The City of Goldendale, located in Klickitat County, is proposing to refurbish the municipal sewer collection system. Anticipated impacts include excavations, compaction of sediments, and other ground disturbing construction activities. The project will be funded through the Washington State Department of Ecology’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) and the Public Works Trust Fund. The CWSRF is a loan provided to the state by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to fund capital construction loans and to ensure compliance with clean water rules. Since the CWSRF is federal pass-through funding, the recipient must meet the requirements of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act and consider the impacts to any potential historic properties prior to ground disturbing activities.
Background research revealed 10 previously recorded cultural resources within 1.0 mile (1.6 km) of the Project Area. Present-day Goldendale includes a documented, ethnographically named place, won-nite, and the 1861 cadastral map indicates other areas used by Native Americans east of the city. A Traditional Cultural Property study completed in 2001 did not identify properties within the Project Area; however, several are identified near Goldendale, emphasizing the Yakama Tribe’s continued importance placed upon Columbia Hills and its surrounding region.
Cultural resource survey and sub surface investigations of the City of Goldendale Sewer System Improvement Project resulted in five new cultural resources identified. The identified archaeological sites and isolate are not individually or collectively eligible for the National Register of Historic Places due to a lack of depositional context, identifiable cultural features, and/or diagnostic artifacts that would necessitate protection or further study of these resources. Archaeological monitoring is recommended for portions of the Project Area due to the possibility for intact cultural deposits.
Location: Klickitat County, Washington
