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Department of Ecology News Release - October 29, 2009
09-259
BELLINGHAM – The Washington Department of Ecology is inviting the public to comment on a new draft legal agreement and revised public participation plan for the Harris Avenue Shipyard cleanup site on the Bellingham Bay shoreline in Fairhaven. The comment period is Oct. 30 – Nov. 30.
Harris Avenue Shipyard is one of 12 cleanup sites in the Bellingham Bay Demonstration Pilot, a multi-agency collaborative effort to integrate cleanup, control of pollution sources, habitat restoration and land use.
Portions of the property at 201 Harris Ave. and surrounding areas were contaminated during past shipyard operations.
Preliminary sampling and investigations have found heavy metals, polychlorinated biphenols (PCBs), phthalates, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs), and petroleum hydrocarbons.
These contaminants are present in concentrations that exceed standards under the state’s cleanup law and must be addressed.
When final, the legal agreement between Ecology and the Port of Bellingham will require the port to conduct an environmental study of the site (called a remedial investigation), analyze cleanup options (called a feasibility study), and develop a cleanup action plan with Ecology oversight.
The new agreement will address contaminated sediment, upland soils and groundwater. The document will replace an existing agreed order for this site that addresses only contaminated sediment in the water.
A final agreement and public participation plan are required steps toward cleaning up toxic contamination in the environment under the state’s cleanup law, the Model Toxics Control Act.
Draft documents will be available for public review by Friday, Oct. 30.
View documents:
Submit comments Oct. 30 – Nov. 30 to:
Mary O’Herron, site manager, Washington Department of Ecology, 1440 10th St., Ste. 102, Bellingham, WA 98225-7028; 360-715-5224; mary.oherron@ecy.wa.gov
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Media Contact: Katie J. Skipper, communications manager, 360-715-5205, 360-510-0682 cell, or katie.skipper@ecy.wa.gov.
For more information: www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/tcp/sites/blhm_bay/sites/bel_bay_sites.html
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
