Juneau -- Representative Alan Austerman (R-Kodiak) has been notified by Senator Ted Stevens' office that the communities of Port Lions and Ouzinkie are included in the latest Senate version of the Energy and Water Appropriations Bill.

Under the Department of Energy, the city of Port Lions will have $107,000 directed to a feasibility study for its harbor. In Ouzinkie, $3 million dollars has been earmarked for that communities harbor improvements under the heading of Corps of Engineers-Construction.

The additional monies became necessary for the completion of the Ouzinkie project after a previously unidentified rock outcropping, contiguous to both the mooring basin and the maneuvering area was discovered during the initial dredging process.

Over 13,000 cubic yards of dredged material was removed in the initial phase, but only 350 feet of the total 595 foot breakwater was completed because of the discovery of the rock outcrop. In addition to another hydrographic survey, the monies would be used to blast and dredge the remaining area for the completion of the breakwater.

The Project Cooperation Agreement between the Corps and the City of Ouzinkie for the harbor's construction was signed in 1995. "It's been a long haul, but I'm very glad to see this project in the final Senate version," said Austerman.

The bill now goes to a House/Senate conference committee.

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