KINGSTON — If the Kingston High School building timeline were a teeter-totter, Kitsap County’s Department of Community Development might be portrayed as a child sitting alone with feet suspended at one end.

The balancing act could go one way or the other, depending on DCD’s next moves.

While the Environmental Protection Agency studies the former Nike site for possible risks, its anticipated Aug. 27 report may force the DCD to jump later than expected. The date may upset North Kitsap School District’s plans to begin work on the new school in early August. It cannot start the process without the proper county permits, which the DCD may be reluctant to issue until the EPA has finished its study.

“The school district’s ability to turn dirt will depend on timely receipt of permits, without significant qualifiers and the construction contract award action by the school board,” said NKSD Capital Programs Manager Robin Shoemaker.

Shoemaker reported that the district applied for a Kitsap County Conditional Use Permit (CUP) as well as water and sewer permits on March 8. Even so, Kitsap County Environmental Review Manager Rick Kimball said the district’s CUP permit process has a long way to go.

“This is not a simple process,” Kimball said. “It’s a major land-use action and it will require a public hearing.”

The CUP process usually takes anywhere from two to four months, Kimball said, noting that it also requires the district’s final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), which is set to be completed in late April.

NKSD is hoping its$115,000 investigation of the site by Seattle firm Kane Environmental and EIS will suffice for permits, but Kimball said the county is thus far uncertain where it will go from here.

“We really haven’t decided that yet,” Kimball said. “It’s relatively new information for us.”

EPA officials update

public on progress

In an attempt to bring the public up to speed on the issue, EPA and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) held an informational meeting March 16 at the North Kitsap Fire & Rescue headquarters in Kingston. The federal agencies discussed their plans to study the site and surrounding areas for health risks. About 40 people, including NKSD officials, attended.

The EPA’s contractor Linda Foster said she has completed the framework for the agency’s sampling plan for the site. Foster reported that the EPA will test drinking wells, nearby and on the site, and take samples from the central wetlands on the property. Officials will also test areas that housed the decommissioned-site’s missile testing, assembly areas, silo, and war room, as well as its former auto shop, fuel storage, a concrete vault near a pond to the west of the site, and two former septic tanks.

The 700-gallon septic holding tank near the pond and the central wetland were not tested by Kane, nor were drinking wells off the site.

The EPA and ATSDR were originally petitioned by Indianola resident and concerned citizen Terry Benish, though Baker said interest in writing a petition for the investigation could have came from “… a number of people.” ATSDR will also study possible disease cases around the site that some members of the community say may exist. The ATSDR will not begin an investigation until the EPA is finished with its own studies of the site.

The U.S. Department of Health, ATSDR’s parent agency, was also on hand at the meeting to answer questions about its upcoming work at the site.

“Our investigation will focus on whether the site is safe for a child,” DOH Public Health Advisor Lenford O’Garro said. “If it’s safe for a child, it’s safe for an adult.”

Miscommunication between the federal agencies and the NKSD is becoming another factor in the project.

Despite the district’s belief that the EPA would be completely finished reviewing the site by Aug. 8 — one year after Benish’s original petition — EPA site assessment manager Denise Baker explained that only the agency’s “preliminary assessment” was due by that date. This assessment, she added, was ahead of schedule, having been completed in January.

“I know that you all think bureaucrats are a little late,” she said. “We are not late. In fact, we’re early.”

While the agency’s assessment was ahead of the curve, it’s final report on Aug. 27 could determine when and if the project starts on time.

Once the EPA’s investigation is finished, it will rate the Nike site on a scale of 100 and determine whether it is potentially dangerous. A hazard ranking system (HRS) rating of above 28.5, Baker said, could place the site on an EPA National Priorities List and also see it eligible for funding from the EPA’s Superfund trust program.

As for how high that rating would have to be to impact the building of a high school on the property, NK school district officials said they needed more information.

“Having just received information on the HRS system last evening,” Shoemaker said, “I have inadequate familiarity to respond.”