Cleaning up: Bellingham community active in Waterfront cleanup outreach

Cleaning up Central Waterfront site is transforming Bellingham Bay

Stroll along the Bellingham waterfront today and you’ll see changes – a new public park with an award-winning restored beach, a restored Granary Building, and a new downtown city block complete with new roads, sidewalks, and bike paths.

All of these changes were made possible by first addressing contamination from a history of industrial activity. 

Contamination cleanup work continues at multiple sites along the Bellingham waterfront, which will foster more changes over the coming years. One of those sites is the Central Waterfront site.

An aerial view of Central Waterfront site

Center of it all

The Central Waterfront site is located on the waterfront between two waterways. Four other Ecology cleanup sites are in the area: two in-water sediment sites (Whatcom Waterway and I & J Waterway) and two upland sites (Georgia-Pacific West and the Holly Street Landfill).

“Win-Win” outreach partnerships

RE Sources for Sustainable Communities hosted a walking tour of the Central Waterfront site on July 10. They shared information about cleanup activities and connected the community with agency staff managing the cleanup efforts. On this rainy, overcast July weekday, about 40 curious folks joined RE Sources, Ecology, the Port of Bellingham, and City of Bellingham as we all toured the site. We saw the working waterfront in action, learned of previous cleanup work, and discussed planned cleanup work.

We award Public Participation Grants to individuals and nonprofit organizations like RE Sources who do outreach about contaminated sites. They received a grant starting July 1 and hit the ground running just days later with a Central Waterfront site tour. Opportunities like this enable the community to see a cleanup site in person while having conversations with the people managing a cleanup. It’s a “win-win” – for us, other agencies and organizations, and most importantly for the community.

Our Public Participation Grants allow communities groups to do outreach,
like providing tours of cleanup sites on Bellingham Bay.

Future generations

We were lucky to have many youth join in the tour conversation. It served as a perfect reminder of why we do such cleanups, for current AND future generations.

Our youngest tour members innocently asked how they could help clean up the site while we walked. A great reminder to keep an eye out for litter while we work to address the chemical contamination.

A middle school group studying environmental and social justice in their summer program also attended the tour and learned how cleanups involve an entire community.

Public participation

Washington’s environmental cleanup law, the Model Toxics Control Action (MTCA), began as a public-initiated law and it turns 30 this year. Many steps of the MTCA cleanup process involve public participation. Your comments help inform Ecology’s management decisions.

Ecology invites you to review and comment on a draft Cleanup Action Plan and associated documents for the Central Waterfront site. The plan calls for a combination of removing and capping contaminated soil, monitoring conditions, and restricting uses.

During our first 30-day comment period, we received several requests for a public meeting, so we’ve scheduled a meeting for 6-8 p.m. on September 18 at  Bellingham Technology Development Center, 1000 F St., Bellingham. See this map for directions. 

You can submit comments online during our second 30-day comment period from September 16 – October 15, 2019.

Cleanup site information

• Fact sheet (pdf)
• Website
• Cleanup Action Plan

By Ian Fawley, Community Outreach and Environmental Education Specialist, Toxics Cleanup Program

We've moved! Bellingham Field Office moves to new location

The Department of Ecology's Bellingham Field Office (BFO) has changed locations. Ecology's northernmost office has moved from its Fairhaven location to a new building closer to the center of Bellingham along Squalicum Way. The lease on the Fairhaven property was expiring, which gave the agency an opportunity to make a change that would reduce costs. BFO had been based in Fairhaven for the last 10 years after moving from downtown Bellingham.

"While the Fairhaven was nice and served us well," said Doug Allen, manager of the Bellingham Field Office, "the new office location has different amenities, including being sited adjacent to Squalicum Creek Park. The new building is laid out more efficiently, which reduces costs and will help us continue to serve the department and the public effectively in the northern counties."

The office features a large meeting space, two smaller conference rooms, a lab for samples and a large garage that will fit two Ecology vehicles. The new location includes storage for field gear and research equipment and spill response vehicles and boats. Previously, spill response equipment was stored miles from the office due to lack of space; which lengthened response time.

