City, port discuss preserving waterfront history

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Editor's note: The Port of Bellingham and city of Bellingham have joined forces to redevelop 137 waterfront acres that the port acquired from Georgia-Pacific West Inc. in 2005, as well as an additional 83 acres of waterfront property. This weekly update, provided by the port, will help keep citizens informed about the process.

As the future of The Waterfront District property is being planned, the Port of Bellingham and the city are looking for ways to preserve its rich history of industrial innovation, job creation and community development.

Port and city staff recently met with the Bellingham Historic Preservation Commission. Dick Perry, a Georgia-Pacific employee, discussed historical documents and industrial icons that remain on the site that could be used in future interpretive displays. The port has set aside some key pieces of industrial equipment, ceramic storage tanks and other items for such use.

For more about the entire Bellingham waterfront redevelopment project, including suggested plans and public comment, see these sites:
- TheBellinghamHerald.com/waterfront
- www.cob.org/services/neighborhoods/community-planning/waterfront/index.aspx
- www.portofbellingham.com; see the Waterfront Redevelopment section.
- www.bellinghamwaterfrontdistrict.com

The mill buildings will be a challenge to preserve: many were built around huge tanks and equipment. Metal digester tanks inside one of the brick buildings are more than 70 feet tall, and it hasn't been determined if they could be removed without destroying the buildings.

The Historic Preservation Commission will have more discussions about The Waterfront District later this year.

TESTING MOVES FROM LAGOON TO WATERWAY

Collection of environmental samples from the former G-P treatment lagoon was completed last week. On Monday, Aug. 4, the barge and sampling equipment will be lifted by crane out of the lagoon and into the waterway, where sampling will continue for about another four weeks.

The cleanup of the Whatcom Waterway and lagoon is scheduled to begin in 2010.

The Whatcom Waterway site in Bellingham Bay was contaminated with mercury discharged by G-P's waterfront plant in the 1960s and '70s. As part of the purchase agreement, the port will clean up the waterway and lagoon, under the direction and supervision of the state Department of Ecology.

STATE PORT OFFICIALS TOUR SITE

About 70 elected port commissioners from across Washington state toured the Bellingham waterfront recently and attended a redevelopment project briefing in one of the mill buildings. The tour was part of a Washington Public Ports Association Conference.

The Bellingham project is one of the largest redevelopments and environmental cleanup projects in the state.

ADVISORY GROUP MEETING

The next citizen-led Waterfront Advisory Group meeting will be at 6 p.m. Aug. 13. Agenda details will be available soon and will include updates on community involvement and integration of public ideas into project planning.

The new environmental analysis of a proposal for redevelopment of the waterfront is expected to be available for public review and comment in September.