Comment on Squalicum Creek Waterway maintenance dredging
Through Thursday, Nov. 12, people can comment on a plan to dredge a portion of the Squalicum Creek Waterway for maintenance.
The project will include removing 14,200 cubic yards of material from 1.5 acres of the waterway, right next to Bellingham Cold Storage. Ships use the waterway to reach the business.
The city’s planning department plans to decide the project is not likely to have significant adverse environmental impacts.
The project will need other permits through the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Documents outlining the project application can be found in the permit center at City Hall, 210 Lottie St., and comments can be sent to city planner Steve Sundin at ssundin@cob.org.
Brief history
The waterway was one of three – Whatcom, I and J, and Squalicum – approved by the federal government after surveying work in 1892.
In 1927, voters allowed the Port of Bellingham to take up the Squalicum Creek dredging project that had been started by businessman Edward W. Purdy, according to the port’s website.
The project was started to expand shipping access to the Bellingham Bay shoreline, and by 1931, the project created 22 acres of fill-land for industrial development, a breakwater, a web house, and moorage for fishing boats, according to the port’s website.
The waterway needs periodic dredging to maintain its depth so ships can access Bellingham Cold Storage. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last performed maintenance dredging a decade ago, according to the port.
The Port Commission sent a letter to the Seattle District Commander of the corps in August requesting the corps study the waterway’s sediment in 2016, so the maintenance dredging could take place during the 2017-2018 fish window.
The letter states that Bellingham Cold storage, “the largest portside cold storage facility on the west coast, recently lost international business contracts due to the increasing limitations in functionality within the Squalicum Waterway.”
Reach Samantha Wohlfeil at 360-715-2274 or samantha.wohlfeil@bellinghamherald.com. Follow her on Twitter at @BhamPolitics.
This story was originally published November 7, 2015 at 6:46 AM with the headline "Comment on Squalicum Creek Waterway maintenance dredging."