Setting the Record Straight: The July Article on the Old Paper Mill Contained Many Inaccuracies

Freeman Anthony, P.E., City of Bellingham project manager for the Post Point Improvements Project, has over 10 years experience in the design, construction, and administration of both public and private infrastructure projects. His work has included both new construction and retrofits of water and wastewater treatment plant projects in Utah, Washington, and New Zealand. He has overseen multiple projects at the Post Point Wastewater Treatment Plant and has substantial knowledge of the site and surrounding area. Freeman has been with the City of Bellingham since 2006.

Despite hours of staff time and repeated attempts to help the author understand the multi-year planning, regulatory constraints, and public involvement components involved in the Post Point Wastewater Treatment Improvement Project, the resulting July 2011 article “Make the Old Paper Mill Into Something Useful” contained a number of misinformed and misleading comments. Planning for the current improvement project began in 2009 with the City Council adoption of the Comprehensive Sewer Plan. Over the past two years, extensive community outreach efforts have successfully engaged hundreds of active, concerned citizens. City Council has been involved in six briefing presentations and has provided direction throughout the process.

Where Does Our Sewage Go?

Every day, people in Bellingham wash dishes, shower, brush their teeth, and flush toilets sending 8 to 72 million gallons of wastewater mixed with some stormwater, through a complex system of pipes and pumps to the Post Point Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). This facility, together with the sanitary sewer system, form the most significant mechanism of environmental protection operated by the City of Bellingham.

What arrives in the wastewater (called load) is as important as the quantity (or flow). Some days the amount of solid and dissolved, organic material or Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) reaches or exceeds the rated capacity of the plant.

Treated wastewater entering Bellingham Bay from our plant consistently meets or exceeds all state and federal standards designed to protect public health and the environment. However, as the plant reaches secondary treatment capacity, we must make improvements to be able to continue to meet wastewater requirements and serve our community and the environment safely and effectively in the future.

During the first of three public meetings, held in 2009, neighbors and concerned citizens received project background information, facility design requirements and participated in a discussion about neighborhood and community issues. The second meeting addressed citizen comments and described how the Triple Bottom Line + methodology is used to guide project decisions. The third meeting, held June 1, 2010, included concept drawings of the revised alternative 1B as well as an open house opportunity for questions and answers.

City staff met with the mayor’s Neighborhood Advisory Group (MNAC) in April 2010 and the interested near-by neighborhood groups throughout May 2010 to provide information and answer questions. Staff attended and presented at Fairhaven, Edgemoor, South, South Hill and Fairhaven Merchants Association meetings. The Happy Valley Neighborhood Association was not available in 2010 and received their presentation in 2011.

A fourth community meeting, a public open house was held Thursday, February 24 at Fairhaven Middle School. Participants viewed scale and computer models, met construction and engineering planning consultants and staff, learned how project staff have addressed key issues and saw proposed environmental and recreational mitigation plans.

The physical model and information display boards are currently on display in the City Hall lobby and show a final design that minimizes impacts to the adjacent open space area and trail corridors while allowing for the needed improvements.

Detailed information regarding the planning process, community involvement, the permit applications and the City Council-approved alternative contracting method for the improvement project is available on the city website at www.cob.org/wastewater.The City of Bellingham is proud to be a leader in sustainability and fiscal responsibility while maintaining the quality of life that we enjoy here in Bellingham. Staff and council continue to evaluate emerging technologies and look for ways to improve sustainability throughout both city government and the community. The nature of secondary treatment capacity is not addressed by the alternatives suggested by the author.

Readers interested in a tour of the Post Point Wastewater Treatment Plant can contact the Public Works Department at pw@cob.org.

Please refer to Whatcom Watch July 2011, for the complete article. Below are corrections to some of the specific inaccuracies.

1. The author asked why the project couldn’t be northeast of the plant next to the vacant lot and rickety auto repair building, also owned by the city. Locating new secondary treatment facilities north of the existing plant would require a new pump station and large diameter piping for primary effluent conveyance. These additional facilities would be required because the property to the north is located far away from the existing primary effluent pump station. The difference in elevation between the two sites is not significant.

2. The author spoke with neighbors who suggested using “Henning Gatz of Bellingham’s Aquacare…system.” There are no existing filters at Post Point WWTP. Aquacare filters have been proposed as an option by Mr. Gatz to replace existing primary clarifiers, which: 1) are currently performing well; 2) have years of remaining service life; and 3) do not require significant expansion as part of the Post Point WWTP improvements. The filter option was considered by the city during planning, but was not pursued because it did not provide treatment performance, capacity, or financial benefits.