The facility also has onsite bike storage and electric car charging stations. Squalicum Park provides walkways, access to trails, and recreation opportunities. It is also a short distance from Bellingham Harbor.

Though the new space is smaller, it is laid out more efficiently and will allow room for additional staff. The lease rate at the new facility is a savings of over $100,000 per year. Allsop Inc. owns the building and is using the second floor, while Ecology rents the first floor.

The Bellingham Field Office's new address is:

913 Squalicum Way #101
Bellingham, WA 98225

Note that all phone numbers for the BFO staff have also changed. If you need assistance or additional directions, contact reception at 360-255-4400.

Investigation underway into Padden Creek sewage spill

Last week, an unfortunate sewage spill occurred at Padden Creek in Bellingham. While doing construction work, a city of Bellingham contractor mistakenly rerouted a sewage line to a stormwater line that discharges to Padden Creek. An Ecology Washington Conservation Corps crew spotted and reported the spill on Feb. 25, while working in the area.  

Recently restored Padden Creek in Bellingham

The city and contractor corrected the misconnection, and the city and Whatcom County Health Department issued public notices about the incident. The city is providing updates on the cleanup efforts.

This sewage spill was especially concerning for many people in the community who follow or are involved in the restoration of Padden Creek. We have received calls and emails from people who are disheartened by the spill and want to know what we’re doing as a result.

We are conducting a full investigation of the spill, and the city’s contractors are cooperating with us. Staff in our Bellingham office are working to understand how exactly the spill occurred and what needs to happen to prevent similar errors in the future.

Sewer misconnections are just one example of the many challenges that hamper our community’s efforts to prevent fecal contamination from entering our lakes, creeks and bays. Other examples include failing septic systems and animal waste. That’s why the state has provided grants to cities to sleuth out such misconnections. Across Washington, communities are mapping their stormwater systems and sometimes finding that mistakes, particularly in historic parts of town. And this is just one slice of the work needed.

Ecology will continue to follow up on the Padden Creek spill, and we’ll keep you informed as we do. Meanwhile, everyone can continue to help our waters, from contractors to farmers, homeowners and pet owners. We need to work closely with the city’s public works department, manage our animal and pet waste, and make sure our septic systems are properly maintained. With renewed attention, continued collaboration, and compliance action when needed, our community can better protect human health and the environment.  Let us know if you have concerns, or ideas on how to help.

Padden Creek’s daylighting a big win for fish

By Krista Kenner, Communications Manager, Bellingham Field Office

Before: salmon won’t swim into the Padden Creek tunnel

This week, when returning salmon are expected to swim back into Bellingham’s Padden Creek, the migrating fish will find it much easier to make it upstream to spawn.

That’s because the city of Bellingham is finishing up the Padden Creek Daylighting project, a $2.8 million effort that re-routed 2,300 feet of the creek from a brick tunnel into a natural stream channel. Ecology’s Water Quality Grants and Loans Program funded a large portion of this work.

For more than 120 years, nearly half a mile of the creek was forced through the tunnel. Fish will not enter the dark passage.

“In essence, spawning fish couldn’t get through the long, dark tunnel,” said Craig Mueller, project engineer.

In the past, nearby residents and other volunteers would hand carry fish past the tunnel when they couldn’t get through.

The tunnel also made homes in part of the city’s Happy Valley neighborhood vulnerable to flooding when creek flows exceeded the tube’s capacity.

Water quality was also a driving factor of this project. Padden Creek, like all streams in Bellingham, is listed for high fecal coliform and low dissolved oxygen. In January, crews will plant native vegetation along the creek which will help reduce temperature and fecal coliform levels. The new channel will also create more turbulence in the flow, which will add dissolved oxygen.

The tunnel will remain in place for a more productive use. It will continue to convey stormwater runoff and provide emergency capacity to help protect more Happy Valley homes from flooding during extreme weather events.

Community members gather to see water flow into the new channel

Thirty years in the making, the project had its celebratory day in the limelight last Friday when over 100 community members gathered to witness the removal of the cofferdam, which let water flow into the new channel. Fish barriers come out today, giving salmon access to over a half mile of new habitat and spawning area.