Posted: September 14, 2009 19:47:15 PST
The Bellingham City Council took action tonight (Monday, Sept. 14) to purchase approximately six acres of waterfront property that, when combined with other public properties, will be home to a mixed-use development and a waterfront park larger than Boulevard Park.
Bellingham Mayor Dan Pike called the purchase “an opportunity to develop a world-class waterfront park, jump-start public/private partnership on the waterfront, and ensure thorough, efficient and cost-effective environmental cleanup.”
In Monday’s action, the Council authorized the Mayor to enter into an agreement with Douglas Management Company to purchase waterfront property located at the foot of Cornwall Avenue. The parcel is adjacent to other properties owned by the City, the Port of Bellingham and the State of Washington (managed by the Department of Natural Resources).
Pike said he envisions the property as the gateway to a mixed-use waterfront development containing up to 200,000 square feet of commercial property for sale or lease. He said the property includes 1,000 feet of waterfront that, when developed in combination with other adjacent publicly owned properties, will create nearly a half-mile of new public access to the water.
“Our vision is that these properties, along with the new overwater walkway now being planned, and the Boulevard Park and Taylor Avenue Dock and Boardwalk, will provide a total of three continuous miles of waterfront access for the public,” Pike said. He added that a new park envisioned on the Cornwall Avenue properties alone will be two to three times the size of Boulevard Park.
The property is within the R.G. Haley state cleanup site and is contaminated with chemicals from historic wood treatment operations. The Washington Department of Ecology is overseeing cleanup of the site under the state toxics cleanup law, the Model Toxics Control Act.
Bringing the property into public ownership makes it eligible for cleanup funding through an Ecology grant program.
The City Council authorized the City to purchase the property for $1 plus assuming Douglas Management Company’s share of cleanup costs for the site. Other potentially liable parties may also share those costs.
The R.G. Haley site is one of 12 cleanup sites in the Bellingham Bay Demonstration Pilot, a comprehensive, cooperative program integrating cleanup, control of pollution sources, habitat restoration and land use. The City is part of the multi-agency pilot team, which is co-managed by Ecology and the Port of Bellingham.
The pilot is a major step toward cleanup and restoration of Puget Sound, and the work in Bellingham Bay is a model for other large-scale cleanup initiatives.
“We’re looking forward to working with the City on cleaning up this site,” said Lucy McInerney, an Ecology environmental engineer and the pilot’s co-manager. “This cleanup site is a high priority for us because of the environmental benefit to Bellingham Bay and Puget Sound. We’ll work to develop a cleanup that allows safe use of this property.”
Site history
The property was used for a number of activities during the past century including lumber, coal and wharf operations. Previous owners, such as R.G. Haley International, operated a wood treatment plant. Activities at the plant included drying, treating, and storing wood. Wood treatment operations ended in 1985. Douglas Management Company purchased the upland portion of the site in 1990.
Previous environmental investigations at the site showed the presence of wood treating chemicals, including pentachlorophenol (PCP), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), dioxins and furans, at levels that exceed state cleanup standards and must be addressed. A barrier wall and pumping system was installed in 2000 to temporarily contain contaminants.
Next steps
Council’s action Monday night authorized the Mayor to enter into a purchase agreement with Douglas Management Company. The agreement contemplates that the transfer of property will take place sometime in October providing certain conditions are met.
Pike said that upon closing, he will recommend to Council that the City transfer the property to the Bellingham Public Development Authority (BPDA) for management. The BPDA is a separate public corporation created by the City of Bellingham in July 2008 to focus efforts toward achieving sustainable redevelopment of City-owned properties. Pike said the BPDA was instrumental in moving this purchase forward.
"Bellingham Public Development Authority Board members were instrumental in initiating this property purchase and in putting the deal together," Pike said. "This is the kind of leadership and expertise we can continue to expect from this organization."
As a result of the purchase, the City and/or the BPDA will step into Douglas Management Company’s responsibilities under an existing legal agreement with Ecology that directs the company to do a comprehensive environmental study (called a remedial investigation) and analyze cleanup options (called a feasibility study). The City and/or the BPDA will also assume Douglas Management Company’s aquatic lands lease with the state Department of Natural Resources.
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Media Contacts:
Bellingham Mayor Dan Pike, 778-8100
Joan Hoisington, City Attorney/Staff to Bellingham Public Development Authority, 778-8270
Katie J. Skipper, Ecology media relations, 360-715-5205 or 360-510-0682 (cell)
