United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response(5101)
EPA500-F-99-162
June 1999
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
SEPA
Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Bellingham, WA
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101)
Quick Reference Fact Sheet
EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other
stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and
sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and
an active potential for redevelopment or reuse. EPA is funding: assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded
up to $200,000 over two years), to assess brownfields sites and to test cleanup and redevelopment models;job training
pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for residents of communities affected
by brownfieldstofacilitatecleanupofbrownfieldssites and preparetrainees for future employmentintheenvironmental
field; and, cleanup revolving loan fund programs (each funded up to $500,000 over five years) to capitalize loan funds
to make loans for the environmental cleanup of brownfields. These pilot programs are intended to provide EPA, states,
tribes, municipalities, and communities with useful information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods
to promote a unified approach to site assessment, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment.
BACKGROUND
EPA has selected the City of Bellingham for a
Brownfields Pilot. The city is located on Bellingham
Bay and is situated 90 miles north of Seattle and 60
miles south of Vancouver, British Columbia. The
city's population is approximately 62,000 and the
unemployment rate is 6.4 percent, which is higher
than the state average. The median family income is
$46,000. However, more than half of the residents in
the project area have incomes of 80 percent or less
than the local median. The proj ect area is situated on
Whatcom Creek, which flows into Bellingham Bay, a
waterbody which supports a complex marine habitat.
The Holly Street Landfill project area comprises 41
acres of the city's historic Old Town district and
represents a key link between the waterfront and
downtown Bellingham. The project site has 25
separate property owners, including the city, and is
made up of many different parcels of land, including
a large waterfront park. Since the turn of the century,
residual materials from dredging, coal mining, and
municipal waste have filled in the former tidelands at
the edge of the bay and turned them into upland areas.
The extent of the resulting contamination in the fill
material and on the both privately and publicly owned
properties is largely unknown; however, two properties
PILOTSNAPSHOT
Bellingham, Washington
Dateof Announcement:
June 1999
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets 41
acres of the Old Town area
located between Bellingham
Bay and downtown.
Contacts:
City of Bellingham
Planning and Community
Development Department
(360) 676-6880
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA-Region 10
(206) 553-6523
Visit the EPA Region 10 Brownfields web site at:
http://epainotes1.rtpnc.epa.gov:7777/r10/cleanup.nsf/
webpage/Brownfields
For further information, including specific Pilot contacts,
additional Pilot information, brownfields news and events, and
publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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in the project area are listed as contaminated sites by
the Washington Department of Ecology. Whatcom
Creek, which bisects the project area and is an
important estuary where fresh and salt water mix to
provide habitat for a variety of marine life—
particularly salmon—is threatened by the groundwater
and migrating contamination.
OBJECTIVES
The City of Bellingham and its community members
are seeking to redevelop Old Town and create a safe
area that connects the bay to the rest of the city. The
city has committed to this process by investing $1.5
million for public facilities at the park in the project
area, adding streetscape improvements, and allocating
$80,000 in seed money for this project. Additionally,
the Port of Bellingham is receiving EPA funds for the
assessment of a brownfields site adjacent to the
proj ect area. The Pilot will work closely with the Port
of Bellingham Pilot and with the Washington
Department of Ecology's Bellingham Bay
Demonstration Pilot Proj ect to share experiences and
redevelop this vital waterfront area. The city's
overall goals are to contain environmental risks to the
habitat and community, and revitalize Old Town into
an economically and aesthetically viable section of
the city that can serve as the link between the bay and
downtown.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS ANDACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Conducting environmental testing and collecting
data regarding the magnitude of necessary cleanup
actions;
• Developing geotechnical, economic, and land use
constraints data;
• Establishing an effective public outreach process;
and
• Providing decision-making opportunities regarding
cleanup approaches and redevelopment
opportunities throughout the process for the city,
landowners, and the public.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated;
therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot Bellingham, Washington
June 1999 EPA500-F-99-162
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