$27 Million Cleanup Set To Begin at Bellingham Waterfront

Alright, friends, let’s dive into what’s going down in Bellingham’s waterfront cleanup scene. Sampling and dredging kick off this month on the I & J Waterway, a notoriously polluted spot in Bellingham’s industrial zone. This is part of a long-overdue cleanup at one of Bellingham’s “dirty dozen” contaminated sites, according to a recent statement from the state Department of Ecology.

Here’s the scoop: one part of the site is hitting the cleanup phase, with construction crews dredging out the nasty sediment. Meanwhile, another section is still in the design phase, where scientists are busy sampling the sediment to figure out just how bad the contamination is. The Port of Bellingham is leading the charge on these efforts, as Ecology’s spokeswoman Kristen Forkeutis spilled in an email to The Bellingham Herald.

Now, let’s talk numbers. The cleanup is expected to run about $27 million, but that could change once the engineering design and permitting wrap up. The good news? The port could get reimbursed for up to half of their costs through the state’s remedial action grant program, funded by a tax on hazardous substances. This program is a lifeline for cleaning up publicly owned sites.

For those not in the know, the I & J Waterway is a 2.5-acre channel nestled between Hilton Avenue and Bellwether Way, named because it’s at the end of both I and J streets in the Lettered Streets neighborhood. Over the years, it’s been polluted by a slew of industrial activities – think a pulp and tissue mill, rock-crushing plant, seafood processors, and even runoff from a massive waterfront fire back in 1985. Yikes. 

The plan is to dredge out around 18,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment from the area near Bornstein Seafoods. This means they’ll need to remove and replace an old dock and put in a new sheet pile bulkhead. Sampling will take about a month, and in-water construction should wrap up by mid-February.