Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe and NRD Trustee Council Reach Settlement with Owners of Former Mill Site to Restore Habitats in Port Gamble Bay

The Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe and the other members of the Port Gamble Bay Natural Resource Trustee Council have reached a settlement with the owners of the site of a former sawmill at the mouth of the bay to build two habitat restoration projects that are valued at nearly $10 million.

For 142 years, starting in 1853, Pope & Talbot, Inc. operated a sawmill on the property, which released hazardous substances into Port Gamble Bay that were harmful to fish, shellfish, migratory birds, and other organisms. In 2014, the Trustee Council was formed to assess harm to natural resources in the bay and to seek compensation for that harm. The Trustee Council includes the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, the Skokomish Indian Tribe, the Suquamish Tribe, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (representing the U.S. Department of the Interior), and the State of Washington (led by the Department of Ecology).

The settlement requires the current and former property owners, Pope Resources, OPG Properties LLC, and OPG Port Gamble LLC, to restore approximately nine acres of riparian habitat along the southern shoreline of the mill site, which will include removing hardscape, installing an intertidal cap, restoring the beach to near-natural slopes, and planting native vegetation. Additionally, the property owners will place sand cover and plant eelgrass over at least eleven acres of subtidal areas on the western side of the bay. The property owners will also provide funding for long-term maintenance and monitoring and permanent stewardship of the southern mill site to preserve the benefits of the habitat restoration in perpetuity. Approximately 30 acres in and around the bay will also be protected by easements that will prohibit activities that could harm the habitat projects.

The settlement, which takes the form of a Consent Decree, was approved by the United States District Court in the Western District of Washington on September 23, 2024. John Sledd, Jane Steadman, Reed Bienvenu, and other members of the Kanji & Katzen, P.L.L.C. team have represented the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe in connection with this matter for well over a decade. Kanji & Katzen congratulates the Tribe and the Trustee Council on this historic achievement, which will have tremendous benefits for Port Gamble Bay and for the people and wildlife that make the bay their home.

Further information about the Consent Decree can be found in the links below.

https://ecology.wa.gov/blog/june-2024/proposed-settlement-reached-to-restore-habitats-in-port-gamble-bay

https://www.law360.com/articles/1881859/feds-mill-owner-reach-1-4m-deal-in-pollution-cleanup-row