Curious about what the next phase of Bellingham’s waterfront cleanup looks like? Join us for a walking tour of the GP West site, followed by an open house where folks can ask Ecology questions, on Wednesday, June 10th to find out!
The 74-acre Georgia-Pacific West cleanup site operated as a pulp and tissue mill from 1926 through 2007. In 2005, the Port of Bellingham acquired the property from the Georgia-Pacific Corporation and took on the responsibility of cleaning it up. With phases one and two of the cleanup already completed, phase three will address the remainder of the Chlor-Alkali Area, where significant mercury contamination occurred. Before this phase begins, though, Ecology is accepting public comments on the site’s Consent Decree and Updated Public Participation Plan (from June 1 – July 1, 2026).
Walking Tour: June 10, 3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.*
300 West Laurel St. | Please prepare for a 1-mile unpaved loop.
Open House: June 10, 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. (with snacks)
Location: Find us at the white tent at the Portal Container Village on West Laurel St.
*The walking tour is funded by an Ecology Public Participation Grant.
Background: An industrial history on Bellingham’s waterfront
The Bellingham Waterfront was a seat of industrial activity for more than 100 years, an era that ended with the closure of the Georgia-Pacific tissue mill in 2007. Industries left behind a legacy of toxic pollutants in the soil, sediment, and groundwater—including mercury, nickel, dioxins, petroleum byproducts, and more. The shoreline was also physically altered by armoring off beaches, dredging up sediment, and filling in parts of the natural shoreline to build on.
Contamination of the site is divided into two separate areas—the Pulp and Tissue Mill Area and Chlor-Alkali Area. The Pulp and Tissue Mill Area was cleaned up in 2016, the Lignin Operable Unit within the Chlor-Alkali Area was cleaned up in 2022, and the remainder of the Chlor-Alkali Area will be cleaned up next.
As the name suggests, the 36-acre Chlor-Alkali Area included a chlor-alkali plant that operated from 1965 to 1999. Mercury was used to produce chlorine and sodium hydroxide for mill operations, and petroleum was also stored there. These actions contaminated soil and groundwater.
See the Department of Ecology’s map of the 12 contaminated sites in Bellingham Bay and where each one is in the Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA) cleanup process. You can also see what cleanup sites are near you with Ecology’s searchable map tool.
Funded in part by a Public Participation Grant from the Washington State Department of Ecology.