Port of Coupeville commissioners voted on Dec. 8 to pursue an emergency permit to initiate the first phase of a long-planned series of wharf repair projects.

The emergency permit, if port officials deem it a viable option and successfully obtain it, will allow the port to circumvent the National Marine Fisheries Service, which has been unresponsive to the port’s request for a consultation to obtain a more traditional work permit for the past two years, according to port officials.

The first phase of the Coupeville Wharf capital projects is to replace and repair degraded caps and piles that make up the wharf’s substructure, including eight new steel piles to stabilize the wharf building and prevent it from shaking in extreme weather conditions or during seismic activity.

The port has already secured funding for the substructure upgrades. Island County awarded the port a grant for the project in 2018, and state Rep. Dave Paul secured an additional $320,000 in the state capital budget for the cap-and-pile project. The permit from the fisheries service was the last thing the port needed to begin making repairs. Port Executive Director Chris Michalopoulos said the port initiated the permitting process in 2019.

Michael Milstein, a public affairs officer for the northwest regional office of the fisheries service, wrote in an email to the News-Times that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which grants permits for these types of projects, first requested a consultation from the fisheries service in October 2020.

“Since issuing the permit would be a federal action, the Corps must consult with us under the Endangered Species Act for potential effects on species listed under the ESA,” Milstein wrote. “We review projects in the nearshore environment because it is habitat for threatened and endangered species such as Puget Sound Chinook, and in turn is important to others including endangered Southern Resident killer whales that prey on them.”

According to Milstein, the Corps’ first consultation request was under a programmatic consultation that would cover multiple similar projects. When the wharf project did not qualify for that type of consultation, the Corps asked for an individual consultation in May of this year.

The fisheries service processes consultation requests in the order in which they are received, and the consultation for the wharf project fell at the end of an already lengthy queue.

“We know people are frustrated,” Milstein wrote. “We wish we didn’t have this backlog of projects, either.”

In last Wednesday’s meeting, port officials discussed the possibility of obtaining an emergency permit from the Army Corps of Engineers to speed the process along. To obtain an emergency permit, the permit seekers must prove that failing to complete the project might result in loss of life, damage to the building or financial hardship.

Port officials said in the meeting that they feel they meet all three criteria, as serious weather events could cause damage to wharf structures which endanger visitors. The port could also lose funding for the project next year if it doesn’t begin the pile repairs and replacements soon.

“We’re going to continue to go down this path. We’re going to continue to explore this option,” Michalopoulos said.