State Ecology moving ahead with $27 million cleanup at contaminated Bellingham shipyard
A $27 million cleanup will start later this year on contamination that dates back 100 years or more from ship-building and other marine industries at the south end of Harris Avenue in Fairhaven.
Soil will be removed from a 5-acre site on land at the Harris Avenue Shipyard in the first phase of the project, according to the state Department of Ecology. A second phase, involving another 5 acres of underwater sediment, will begin in 2027, Ecology's Scarlet Tang told The Bellingham Herald.
Cost of the first phase of the project is about $6.5 million, and the second phase will cost about $2.1 million, Tang said. The Port of Bellingham is responsible for all costs, but it is eligible for some state reimbursement.
Contaminants include heavy metals, PCBs, petroleum and other toxic compounds, an Ecology statement said.
A public comment period on a 'consent decree' with the Port of Bellingham, which is responsible for the cleanup, is open from Monday through March 12.
Officials from Ecology, the Port and the Bellingham-based environmental nonprofit RE Sources will present project information and answer questions in a walking tour of the site from noon to 1:30 p.m. Feb. 26 at Fairhaven Shipyard, 201 Harris Ave.
Shipbuilding began in the early 1900s, and the Port started leasing to other industries in 1966, Ecology said.
Both the state of Washington and the Port own the property.
In 1998, the Port began investigating sediment at the site. In 2003 the Port and Ecology entered into a legal agreement for a comprehensive investigation of marine pollution and in 2010 they agreed to examine soil and groundwater.
Some contaminated soil was removed under an 'interim action' in 2018.
The Harris Avenue Shipyard site is one of 12 cleanup sites in Bellingham Bay, Ecology said.
Other sites include the I&J Waterway, the RG Haley site north of Boulevard Park, and a former landfill at the south end of Cornwall Avenue.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Axios
16 hours ago
- Axios
East Austin high school wins national design award
An east Austin high school has won a prestigious national design award. Why it matters: The design of Eastside Early College High School is meant to reflect the complicated legacy of desegregation while also providing a state-of-the-art learning environment. Catch up quick: The high school cost roughly $80 million, with money coming from a 2017 Austin ISD bond. It's on the site of the old L.C. Anderson High School. Anderson served as Austin's only Black high school for more than 80 years until it was closed in 1971 during desegregation. Driving the news: Earlier this month, the project, by Austin-based architecture firm Perkins and Will, won an education facility design award from the American Institute of Architects for its sustainable, resilient and inclusive design. How it works: The design team reconstructed brick-by-brick parts of the old building, which had to be torn down, while expanding it into a 4-story, 173,000-square-foot school that overlooks the Austin skyline. What they're saying: Members of the Perkins and Will team met with Anderson alumni as they put together the design. The shutting down of the old Anderson school "tore apart friendships, shut down Friday night lights and morning doughnut parties and cut off students from favorite teachers," Angela Whitaker-Williams, the project's managing principal at Perkins and Will, tells Axios. The challenge was "how do we reflect on the history and propel it into the future," she says. Zoom in: The team recreated the brick entrance facade, but built classroom space that would be "very flexible, collaborative and high-tech," Whitaker-Williams said. "The building's base incorporates the original Anderson High School's brick and midcentury modern lines, honoring the deep African American history of the site," reads a project description from the design firm. "Rising from this foundation, the new campus symbolizes the perseverance of a community whose school was closed by federal court order."
