The Underlying Issue
The Draft Framework for New Whatcom came out of some extensive public input, but without a full public hearing. There’s no honest way to judge the public response to this framework without such a hearing. The most pressing issue for the Foundation is a good cleanup of mercury and other toxins that G-P left behind. Not only is a thorough cleanup the expectation of the community, it also leads to a great redevelopment. The City won't have to waive developer fees or engage in expensive tax financing schemes if the site is clean. It's prime waterfront real estate! Unfortunately, the Port has stated repeatedly that they only intend to clean the site to an industrial level. Some areas of the site have mercury concentrations at 12,500 ppm. The acceptable level for mercury in the upland environment is only 25 ppm.
The Draft Framework for New Whatcom came out of some extensive public input, but without a full public hearing. There’s no honest way to judge the public response to this framework without such a hearing. The most pressing issue for the Foundation is a good cleanup of mercury and other toxins that G-P left behind. Not only is a thorough cleanup the expectation of the community, it also leads to a great redevelopment. The City won't have to waive developer fees or engage in expensive tax financing schemes if the site is clean. It's prime waterfront real estate! Unfortunately, the Port has stated repeatedly that they only intend to clean the site to an industrial level. Some areas of the site have mercury concentrations at 12,500 ppm. The acceptable level for mercury in the upland environment is only 25 ppm.
Not only is the current discussion about the Draft Framework ignoring the issues surrounding cleanup, other issues remain in question. For example, the operation of the tissue warehouse requires use of the ASB lagoon, which is currently slated to become a marina. 250 family-wage jobs will disappear to make way for 59 seasonal and part-time, low-paying maintenance jobs. Another unspoken problem on the former mill site is liquefaction. Should we experience a sizable earthquake, the soil on the uplands will liquefy. There is currently nothing in the planning stages about liquefiable soils. Global warming and increased storm activity could affect the mercury buried at the site. These are just a few of the many issues not being addressed.
The Draft Framework of New Whatcom with the contamination under it. Click your browser's refresh button to see the animation again. This old Retec map elicited cackles from many former G-P workers when they eagerly signed the Healthy Bay Initiative. They said that the contamination, particularly that of mercury, is far more significant than is suggested by this map. If you'd like to learn more about this Retec map, go here.