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Little Squalicum Park

SITE DESCRIPTION

Little Squalicum Park is an undeveloped 21-acre area on the northeast end of Bellingham’s waterfront. Portions of the park are contaminated at levels that exceed standards under the state’s toxic cleanup law, the Model Toxics Control Act. These contaminated areas constitute the Little Squalicum Park cleanup site.

The site has multiple owners, including the city of Bellingham and Whatcom County. The city leases the county’s portion of the site for improvement and management as a park.

Little Squalicum Creek runs through the site, fed by springs and stormwater runoff from adjacent properties.

Environmental investigations of the surface water, ground water, soil and sediments at the Little Squalicum Park site have confirmed the presence of hazardous substances including pentachlorophenol, dioxin, copper, zinc and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) compounds. As a result, the site is subject to the investigation and cleanup requirements of the Model Toxics Control Act.

In March 2005, the Washington Department of Ecology and the city signed an agreed order requiring the city to complete an environmental study (called a remedial investigation/feasibility study or RI/FS) of the site.

Bordering the site are residential neighborhoods and industrial facilities, including the Oeser Co., an active wood-treating operation. The Oeser property is part of a designated federal Superfund site. Superfund is the federal counterpart to the state’s toxic cleanup law and is carried out by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Ecology study

Investigators began field work in November 2005, studying surface water, groundwater, soil and sediments. They found hazardous substances, including pentachlorophenol, dioxin, copper, zinc, petroleum hydrocarbons, PAH compounds, and municipal waste.

As part of the investigation, petroleum hydrocarbons were found in an exposed section of the creek bank. During high creek flows these substances float downstream in an oily film on the water surface.

To limit exposure to this material, the city placed signs at park entrances and along the creek, warning people to stay out of the creek and off its banks, and to keep dogs and other pets from drinking or entering creek waters.

The findings of the study, conducted by the city with Ecology oversight, have been compiled into a remedial investigation report. The information contained in this report provides information for specialists and the public about the type and extent of environmental contamination discovered at the site.

EPA involvement

Results of the Ecology study and other studies show some types of contamination along the creek at levels that trigger EPA’s involvement. Consequently, EPA is taking the regulatory lead for cleanup of the site as part of the Oeser Superfund cleanup, except for an area used as a municipal landfill in the 1930s. The municipal waste will be addressed by Ecology as a separate cleanup site.

Because EPA is taking on regulatory responsibility, Ecology has stopped cleanup activities at the site, and it will not require the city to finalize the remedial investigation report or complete a feasibility study. Information about what was found in the course of the investigation will be presented during a public meeting June 10, 2009. Ecology will accept public input and respond to questions about the investigation.

The draft remedial investigation report and comments will remain part of Ecology’s site file, and they will be forwarded to EPA to inform the federal cleanup process.

EPA will incorporate results of this investigation into its continued work with Oeser, the city, Ecology and Whatcom County to examine cleanup options under federal cleanup authority.  For more information about the status of EPA’s cleanup activities, e-mail Maryjane Nearman, or call her toll free at 1-800-424-4372, ext. 6642.

Attend the meeting:

Comments or questions:

Public comment welcome through July 6, 2009.

Site Documents

April 2009

• Fact Sheet
• Draft Remedial Investigation - December 2008 

Related Information

• Little Squalicum Park Document Archive
• Watershed Information for WRIA 01

Additional Resources

• Acronyms used by the Toxic Cleanup Program
• Cleanup Process: Major Steps & Definitions
• Data Submittal Requirements for All Cleanup Sites
• Facility/Site Atlas
• Toxics Cleanup publications