Chicago Tribune
2 days ago
- Chicago Tribune
Oswego trustees examine results of community survey
Oswego trustees recently reviewed results of a community survey conducted last winter. The survey process is intended to gather information to improve municipal services and help guide long-range planning as well as respond to the needs of the community, officials said. This is the fourth survey administered for Oswego by ETC Institute. Previous surveys in the village were done in 2023, 2018 and 2016, according to Oswego officials. The Kansas-based ETC Institute is a marketing research firm that specializes in community surveys for government entities. The survey was mailed to a random sample of households within the municipal border of the village. Residents could either return their survey by mail or complete one online. The survey generated 606 responses, ETC Institute Director of Community Research Jason Morado said. The primary goal of the survey was to get an objective assessment of how satisfied residents are with village services and what they view as the top priority of the community. The analysis can compare Oswego with other communities across the country as well, the consultant said. 'We found residents have a very positive perception of the village – 88% of respondents rated Oswego as an excellent place to raise children and 87% rated Oswego as an excellent place to live,' Morado said. 'We also found the village is moving in the right direction. Satisfaction ratings have increased in 68 of 113 areas since your last survey two years ago in 2023,' Morado said. Compared to survey results in 2018, the satisfaction ratings increased in 71 out of 113 areas since 2018. 'We have seen an overall increase in satisfaction both short-term and long-term,' he said. Satisfaction concerning village services is higher than in other communities as well, Morado said. The village is above the national average in 55 out of 60 areas, Morado said. Satisfaction with the overall quality of village services is 20% above the U.S. average, he said. One of the areas Oswego rated the furthest above the national average was customer service from village employees. The ratings were 39% above the national average, he said. The overall quality of police and fire district services, local ambulance service, library services and feelings of safety in the village were among the areas that received high ratings. Areas of new development in the village, availability of affordable housing, job availability and transportation options received low ratings on a scale of one to five, Morado said. Overall flow of traffic and congestion management received low satisfaction ratings. 'This is typical for a fast-growing community,' Morado said. While the survey shows high ratings for overall municipal services, Village President Ryan Kauffman acknowledged traffic improvements remain on Village Hall's radar. 'We do have our work cut out for us because traffic is a problem – we know that and see that. Residents reach out to us about traffic all of the time,' Kauffman said. For a community as rapidly growing as Oswego, traffic will continue to be an issue, however, strides have been made, officials said. One of the primary solutions is the widening of Wolfs Crossing to five lanes, he said. 'That will decrease some of the burden on Route 34,' he said. 'Our message to the community is that we hear you and we are working on it.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Placer County to remove lead from former gun range near Lincoln housing developments
Placer County supervisors have approved a plan to clean up a former law enforcement gun range in Lincoln, located across from the Sun City Lincoln Hills 55+ community. The $5.1 million project will remove lead and other debris and restore the soil to meet residential environmental standards. Roughly $750,000 has already been spent on assessments. The plan includes a $3.7 million budget for contracted labor and work is expected to begin later this summer, once a contract is awarded. The plan is expected to be completed by the fall. The board previously selected the residential cleanup option in 2022, following a presentation by Eric Findley, the county's real estate services manager. That method, which involves off-site storage of contaminated soil, was the most expensive of the proposed approaches but was recommended due to its long-term benefits. 'Cleaning up to residential standards and hauling it off-site is the most conservative (option) in the sense that it would provide the most flexibility for future use of the property,' Findley told the board. 'It would increase the value of the property and I think it would ... lessen the chance of litigation in the future.' The pricing estimates were developed by Sacramento-based Provost & Pritchard Consulting Group, which also prepared the project for contract bidding. The board approved a $400,000 contract extension for the firm as part of Tuesday's action. The county has owned the site since 1968. The gun and skeet ranges, once used to train police officers, have been closed since 1999. In addition to lead, the county's staff report notes the site includes bullet and clay pigeon debris that must be removed to meet residential standards. Supervisors Cindy Gustafson and Shanti Landon commended the Department of Facilities Management's work on the project, which has gone back to at least 2017. Landon, whose district includes Lincoln, commended the staff's efforts: 'It's very important for the Lincoln community that this remediation project move forward to ensure this site is safe for future generations,' said Landon, whose district includes Lincoln. Before Placer County developed the site into a police training range, it was home to a Cold War-era Titan-1 missile base. Built in 1962, the facility included three 160-foot-deep silos and miles of tunnels, which were later flooded and sealed. But the base also left behind trichloroethylene, or TCE, a cancer-causing solvent used to clean missile oxygen systems. The chemical was first discovered in the area's groundwater in 1991, according to previous Bee reporting. A Placer grand jury report last year found that 'nothing substantial' had been done to remove it and warned that the contamination plume had advanced roughly 150 feet toward Sun City Lincoln Hills. While the TCE leaks worried some residents of the Sun City development, data collected in July 2024 showed that monitoring probes near the closest homes show no signs of TCE. The Army Corps of Engineers resumed its feasibility study in 2018 and estimates a $26 million remediation effort could begin in 2027. The city of Lincoln supports an accelerated timeline, citing ongoing housing development nearby, according to previous Bee reporting. According to the county's development activity map, the area around the former range is rapidly developing. To the north is the under-construction, 233-unit Hidden Hills project. South of the site is the approved Waterfront project, which will include 271 rental units and 50,000 square feet of commercial space. Nearby is the proposed Village 1 Specific Plan, which has been in the works since 2013 and envisions more than 5,000 residential units, parks, mixed-use areas, and a golf course. Also on Tuesday, supervisors adopted a 2025-29 housing action plan with goals to increase the county's supply of 'achievable housing,' preserve housing stability and secure long-term funding. The plan sets a target of 1,300 new housing units by mid-2029. According to the county, Placer's median home price is about $665,000, while the median household income is $108,000. 'We incorporated a lot of great feedback from the board into our updated plan to consider potential community impacts and outcomes across Placer's unique regions,' Housing Manager Nikki Streegan said in a statement. 'This plan advances broad priorities like economic development, infrastructure and strategic collaboration with our partners from the state and throughout the region.'