3. The author stated “Bellingham reportedly used such massive amounts of water; the treatment plant needs more space...” Bellingham’s per capita water use is actually quite low, due to successful conservation programs implemented by Public Works. However, the oldest parts of the city’s wastewater collection system were designed as combined sewers, so they collect both rainwater and sewage. There are also some portions of the city’s collection system that collect groundwater and rainwater due to infiltration and inflow (I/I). For these reasons, peak flows to Post Point increase substantially during rainfall events. The city is implementing a series of programs to control peak flows due to rainfall, as documented in the approved Comprehensive Sewer Plan.

4. The author stated the Mortenson website included a picture of “the new contract that they supposedly secured with the city for $28 million.” Mortenson’s current contract is not for $28 million. As the general contractor/construction manager (GC/CM), Mortenson has signed a contract with the city to manage a project with an estimated total subcontractor cost of $28 million and a total contract cost (TCC) of $37 million. She continued, “The artist’s rendition showed the entire area around the sewer plant being used for the new facilities. There was no trail or dog-off leash area left.” Throughout the planning process, the city has taken significant steps to minimize impact on the existing open space and trail system to the south of existing facilities. The city used a process called Triple Bottom Line + Technical (TBL+) to evaluate alternatives for improving Post Point. Potential social and environmental impacts were identified and mitigated through this process. As a result, the majority of the existing open space and trail system will remain intact following construction of the new improvements.

5. The author said she asked city planning “why the sign at the plant said, ‘Application for Land Use Permit’ if a contract had already been signed. She said one had not been signed.” The city is going through the normal process of securing permits for construction of the improvements; a process that involves local, state, and federal agencies. Design continues as a normal part of this process. In this case, the design phase includes GC/CM involvement for the benefit of the project.

6. Regarding currents in Bellingham Bay, the author states “Then Anthony added that Post Point had the currents necessary for sending treated water out of the bay. If the G-P site were used, the effluent would lodge where G-P’s old pollution was and be stuck there.” The city currently has two permitted outfalls to discharge treated effluent from the WWTP into Bellingham Bay. The primary outfall is designed with ports to create mixing and diffusion at the point of discharge. As part of the Post Point WWTP improvements project, mixing zone studies have demonstrated that there will be no adverse impact to water quality as a result of the WWTP improvements. In fact, the improvements will benefit water quality by decreasing the number of combined sewer overflow (CSO) related bypass events that are currently allowed at the WWTP.

7. The author stated she “asked if there could be two sites rather than one large one and maybe use some smaller Aquacare’s type facilities. Anthony argued against that idea because there had to be someone at the plant 24 hours a day. The city could not afford two full-time people.” The planned Post Point WWTP improvements will increase treatment capacity by up to 60 percent (based on biochemical oxygen demand [BOD]) maximizing the use of existing liquid and solids stream treatment capacity at Post Point. Plans to abandon this existing treatment capacity were not considered during initial planning. However, the city did thoroughly evaluate options for remote treatment or storage facilities to handle peak flows that occur during rainfall events (see Comment 3).

8. The author stated she visited the Mortenson web site again to find, “the entire area appears to be totally transformed and the trail cut to a sliver – if there is one at all.” See Comment 5. The planned improvements were specifically designed to mitigate impacts to the existing open space and trail surrounding Post Point. Input collected at a series of public meetings held throughout the planning process was extremely valuable in shaping the final layout of facilities.

9. The author stated, “Salmon are finally coming up the Padden Creek again – a creek that runs behind these structures.” Professional biologists and ecologists have identified the great blue heron colony, a bald eagle nest, wetlands, and an unnamed seasonal stream as the environmentally critical areas within or adjacent to the plant site. The site monitoring and investigations have been compiled in the Post Point Wastewater Treatment Plant Improvements Wetland and Wildlife Mitigation Plan.

The Post Point Wastewater Treatment Plant Improvements Biological Evaluation Report has also been prepared for the project describing baseline conditions and potential effects to regulated fish and critical habitat that may be present in the vicinity. Both documents are available on the city’s website and provide support for a number of environmental permits currently under review.

10. The author asserts, ‘There have been several meetings already about this project,’ Anthony told me. He said that neighborhood associations had been notified of the meetings. No one I talked with at the Happy Valley Neighborhood Association were familiar with the meetings.” Over the past two years, the city has participated extensively in public outreach events to provide updates on the improvements project. These have included four general neighborhood meetings hosted by city staff, five City Council briefings, five neighborhood association/mayor’s neighborhood advisory commission/Fairhaven merchant board of director’s briefings, a dedicated project webpage on the city’s website, and displays at both City Hall as well as at the Post Point site.

11. The author states, “Or at least considers smaller treatment plants throughout the city so that less wastewater comes to the best part of the town.” See Comment 8. During the comprehensive planning process, the city evaluated options for siting treatment and storage facilities at remote locations around the collection system. The adopted Comprehensive Sewer Plan recommends a combination of: 1) improving the treatment capacity at the Post Point WWTP; 2) reducing peak flows through continued stormwater separation and I/I control; and 3) storing peak flows at a remote storage facility located upstream of the existing Oak Street pump station. §