Harris Avenue Shipyard
Current Status
Last updated: February 2025
Ecology invites you to review a legal agreement for the cleanup of the Harris Avenue Shipyard site on the Bellingham waterfront.
The legal agreement, called a consent decree, is between Ecology and the Port of Bellingham (Port). It requires the Port to implement the Cleanup Action Plan (CAP) for the upland area of the site. The CAP is presented as an exhibit to the consent decree. The in-water area of the site will be addressed under an amendment to the consent decree in the future.
Estimated Site Timeline
- February 10, 2025 – March 12, 2025: Hold a public comment period on the legal agreement (consent decree) for the upland area. If ten or more persons request a public meeting or hearing about the consent decree, Ecology will provide notice and hold a meeting or hearing.
- Spring 2025: Respond to the public comments received.
- 2025: Clean up the upland area and obtain permits for the in-water cleanup.
- Late 2026: Hold a public comment period on the legal agreement (amended consent decree) for the in-water area.
- 2027: Begin cleanup of the in-water area.
This cleanup action is expected to take about three years for the entire site.
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General Cleanup Process
Public Participation
This plan describes how Ecology will share information with the community and how you can share information with us. Ecology will review this plan as the cleanup progresses and amend/update it as necessary.
Site Information
Location
The Harris Avenue Shipyard cleanup site is located at 201 Harris Avenue in Bellingham’s Fairhaven neighborhood. The site consists of approximately 5 acres of contaminated soil and groundwater (upland area) and 5 acres of contaminated marine sediment (in-water area).
Background
Shipbuilding activities began in the early 1900’s, and in 1966 the Port began leasing to other industrial operations.
The State of Washington and the Port own the property within the Site. The Port and the Washington State Department of Natural Resources have a management agreement for the harbor-area parcels, including the aquatic and historical infill lands.
In 1998, the Port began voluntarily investigating sediment at the Site. Based on this work, Ecology and the Port entered into a legal agreement (agreed order) in 2003 to complete a comprehensive sediment investigation. In 2010, Ecology and the Port entered into a second agreed order to investigate upland soil and groundwater.
Contamination
Investigations conducted by the Port found contamination from former shipbuilding and other historical operations. Contaminants are present in soil, groundwater, and in-water sediment at concentrations that represent a potential threat to human and ecological health. Contaminants include the following:
- Upland soil and groundwater: petroleum hydrocarbon compounds and metals
- In-water sediment: polychlorinated biphenyls, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, semivolatile organic compounds, and metals
Bellingham Bay Demonstration Pilot
The Harris Avenue Shipyard site is one of 12 sites coordinated through the Bellingham Bay Demonstration Pilot. The Pilot is a bay-wide multi-agency effort to clean up contaminated sediment, control sources of sediment contamination, and restore habitat, with consideration for land and water uses. In 2000, participants in this initiative developed the Bellingham Bay Comprehensive Strategy.
Key Documents
- Harris Avenue Shipyard - Final Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study Volume I - June 2019
- Harris Avenue Shipyard - Final Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study Volume II - June 2019
- Harris Avenue Shipyard - Final Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study Attachments - June 2019
- Harris Avenue Shipyard - Response to Comments - RI/FS - June 2019
- Harris Avenue Shipyard - Fact Sheet - RI/FS - March 2019
- Harris Avenue Shipyard - Final Cleanup Action Plan - February 2021
- Harris Avenue Shipyard - Pre-Remedial Design Investigation - October 2021
- Harris Avenue Shipyard - Engineering Design Report - June 2023
Translated Content
El Departamento de Ecología le invita a revisor los documentos para el sitio que está contaminado Harris Avenue Shipyard en Bellingham.
Si le gustaría recibir documentos en español, por favor llame al 425-240-4353 o envíe un correo electrónico a preguntas@ecy.wa.gov. Traducciones de avisos públicos para los sitios de limpieza de la Bahía de Bellingham se preparan bajo solicitud.
Documents 40
Legal 5
| Document Title | Document Date | Document Type |
| Harris Avenue Shipyard - Draft Consent Decree - February 2025 | 2/3/2025 | Consent Decree |
| Agreed Order DE: 19450 | 3/4/2021 | Agreed Order |
| Harris Avenue Shipyard - Agreed Order Amendment - July 2016 | 7/11/2016 | Agreed Order Amendment |
| Harris Avenue Shipyard - 2010 Agreed Order - Uplands RI/FS | 5/1/2010 | Agreed Order |
| Harris Avenue Shipyard - 2003 Agreed Order - RI/FS | 8/25/2003 | Agreed Order |
Outreach Information 17
State Environmental Policy Act 4
| Document Title | Document Date | Document Type |
| Harris Avenue Shipyard - SEPA Determination and Checklist - December 2020 | 12/7/2020 | SEPA Documents |
| DNS | 12/7/2020 | SEPA Documents |
| Harris Avenue Shipyard - SEPA Checklist and Determination of Non-Significance - March 2015 | 3/4/2015 | SEPA Documents |
| Bellingham Bay Comprehensive Strategy - SEPA - Environmental Impact Statement | 10/1/2000 | SEPA Documents |
Technical Reports 14
Places to see print documents
-
Northwest Regional Office15700 Dayton Ave NShoreline, 98133Please schedule an appointment to view print documents at this location.
-
Ecology Bellingham Field Office913 Squalicum Way, Unit 101Bellingham, 98225This location may only have print documents available during open comment periods.
Contaminants 8
| Contaminant Type | Soil |
Groundwater |
Surface Water |
Air |
Sediment |
Bedrock |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other Contaminant - Base/Neutral/Acid Organics | C | |||||
| Metals - Metals Priority Pollutants | C | C | S | C | ||
| Metals - Metals - Other | C | C | S | C | ||
| Halogenated Organics - Polychlorinated biPhenyls (PCB) | B | B | S | C | ||
| Non-Halogenated Organics - Phenolic Compounds | S | C | ||||
| Non-Halogenated Organics - Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons | C | B | S | |||
| Metals - Arsenic | C | |||||
| Non-Halogenated Organics - Petroleum-Other | C |
- S
- Suspected
- C
- Confirmed Above Cleanup Levels
- B
- Below Cleanup Levels
- RA
- Remediated-Above
- RB
- Remediated-Below
- R
- Remediated
Public Comment Period
Submit Comments | Read Comments
Ecology invites you to review a legal agreement for the cleanup of the Harris Avenue Shipyard site on the Bellingham waterfront.
The legal agreement, called a consent decree, is between Ecology and the Port of Bellingham (Port). It requires the Port to implement the Cleanup Action Plan (CAP) for the upland area of the site. The CAP is presented as an exhibit to the consent decree. The in-water area of the site will be addressed under an amendment to the consent decree in the future.
February 26: On-site walking tour
RE Sources, a local nonprofit organization, will host an on-site walking tour. Ecology and Port staff will be there to provide project information and answer questions.
- Wednesday, February 26, 2025
- 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
- Fairhaven Shipyard, 201 Harris Avenue
Meet at the entrance in the parking lot where Harris Avenue ends. For more information, see the RE Sources website.This tour is funded by a Public Participation Grant from Ecology.