The lawns around the digester tanks at the Bellingham waterfront are going to be ripped up and replaced after lead-based paint chips from the tanks’ cleaning project were found on the ground.
Notification about the lawn replacement came Tuesday, May 7 from the Port of Bellingham. Mike Hogan, the port’s public affairs administrator, wrote “despite controls put into place to contain the lead-based paint, some waste paint chips were found on the lawns next to the tanks.”
The new lawns should be ready for use on June 1, according to the port.
In a social media post Tuesday, Kulshan Trackside Beer Garden wrote that they had been notified there were paint chips found in the beer garden and that work was already underway to remove the grass.
A CDN reporter confirmed grass had already been removed from Kulshan Trackside Brewing as of Tuesday afternoon.
The Trackside beer garden will be open this weekend after being cleared for operation by a regulated materials management specialist, but the grass area will be closed off for the next few weeks, according to Kulshan.
The specialist also told Trackside there was “no reason to believe that any short term visit to the beer garden posed a health risk to the public.”
The port started a project to remove and dispose of the failing paint on the digester tanks on April 1. A high-power pressure washer was used to strip the paint while screening hung from the tanks to contain the water and the paint. Thick plastic sheeting was placed under the digesters to collect water and paint.
Despite those controls, paint chips were still found in the lawn area. It’s unclear how much it will cost to replace the lawns.
The port stated there was no reason to believe that a short visit to the lawns next to the tanks prior to the removal of the grass could lead to hazardous lead paint exposure. But, it added that anyone concerned about lead exposure should contact their health care provider.
Purcell Painting and Coatings, from Tukwila, was awarded the $431,000 bid to remove the paint from the 90-year-old vessels.
Annie Todd is CDN’s criminal justice/enterprise reporter; reach her at annietodd@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 130.
