Bellingham resident Kim Brown loves to jump off Taylor dock for a refreshing dip in the bay, but once a week during the summer, she isn’t equipped with her usual swimming gear. Instead, she carries a bucket and bottles, taking water samples. In weeks past, this area was reported to contain harmful levels of fecal bacteria.
Brown is a volunteer for the Beach Environmental Assessment, Communication & Health (BEACH) program, an initiative funded by the Environmental Protection Agency and run through the Washington State Department of Ecology that tests public marine swimming areas during the summer for bacteria that could indicate sewage contamination.
“I can’t imagine not being able to be at the bay,” Brown said. “But that’s part of why I volunteer. Part of it is selfish because I really want to know what’s going on — because I love swimming so much.”
She’s not alone — the bay has been a source of recreation, food and transportation for the people of Western Washington since time immemorial. It’s also been host to heavy industry and the runoff from an ever-growing populace, a history that’s alluded to on alarming signs with phrases such as “Manufactured Gas Plant Cleanup Site” or “WARNING: Bacteria levels exceed health standards. Contact with this water may cause illness.”
Amid recent swimming advisories and waterfront cleanup announcements, a question: Just how filthy is Bellingham Bay, and is it safe?
While things aren’t exactly where they need to be, they are getting better, experts and advocates say — thanks to taxpayer money and the hard work and cooperation of hundreds of individuals.
People are fighting two main sources of pollution in Bellingham Bay: legacy contamination from old industrial and manufacturing sites, and new and ongoing pollution from sewage and trash.
Moving forward from an industrial past
One look at the massive boulder of slag tin cans near Taylor Dock is enough to remind one of Bellingham’s industrial history. Paper mills, lumber mills and canneries all used to crowd the waterfront, and each left its own legacy of pollution on the marine sediments and soils in and around the bay.
[ Read more: Bellingham’s shoreline history: A boom, bust of resource extraction ]
Made as either direct products or byproducts of industry, particles of harmful substances such as heavy metals and halogenated organic compounds can stick around in the surrounding environment for centuries. Even worse, certain chemicals can bioaccumulate, or build up inside the bodies of marine organisms living in contaminated sediment. Eating contaminated organisms, like fish or shellfish, concentrates these chemicals even further and can make humans and animals sick.
Dozens of sites around Bellingham have been confirmed to contain toxic material, but cleanup is a slow, expensive and often delicate process. Usually permits from multiple entities such as the City of Bellingham and the Washington State Department of Ecology are needed to even start cleaning up a site, and funding often limits how much work can be done.
In an effort to speed up the permitting process, the Port of Bellingham and Ecology joined forces with city, tribal, and other governmental bodies back in 1996 to make a master plan for cleanup efforts in the bay.
This team identified 12 sites along the waterfront that were of highest priority, including the infamous Holly Street Landfill and Whatcom Waterway. Eleven of these are now under legal agreements between the port, city and Ecology to go through a formal cleanup process that includes opportunities for citizens to voice their opinions. The Washington state Legislature also funds a portion of the cleanups through a tax placed on hazardous materials.
Ian Fawley, senior outreach planner for Ecology’s Northwest Region, said the cleanup effort in Bellingham Bay is a tremendous undertaking.
“There’s a lot more collaborative efforts in the Bellingham Bay cleanup,” Fawley said. “It takes effort on everybody’s part to be able to, quite literally, sit at the same table. But, if you can have that communication happening at the front end … you can accomplish a lot of really cool things.”
Still, turning a cleanup plan into action is a long and arduous process. Fawley said the Bellingham Bay sites are especially challenging due to the number of different hazardous chemicals present. The fact that many are underwater doesn’t help, either.
“Even when you do dredging [of contaminated sediment], you have to accommodate movement of that material because you’re stirring things up,” Fawley said. “You don’t want any cleanup for a site to create more cleanup.”
