EPHRATA — An Ephrata tire plant may move forward, after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved selling about 100 acres of port property.

EPHRATA — An Ephrata tire plant may move forward, after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved selling about 100 acres of port property. Port Manager Mike Wren received confirmation of the approval Monday and expects to see the paperwork, he said. The agency was waiting for a comment period for the Yakama and Colville tribes to finish, and there weren’t any comments. Washington Tire Company announced plans to construct an 18 building facility to make tires for mining equipment, trucks, buses and passenger cars. They agreed to pay the port $979,000 for the land and will construct the roads for the plant. The finished plant is expected to employ more than 2,000 people when it is finished, company ?representative Abraham Hengyucius said in January. Beyond the normal restrictions protecting the airport, there are two additional requirements. First the Yakama tribe requested the grounds be monitored in case of artifacts. Second, the state’s Department of Archeology and Historical preservation is requiring two concrete slabs from the airport’s time as a military base be documented before they’re destroyed, Wren said. The changes do potentially allow the company to back out of its agreement with the port, but Wren said the costs are about $20,000. “In the scheme of a project this size shouldn’t be a real deal-breaker,” he said. The company has 15 days to decide whether they want to purchase the property once they receive the information, Wren said. If they decide to proceed, they have another 15 days to pay for the property. If the company decides to move forward, Wren said the company isn’t likely to start construction until next year. “It will probably take them from now until April to get all the designs and permits in place,” he said. “They either need to be under substantial construction within a year or we take it back.”