Consultants working for the City of Bellingham will begin a second round of sediment sampling this week for a cleanup site in Bellingham Bay.
The consultant will use a boat to collect samples from 19 in-water locations around the South State Street Manufactured Gas Plant site near Boulevard Park.
The work is part of a comprehensive environmental study required by a legal agreement between the Washington Department of Ecology, City of Bellingham and Puget Sound Energy.
Preliminary environmental investigations at the site found contaminants including metals and organic chemicals in the sediment. The former gas plant operated from the 1890s to 1950s.
The additional sediment samples will help define the extent and nature of the contamination, and create a clearer designation of the site’s boundaries – all of which will eventually help determine the method and cost of cleanup.
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