Cleanup underway at Unocal site


PORT OF FRIDAY HARBOR

Stories about the Port of Friday Harbor

Unocal cleanup update

By Sharon Kivisto

posted 10/29/02
More than 1600 tons of "dirty dirt" has been removed from the old Unocal site on Front Street in Friday Harbor, according to Port Auditor Marilyn O'Connor. The original estimate was 1200 tons total would be removed. There is still 30 to 40 percent left to do. The dirt is trucked to Everett where it is burned in an asphalt plant and then trucked to a landfill. The hole was 30 feet deep last Wednesday, October 23, 2002.

The designer working on the turnaround design had come up with some new options, O'Connor said. The commissioner viewed several sketches at their October 23 meeting. One sketch had the turnaround extending into the Unocal property with several parking spaces. O'Connor said one option would be to trade the remaining Unocal property to the town for the piece of Front Street it owns in front of the San Juan Island Yacht Club. If the port owned the town's portion, it could construct a building there in the future creating a more campus-like area.

The commissioners did not like the idea. Commissioner Mike Ahrenius said, "I'm not interested in giving up on that parcel. I don’t think pushing the turnaround in there is beneficial in the long run. Taking out parking spaces and trading with the town is a step backward."

Commissioner Brian Calvert didn't like "taking a piece of property and turning it into driveway." He suggested a basement laundry and storage facility could be part of a building on the Unocal site.

Commissioner Greg Hertel said the port should be flexible with the building design and should look for an anchor tenant. He noted, " It is going to be highly visible. If we do it on our own, we won’t have anyone else to blame"

Work on the turnaround is expected to begin in March 2003. The port will continue to look at options for buildings for the Unocal site.