Central Waterfront

Last Updated: January 2025

2019 Fact Sheet | Información en español

Fieldwork on Bellingham's busy working waterfront

Over the last twelve years, we’ve overseen the cleanup of portions of the Central Waterfront site on Bellingham Bay. The Port of Bellingham and the City of Bellingham are working to advance the site to the cleanup step.  

In 2024, fieldwork called a pre-remedial design investigation, was carried out to test the soil, groundwater, and air. This fieldwork has provided additional information that will be used to advance the design (engineering) of the cleanup action plan. 

Want to learn more?
Visit our 2023 blog to read about Ecology's Central Waterfront fieldwork.

• 2025-2026: Complete the design (engineering) of the cleanup action. 
• 2027-2028: Implement the cleanup action.

Join our email list to receive updates about the Central Waterfront cleanup site. Email Kristen Forkeutis, Public Involvement Coordinator, at Kristen.Forkeutis@ecy.wa.gov to be added to the list. Unsubscribe at any time.

The Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA) is Washington’s environmental cleanup law. It provides requirements for contaminated site cleanup and sets standards that protect human health and the environment. Ecology enacts MTCA and oversees cleanups. The MTCA site cleanup process is completed in steps over a variable timeline.

Current Central Waterfront cleanup site Public Participation Plan

This plan includes information for the public regarding opportunities to get involved in the Site cleanup process. The outreach activities and mechanisms presented reflect Ecology’s current plans for keeping the public informed and for receiving information and comments from the public. 

Site History
The Central Waterfront cleanup site is made up of about 51 acres on Bellingham’s downtown waterfront, between I & J Waterway and Whatcom Waterway, and between Roeder Avenue and the former Georgia-Pacific industrial wastewater treatment lagoon. Property within the site is owned primarily by the Port of Bellingham or City of Bellingham. Beginning in the early 1900s, the site and surrounding tidelands were filled for various industrial uses.

Contamination
Investigations to date have found contaminants in soil, groundwater, and sediment associated with historical industrial uses: 

• Soil: metals, petroleum hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and volatile organic compounds. Buried municipal refuse and wood waste and associated methane gas.
• Groundwater:  metals, petroleum hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds.
• Sediment: metals.  This was addressed by the Whatcom Waterway, Phase 1 cleanup in 2016.

Contaminant levels are present at potentially harmful levels and must be addressed under Washington's toxics cleanup law, the Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA).

Previous cleanup work

2013: Early cleanup at former Chevron bulk fuel storage facility:

• Removed 800 cubic yards of petroleum-contaminated soil and sediment. 
• Removed timber piles, oil, and contaminated groundwater.
• Installed a waterproof barrier.
• Restored the beach area with clean sand, gravel, and rock.

2016:  Whatcom Waterway, Phase 1 cleanup:

• Dredged and capped contaminated sediments.
• Built a sheet-pile containment wall.

2016 – 2017: C Street Terminal Improvements:

• Rehabilitated utilities and upland infrastructure.
• Improved stormwater collection and treatment systems.
• Removed and/or capped (paved) contaminated soil.

2017:  All American Marine building

• Built 54,000 square-foot boat manufacturing building (with landfill gas control system) with adjacent pavement that caps and prevents exposure to contaminated soil and refuse.
• Created a gravel boat launch route that caps contaminated soil. 
• Properly disposed of contaminated materials encountered during construction.

Bellingham Bay Action Team
The Central Waterfront site is one of 12 sites coordinated through the Bellingham Bay Action Team (BBAT). BBAT 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.

The interim action reports linked below contain appendices with large volumes of laboratory data.  Please contact the site manager for file download.

Español
Le ofrecemos servicios de traducción e interpretación sin costo. Para solicitar una copia de esta información en español, llame a Kristen Forkeutis al 425-240-4353 o envíe un correo electrónico a kristen.forkeutis@ecy.wa.gov. Si necesita servicios de interpretación, solicite un intérprete y permanezca en la línea mientras lo comunicamos.