Port of Bellingham is changing this key part of the waterfront redevelopment project
The Port of Bellingham is changing its focus on a key waterfront redevelopment project that hasn’t seen much activity for decades.
Port of Bellingham commissioners last week approved a revised plan for what to do with the area commonly referred to as the aerated stabilization basin that’s between the Whatcom and I&J waterways on Bellingham’s waterfront.
The new resolution directs staff to pursue a cleanup and redevelopment plan that would focus on attracting businesses that would bring in maritime-related jobs. Examples of this include boat repair, a shipping/unloading area or businesses related to aquaculture or fisheries. The new resolution eliminates the previous resolution, which focused on building a marina in that 37-acre basin.
When the port agreed in 2004 to take on the multi-million dollar cost of cleaning up environmental contamination on land and in the bay in exchange for the property Georgia-Pacific valued at $35 million, the port wanted to develop the wastewater treatment lagoon into a 600-slip marina.
A smaller marina, or some boat slips, could potentially be built there, but it’s become clear through its actions in recent years that the port commission is interested in creating projects that create more maritime jobs for the local economy.
The new resolution at a meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 2, also puts in directives to pursue habitat enhancement in the stabilization basin as well as support public access to the area.
This change also creates a less-expensive cleanup option for the contaminated sediment material in the basin, an area that was used by Georgia-Pacific when it had its tissue mill operations in Bellingham. One idea the port staff has already done some research on is dredging the contaminated material in half of the basin, moving it to the other half and capping it with a wall and uncontaminated material on top. That would create a new piece of land for a potential shipyard operation, leaving the other half with a deeper area for boats to pull into.
Following this plan of capping half the aerated stabilization basin would save a significant amount of money, Brian Gouran, director of environmental programs for the port, told commissioners in the Nov. 2 meeting. While it is an early-stage estimate, the cost for putting in a marina in the entire basin would be in the $100 million range, while the revised plan of capping half the basin would be in the $60 million range.
One reason for the higher costs for a marina is the work involved in dredging the entire aerated stabilization basin site and transporting that contaminated material somewhere. While grants are expected to cover some of the cleanup costs, there’s an expectation that the port will have to pay for a hefty portion of the costs.
Whatever the port decides to do with the site, it is still very much a long-term project. If it pursues the plan of capping half the basin, Gouran estimates it would be around 2024 or 2025 when construction would start. In between would be several public meetings that would give the community a chance to weigh in on the plans.
Details about the aerated stabilization basin, potential plans and previous presentations about this cleanup and redevelopment project can be found on the port’s website.
This story was originally published November 7, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