Cost and convenience are also factors. Many times, the most feasible option is to remove most of the contaminated sediments, then cover the remainder with clean material, a process known as “capping.” This minimizes the amount of toxic material that needs to be stirred up, put onto barges and transported to landfills while simultaneously creating new usable habitat for marine animals.
Two out of the 12 sites have been cleaned up completely, with eight more in the final steps of the planning process. Many have already had some partial cleanup to address immediate dangers to human health.
Fawley emphasized much of the underwater work can only happen during certain times of the year when fish are not active and spawning, but folks should be noticing progress even later this year. This will include the early stages of turning the Cornwall Avenue Landfill Site into the new Salish Landing Park.
Tracking what goes into the bay
Legacy contamination is only part of the story, though. Pollution still flows into the bay from residents and today’s industries, mostly in the form of plastics and fecal bacteria.
Fecal bacteria, in high concentrations, can cause illness in people and pets that swim in contaminated water, as well as make shellfish in the bay unsafe to eat. Research is still ongoing about the long-term effects of plastic-based pollutants like PFAS (aka forever chemicals), but early studies have linked high exposure of certain PFAS to kidney and testicular cancer in humans.
Much of this pollution makes its way into the bay via stormwater. Unlike sewer waste, not all stormwater is treated, even though it can pick up contamination from sources like pet waste, drugs, wildlife, pesticides and sewage. Much of the contaminated water is then carried into the bay by creeks and manmade drainage points around the city called outflows.
Kirsten McDade, North Sound waterkeeper for the nonprofit organization RE Sources, saw a gap existed between cleanup efforts within the bay and what was flowing in from the city’s creeks and drains.
“[A few years ago] I realized that stormwater is considered the number one pollution source to the Salish Sea,” McDade said. “When I started diving into it more, I learned that stormwater is not monitored. So, it seemed like this obvious thing to investigate."
Her efforts paid off. What started out in 2020 as McDade paddling out in a kayak to stormwater outfalls with a bucket and whoever she could convince to come along is now a partnership with six other citizen water-monitoring programs covering Bellingham Bay and the rest of the Salish Sea.
When high levels of bacteria or other pollutants are detected, McDade and her team at RE Sources let the Whatcom County Health and Community Services Department know so they can conduct follow-up testing and issue public warnings on water quality. The City of Bellingham may then attempt to trace the pollution’s source. Many times, these investigations don't lead to a single source due to fecal input from wildlife and pets.
“We’re like paramedics,” said Henry Pfeffer, one of the RE Sources volunteers charged with sampling Little Squalicum Creek. “When we find something in the creek, we send it up the ladder.”
Pfeffer’s team was ecstatic when they spotted what they identified as juvenile chinook salmon in the creek last month. Many Bellingham urban creeks are still too polluted or warm to support the salmonid populations they once did, but it’s a hopeful sign that recent restoration and monitoring efforts are having an impact.
RE Sources is only one cog in a well-oiled machine of other governmental and nonprofit entities, including the BEACH program and Ecology. With emerging contaminants of concern like prescription drugs, hormones and pesticides being identified regularly in wastewater, collaboration is necessary to keep pace.
That collaboration can simply be residents wanting to make a difference.
Reaching out with a makeshift bottle-on-a-stick to collect one more sample, Brown said her love of swimming attracted her to the BEACH program initially, but her grandchildren are what keep her going out sampling. Her 5-year-old grandson and 13-year-old granddaughter love going to the beach and searching tide pools.
“I am more alert because of having them,” Brown said, looking out at the shimmering water. “I am much more protective of the bay and our beaches. Because I am down there with my little ones.”
For those concerned about the health of the bay and wanting to get involved, both RE Sources and the Whatcom County Marine Resources Committee frequently have volunteer opportunities available.
A previous version of this story misstated that all stormwater is untreated. It also misstated which governmental entity traces sources of stormwater pollution. The story was updated 2:00 p.m. on July 19, 2024.
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.
