Haskell Corporation

Development of the Haskell Business Center (HBC) began when the ENR Corporation purchased the property in 1965. The HBC comprised a 40-acre property located in Bellingham, Washington immediately east of Interstate 5 and south of Whatcom Creek. The HBC lies within the southwest quarter of Section 29, Township 38 North, Range 3 East, Willamette Meridian. The HBC is zoned Light Industrial. Developed portions of the property are utilized for light industrial/commercial activities, warehousing, and business office space. The northeastern part of the HBC is largely undeveloped, and was the primary focus of this investigation.
 
Prior to 1965, the property had been used for pasture and was largely wooded. Development of the property for current use has been primarily confined to the area south of Meador Avenue. A past owner of the property was the JFJ Company.
 
The area had been periodically filled over the years. Fill sources have included the following:

• Early 1970s - Soil and sandstone excavated for the construction of the nearby Fred Meyer store located at the intersection of Lakeway Drive and Lincoln Street was placed on the Site;
• 1976 - Dredge spoils derived from the Georgia-Pacific (G-P) mill Site in Bellingham were placed on the HBC in September and October of 1976. The dredge spoils consist of material dredged previously (in 1974) from the Whatcom Waterway, and originally placed in a diked containment area located immediately adjacent to the G-P Log Pond. Approximately 5,000 or more cubic yards of dredge spoils from the G-P facility were reportedly placed within the northern 11 acres of the HBC. Anecdotal information, including photographs taken at the time of initial disposal, suggests that the dredge spoils were placed within an area bounded the following:

            a) The Whatcom Creek dike to the north;
            b) An existing tree line to the east (consistent with the 1976 tree line);
            c) Meador Avenue to the south; and
            d) Lincoln Creek to the west.

• Review of Ecology records suggests that dredge spoils initially placed adjacent to the dike bounding the south side of Whatcom Creek were subsequently regraded as much as 500 feet to the south; and
• Ca. 1983-1984 - Dredged material derived from Whatcom Creek was placed on the Site, derived in large part from the dredging (widening and deepening) of the adjacent Whatcom Creek channel for flood control purposes.

The area is relatively level and at the time of the remediation report undeveloped, except for the Dickerson Building, a paved cul-de-sac, and the McNett Building was under construction. The ground surface in the northern part of the area, within approximately 200 feet of Whatcom Creek, was undeveloped and covered with grasses and brush. The ground surface in the southern part of the area consisted of unvegetated sand and gravel fill soil. The portion of sand and gravel fill soil immediately underlying the McNett Building was derived from the Anon Pit (GeoEngineers 2000).
 
The area is bounded by Whatcom Creek to the north and Lincoln Creek to the west. The portion of Lincoln Creek lying south of the Dickerson Building was contained within a buried culvert. The area is also bounded by Meador Avenue to the south, and by a wooded area to the east. Cemetery Creek lies approximately 300 feet east of the point where the tree line intersected Meador Avenue.
 
Anchor Environmental, LLC (Anchor) and its subconsultant BEK Engineering & Environmental, Inc (BEK) performed a focused Site characterization of environmental conditions at the HBC Site.
 
In September 2000, Anchor and BEK prepared a combined Work Plan/Sampling and Analysis Plan (SAP) that described the approach and tasks required to complete a focused Site characterization of the HBC Site. The Work Plan/SAP (Anchor and BEK 2000) summarized previous environmental data collected within the Site area, presented a preliminary conceptual model of environmental conditions, identified objectives for Site characterization efforts, and presented a detailed description of sampling and analysis tasks. The draft Work Plan/SAP was reviewed by Ecology under the MTCA Voluntary Cleanup Program. Ecology’s comments on the draft document were incorporated into the final plan, which included the following tasks:

• Test pit explorations and soil sampling
• Monitoring well installation and ground water sampling; and
• Chemical analysis and reporting

The maximum soil/dredge spoil mercury concentration detected at the HBC Site was 4.0 mg/kg, which is well below the most stringent unrestricted land use criterion of 24 mg/kg. Moreover, Site soil concentrations - particularly surface soils - were also below the 9 mg/kg simplified ecological risk screening criterion for total (inorganic) mercury then proposed under MTCA (WAC l73-340-7492[2][a]; the Site qualifies for the simplified screening procedure). Thus, according to the consultant, soil and ground water quality at the HBC Site was well within the acceptable MTCA range; no potential cleanup concerns were identified at the Site. Ecology, however, did not agree entirely because of the proximity of the dredge spoils on Lots BB and K to the nearby surface water.  Future disturbance of the soil could change conditions and therefore disturb the remedy. This threat required a restrictive covenant for those two Lots to ensure the continuing protectiveness of the remedy. Ecology issued a ‘No Further Action’ letter October 30, 2001 after a restrictive covenant was recorded with the county. The NFA letter applies to the entire HBC Site, including the Dickerson and McNett Properties.
 
Please note a cleanup action took place in the early 1990s at 1001 Meador (Dickerson Building) pertaining to the removal of an underground storage tank.  That action was unrelated to the cleanup action that is subject to this Periodic Review, or the NFA letter issued in 2001.