vvEPA
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105)
EPA 500-F-01-316
April 2001
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
Brownf ields Supplemental
Assistance
Bellingham, WA
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105)
Quick Reference Fact Sheet
EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other stakeholders
in economic redevelopment to worktogether in atimelymannerto prevent, assess, and safely clean up brownfieldsto promote
their sustainable reuse. Brownfields are abandoned, idled, or under-used industrial and commercial facilities where expansion
or redevelopment is complicated by real orperceivedenvironmentalcontamination.EPAisfunding: assessment demonstration
pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years, with additional funding provided for greenspace), to test
assessment models and facilitate coordinated assessment and cleanup efforts at the federal, state, tribal, and local levels;
and job training pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for residents of communities
affected by brownfieldsto facilitate cleanup of brownf ields sites and preparetraineesforfuture employment intheenvironmental
field; and, a cleanup revolving loan fund program (each funded up to $1,000,000 over five years) to provide financial assistance
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 to receive
supplemental assistance for its Brownfields
AssessmentDemonstrationPilotandadditional funding
for assessments at brownfields properties to be used
for greenspace purposes. The city is located on
Bellingham Bay, 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 original Brownfields Assessment Demonstration
Pilot targets the 41 -acre Holly Street Landfill proj ect
area in the city's historic Old Town district. The
project areahas 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. Whatcom Creek,
which bisects the proj ect area, is an important estuary
that provides habitat for salmon and a variety of other
marine life. Discharges from the project areathreaten
this valuable natural habitat.
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Bellingham, Washington
Date of Award: April 2001
Amount: $150,000
Greenspace: $50,000
Profile: The Pilot targets the
Holly Street Landfill project area,
which comprises 41 acresofthe
city's historicOld Town district
and links Bellingham Bay with
downtown Bellingham.
Contacts:
City of Bellingham, Office of
Neighborhoods and Community
Development
(360)676-6880
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA-Region 10
(206)553-2100
Visit the EPA Region 10 Brownfields web site at:
http://yosemite.epa.gov/r10/cleanup.nsf/webpage/
Brownfields?OpenDocument
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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OBJECTIVES AND PLANNED ACTIVITIES
The Pilot's overall goals forthe area include restoration
of valuable habitat and revitalization of the project
area into an economically and aesthetically viable
section that can link Bellingham Bay and downtown
Bellingham. The focused remedial investigation
conducted under the original Pilot has successfully
characterized the nature and extent of contamination
at the Holly Street Landfill project area. The
supplemental assistance will be used to complete
planning, engineering, and design for an integrated
cleanup, redevelopment, and habitat restoration plan
for the Holly Street Landfill area. Supplemental
assistance also will be used to continue stakeholder
involvement on cleanup and reuse plans.
The Pilot will use the greenspace funding to prepare
habitat restoration and public access designs for
Whatcom Creek, which bisects the Holly Street
Landfill project area. The habitat restoration plans
will be integrated into the overall cleanup and
redevelopment plans for the Holly Street Landfill
project area.
The Pilot plans to:
• Prepare a cleanup action plan report and consent
decree, which integrates cleanup, redevelopment,
and restoration;
• Collect and analyze engineering and environmental
data needed to refine design criteria;
• Prepare an engineering design report that describes
the proposed cleanup and redevelopment of city-
owned properties in the Holly Street Landfill project
area;
• Prepare engineering design options that integrate
remediation and restoration for habitat and public
access for Whatcom Creek; and
• Continue stakeholder outreach to obtain input on
cleanup and reuse plans.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated;
therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
Brownfields Supplemental Assistance
April2001
Bellingham, Washington
EPA 500-F-01-316
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