GRAND COULEE - After being out of service for the past couple of months, pumps at the John W. Keys III Pump Generating Plant are beginning to be brought back online.

The Keys plant at the Grand Coulee Dam contains six pumps and six pump generators. A Nov. 18 fire at the plant caused damage to the switchgear for one of the pump generators, according to a previous Columbia Basin Herald article.

All six pump units, which were contaminated by smoke residue and other potentially hazardous materials during the fire, have been out of service since mid-November.

According to a Columbia Basin Development League news release, pumps 5 and 6 were started Jan. 31. Water was pumped into Banks Lake that same day.

Pumps 3 and 4 were started Feb. 7. The remaining pumps, pumps 1 and 2, are planned to start later this month, according to the release.

Pump generators still require cleaning of mechanical parts, which will be completed by Bureau of Reclamation staff. However, most of the cleaning of the plant itself is completed.

Most of the plant was accessible beginning earlier this week and people were able to enter the plant without protective equipment.

Reclamation officials previously said they expect to provide a normal water supply to the Basin during the 2014 irrigation season. Reclamation set a March 1 deadline to have the six pumps brought back online, according to a previous article.

Reclamation has been cleaning the Keys Plant since early December.