State state regulators have begun an investigation this week into a third site that might contain Native American remains.
Allyson Brooks, director for the state Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, alerted the News-Times of the pending investigation just hours before press time Tuesday. She said it’s the result of an anonymous tip the agency received late Monday.
She could not confirm the validity of the allegations, but said the historic preservation office is obligated to look into the claims.
“I have to do something about this,” Brooks said.
City officials could not be reached for comment.
The bones of four Native Americans were unearthed in the $8-million Pioneer Way makeover project last month. Work was immediately stopped as the tribes were called in for consultation. Tribes met with city officials Tuesday.
The latest tip, which arrived by fax, claimed that renters of a Waterloo Road home received free dirt excavated along SE Pioneer Way sometime in the past few months. As it turned out, the renters had nothing to do with it but the dirt was indeed delivered.
According to Brooks, the fax alleged the residents found what appeared to be human remains in the soil. The misinformed tipster claimed that the residents alerted a city official of the discovery, and said an employee came out and inspected the site, confirmed the finding, and then allegedly asked the residents not to say anything.
“Apparently, the city employee told them to keep the information confidential,” Brooks said. That later proved to be untrue, she acknowledged Tuesday afternoon.
Brad Jensen, owner of the property, called to tell the News-Times that the anonymous tipster had it wrong, as reported on this website earlier today.
“The city did not tell us to keep our mouth shut,” Jensen said.
He told the same story to Brooks later in the day, and she expressed relief that the city is no longer implicated in and wrongdoing regarding the third dirt disposal site on Jensen’s property.
Jensen, who recently moved to San Diego, said he asked the contractor for fill dirt when he saw trucks driving past his Oak Harbor property. The contractor was happy to help him out, he said. But then news broke of bones being found in the Pioneer Way dirt.
Jensen said he immediately contacted the contractor who said they would follow up. “Apparently it wasn’t followed up,” he said. “Let’s get it taken care of.”
Despite the confusion over who reported the third site and apparent errors in that report, Jensen will fully cooperate with the state, allowing experts to examine the dirt on his property for any more bones. “If we do this it has to be done right,” he said. “We have no idea if there are human remains or not.”
Brooks said she also had attempted to reach the residents, along with the property owner, but had no success. She began alerting the six tribes involved in the SE Pioneer Way discovery of the allegations. Only later did she hear from Jensen.
It’s likely the issue was discussed Tuesday morning at a meeting between city officials, representatives of the six tribes, and the state agency. However, the meeting was closed to the public and lasted into the afternoon.
Brooks said the investigation would begin in earnest this week. The state agency’s first step is to acquire permission to visit the new site, which she already has from Jensen. Then an inspection will be performed to ascertain whether the soil contain human remains.
State law requires that all such discoveries be reported immediately. Failing to do so can result in fines of up to $5,000, she said.
The refutation of most of the the latest allegation may not let the city entirely off the hook. It’ still uncertain if city officials knew about bones on SE Pioneer Way. Since the bones’ initial discovery last month, Oak Harbor officials have maintained that they had no idea bones were located downtown, even though they had been warned in writing by the state agency prior to the project’s start. City officials claimed the warning “slipped through the cracks.”
“It becomes a question of whether this discovery was really inadvertent,” Brooks said.
Although she declined to address how all this may impact any potential lawsuit by the tribes, under state law, the tribes may be entitled to financial damages if its proved that cairns or graves were knowingly removed or disturbed. Willful violation is also a class “C” felony.
