Bellingham’s Fairhaven shipyard hosts container ship after cleanup. What to know

A U.S.-flagged container ship has docked at Bellingham’s former Fairhaven Shipyard site, marking new marine activity at the location following a major toxic cleanup. The Port of Bellingham says the arrival is a step toward returning the waterfront property to active use.

FULL STORY: Cleanup efforts at this Bellingham toxic site make way for new marine activity

Here are key takeaways:

• The Matson Kamokuiki, a container ship measuring 132.23 meters long and 19.4 meters wide, docked in Bellingham Bay on June 29 and is expected to stay for several months for maintenance and repairs.
• To reduce emissions, the ship will run on shore power while docked, and its crew and vendors are expected to spend time in the Fairhaven area, according to the Port of Bellingham.
• The site is one of 12 cleanup sites in Bellingham Bay, according to the state Department of Ecology, which found about five acres of contaminated soil and groundwater at the site plus roughly five acres of contaminated marine sediment.
• Contamination stems from shipbuilding activities dating to the early 1900s and other industrial operations that began in the 1960s, with pollutants including heavy metals, PCBs, petroleum and other toxic compounds, according to Ecology.
• Cleanup of the in-water area around the shipyard is expected to begin in 2028 in coordination with the Whatcom Waterway site cleanup, according to Ecology.

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The full story in the link at top was reported, written and edited entirely by journalists.