Every year, hordes of people flock to the public beaches of Birch and Lummi bays to hold their Fourth of July shindigs, shooting off countless fireworks and generating thousands of pounds of trash in the process.
Besides being an eyesore, the refuse comes at a steep environmental cost.
Fireworks contain a cocktail of harmful chemicals, including perchlorates (a chlorine ion that is used to generate large, bright explosions) and heavy metals like copper and chromium that are used to give the explosions their vivid colors. Perchlorate compounds have been shown to cause thyroid problems, while heavy metals can accumulate in fish and other animals, potentially causing reproductive and neurological harm to people who eat them.
These chemicals are also released into the air when a firework explodes, but a good portion stays in the empty wrapping and cases that fall back to Earth. If this toxic debris isn’t picked up, the tides inevitably carry it out to sea.
Unfortunately, many fireworks users leave their trash on the beach, sticking shoreline residents with the arduous task of cleaning up the mess. Doralee Booth, county liaison for the Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce, said it’s a growing chore that the community has tolerated for decades.
In 2009, 2.17 tons of trash were picked up after the holiday. Last year, Birch Bay residents had to clean up more than 5 tons. The amount has grown since the City of Bellingham banned fireworks within city limits in 2014.
“[Originally] the residents of Birch Bay would go out in the morning with a garbage bag and clean up the beach in front of them, especially the public areas, and then stack the bags with garbage cans that are along the road,” Booth said. “But since about 2015 or 2016 it got up to 3, 4 tons of garbage, and that’s more than SSC was going to pick up in a normal run.”
Today, the Birch Bay July 5th Beach Cleanup is an annual event, with municipal and county governments stepping in to help control the chaos. Booth said she’s thankful to the community for coming together every year to clean up, but she wishes it weren’t necessary. With everything from dirty diapers to the charred remains of a sofa (yes, that really happened one year) going into the dumpsters, it’s not hard to see why.
“We had to develop it so we could stay alive out here, and because we want to get the beach cleaned as soon as we can,” Booth said.
Shoreline residents on the Lummi reservation have a similar cleanup on July 5 following the numerous fireworks displays near Sandy Point. Tana Dodd, 28, loves fireworks and sells them legally on the reservation, but she urges visitors to pack up what they buy after they’re through.
“Respecting where you’re lighting off fireworks and cleaning up after I think is [important], especially if it’s not your land,” Dodd said. “We have people come and they buy fireworks from us out here and have fun, but then they don’t do their part.”
The best way to avoid contributing to fireworks pollution is to not set them off at all. Even with proper cleanup, fireworks shows can increase the number of pollutants suspended in the air by up to 370%, which decreases air quality and eventually is carried by rain into bodies of water and soil.
Public displays are organized in both Bellingham and Blaine, which offer the average fireworks fan plentiful opportunity to see a Fourth of July spectacle without contributing themselves. More public cleanups also exist, including this one on Locust Beach organized by RE Sources and the Surfrider Foundation.
If you’re dead set on having your own show and going to a public beach to do it, “at least pack it up,” Booth said. “Take your own mess, and don’t leave it to float in the waters of the bay.”
And please — no more flaming sofas.
Ben Long is an environmental/science reporter, placed at CDN through the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Mass Media Fellowship. Reach him at benlong@cascadiadaily.com.
