather, high river flows, log jams and undisclosed debris that can’t be pumped — including sunken vessels, tires and fishing nets — caused the delays, he said.
“The bottom line is the condition presented in the contract documents is not representative of what was up there,” Harrison said.
Marine Industrial Construction has been paid about $400,000, but has spent about $1.1 million on the project, he said.
Corps spokeswoman Patricia Graesser said the Seattle District would respond to Kilmer’s letter with updated information this week.
“As part of the path forward, the Seattle District staff is developing plans, specifications, and environmental coordination for a potential new contract action, with the goal of completing dredging this fall,” she said in a prepared statement Thursday.
Officials with the Quileute tribe, which has a $4 million-per-year fishing industry, are backing Kilmer’s effort. His district includes the North Olympic Peninsula.
“We’d like to thank Rep. Kilmer for his support in trying to bring a reasonable resolution to this ongoing issue,” tribal Chairman Chas Woodruff said in a statement.
“As someone with 24 years’ dredging experience, I expressed early on to the Army Corps of Engineers that we would face an uncertain outcome under the direction of the chosen contractor due to the equipment selection outlined in his proposal,” he added.
Quillayute Harbor was last dredged in 2011. It was due to be dredged again in 2013, but the work was delayed when Congress failed to pass a spending bill.
