Power Line Burial Scheduled to Begin!

by Ken Wiersema

We are entering the home stretch. The onsite work is scheduled to start on Monday, August 9th. Our excavation contractor, C&J Excavating, will be setting traffic control, cutting the road, trenching, and installing conduit. Clallam County PUD crew will be pulling their wires to place a section of the power lines underground. Work should begin at 8 a.m. We’re planning for minimal traffic interruption, and we will have a short period of one-way traffic. We'll have the road work done within two days. PUD plans to get the lines buried and have the power switched over to the buried lines with little or no loss of power service. The existing lines and poles on the west end of Kirner pond will remain up for a week or two, and then will be removed by the end of August or early September. PUD will give us a firm schedule for removal when the burial work is complete. At this point we’ll expect that the existing lines that caused injuries and fatalities to the swans will be removed well before the birds return from their northern nesting grounds in late October or early November.

John Gussman, a local award-winning photographer, knows the project schedule and intends to take photos of both the burial work and the follow-on removal of poles and wires.

Many thanks to Shelly Ament of WDFW, our OPAS conservation team, John Acken our OPAS project lead, Mike Hill - chief engineer for PUD, and Brian Coram of C&J Excavating for keeping this project moving toward successful completion.

And none of this would have been possible without the commitment and generous donations from our OPAS members, our partners, the neighboring property owners, and our community. I’m certain the swans will also thank you.

*Trumpeter Swans attempting to fly over the power lines next to Kirner Pond*