City of Bellingham vs. People for a Healthy Bay
As many of you know by now, the City Council voted Monday, August 14th to initiate a lawsuit against People for a Healthy Bay to keep the Healthy Bay Initiative off the ballot. We believe the lawsuit is baseless and merely a political stunt to divert attention from a bona fide public discussion of the Port's cleanup plans. We are resolved in our effort to keep the cleanup of the former G-P mill site at the forefront of public dialogue.
What we're doing: We have retained David Bricklin, a leading land use attorney, to defend us. David Bricklin co-authored Model Toxics Control Act (State Superfund law) and Initiative 547 (precursor to Growth Management Act). He was a founding board member of 1000 Friends of Washington (now Futurewise) and past President of Washington Conservation Voters and the Washington Environmental Council. He also co-authored the Healthy Bay Initiative with our committee.
What the City says: That the initiative is administrative rather than legislative in nature; that it's language is vague; that it addresses land use issues and that it harms their Interlocal Agreement with the Port.
What we say: The Healthy Bay Initiative sets a broad policy for the Bellingham City Council to push the state Department of Ecology for permanent removal of as much mercury as possible from the Whatcom Waterway and the GP mill site. An initiative can't be more detailed, since that would make it administrative. This initiative will send a message to Ecology that despite the Port's proposals to keep mercury in place, this community wants a high quality cleanup of mercury and other toxins.
We're campaigning! More than 6,000 citizens signed the petition to put the Healthy Bay Initiative on the ballot and we're working hard to honor their trust. We're staying on track with the campaign: ordering yard signs, writing op-ed pieces, gathering endorsements, and planning forums. We will continue to educate the public about the inconvenient facts regarding the Port's and City's plans for the cleanup. They plan to leave mercury in place in our estuary, capped with from 1 to 3 feet of sand. For the GP mill site, the most contaminated part of the waterfront (along with the RG Haley site), they plan a two-phase cleanup. The first phase will remediate the entire site to meets industrial standards. Then, as individual parcels are developed, they will be capped or cleaned to meet a stricter mixed-use standard. For the most part, high concentrations of mercury will be left in place beneath buildings. During the second phase of cleanup, the first people to live or work on the waterfront will spend their days or nights next to sites where mercury contaminated soil is cleaned up. We think the toxins should be cleaned up before buildings are built. Cleanup comes first.
What you can do: Tell ’em what you think. Remember, silence is assent. We are asking that our supporters contact City Council members and let them know how you feel about their attempt to prevent the initiative from coming to a lawful vote. Each Council member vowed to uphold the City Charter and the State Constitution. Both the Charter and the Constitution grant citizens the right of the initiative—the right to bring forward legislation to other citizens to consider and vote on.
We also need volunteers to doorbell, put up yard signs/have yard signs in their yards, write letters to the editor to the Bellingham Herald, the Cascadia Weekly, and the Whatcom Independent. Educate your neighbors and friends. Speak up for a healthy bay.
If you have any questions, concerns, or you'd like to volunteer, please call us at 527-2733 or write us at info@ahealthybay.org.
Contact information:
Bob Ryan | Ward 1 | Phone: 671-1776
Gene Knutson | Ward 2 | Phone: 733-1640
John Watts | Ward 3 | Phone: 647-2346 | E-mail: jwatts@nas.com
Joan Beardsley | Ward 4 | Phone: 676-9446 | E-mail: joanbeardsley@comcast.net
Terry Bornemann | Ward 5 | Phone: 305-0606
Barbara Ryan | Ward 6 | phone: 671-8376 | E-mail: barbararyan@nas.com
Louise Bjornson | At-Large | phone: 733-7756
City Council E-mail: citycouncil@cob.org
Media contacts/Letters to the Editor:
letters@bellinghamherald.com
editor@cascadiaweekly.com
editor@whatcomindy.com
Thank you to those of you who have already sent letters and spoken to your representatives on the City Council.
On with the campaign!
Frances Badgett
Secretary, People for a Healthy Bay
WE DID IT!!
Over 6300 Citizens Sign Healthy Bay Initiative
Fantastic job everyone! Thanks to the tremendous show of support from the public—not to mention the Herculean effort on the part of staff, contract workers and our heroic volunteers—the Healthy Bay Initiative is on its way to the ballot in November. Phase II of our signature gathering effort garnered support from over 2000 additional voters. On August 1, People for a Healthy Bay submitted a grand total of 6,349 signatures to the Whatcom County Auditor's office for certification. This week we were notified that we had surpassed the minimum 3,652 valid voter signatures, officially qualifying the initiative for a city-wide vote. Congratulations and thanks are in order to all who worked so hard to make this happen. Future generations of Healthy 'Hamsters will thank you, too!
Of course, now that the initiative is certified, our campaign begins in earnest. In the coming weeks we'll have lots of opportunities for you to get involved and help ensure a clean, healthy future for our community and a fresh new start for our downtown waterfront.
Write a letter to tell 'em what you think
This is a grassroots campaign, folks, by the people, for the people---and it's apparently going to be up to "we the people" to get our message out there. If you read the editorial in this morning's Herald, you got another dose of the party line of obfuscation, misrepresentation and outright lies that we're up against. Thus far, letters from individual citizens have been the best antidote to this sorry tactic. A few points you might want to consider:
• Regardless of what they've said, the Port's documents make clear that they propose to clean the mill site only to an industrial standard. Any further cleanup will happen only as individual buildings are built. This piecemeal approach poses tremendous challenges and risks that will impede progress toward the mixed-use neighborhood we all want.
• Regardless of what they've said, the Purchase and Sale Agreement between the Port and Georgia-Pacific makes clear that both parties have agreed NOT to seek a thorough cleanup of the Whatcom Waterway. The public deserves to know why our elected officials have signed away their right to advocate for a full assessment of all cleanup options. This is an extraordinary abdication of responsibility on the part of the Port.
• Regardless of what they've said, no one is calling for the creation of a "toxic waste dump" on the waterfront. This is an irresponsible misrepresentation of a cleanup alternative that has already been reviewed and approved by a number of entities, including the Port and the Department of Ecology, as the most cost-effective method of removing toxins from our environment. The Port's current plan removes this option from consideration, thereby guaranteeing that a thorough cleanup of the Whatcom Waterway will cost millions more than may be necessary to protect public health. Shame on them!
• Regardless of what they've said, the Healthy Bay Initiative is about CLEAN UP, not a park. On the other hand, the Port's desire for an expensive luxury marina is driving their cleanup strategy. We believe this approach is backward. As our slogan puts it, "CLEANUP COMES FIRST!" A thorough cleanup should take precedence over any land use decisions.
• Regardless of what they've said, neither People for a HealthyBay nor the Bellingham Bay Foundation "insists on a park" in the ASB treatment lagoon. The proposal to build a large park is one possible vision that we believe is a logical and beneficial corollary to our main goals. These goals are and always have been:
• Thorough cleanup;
• Public Ownership; and
• Vibrant redevelopment that complements our existing downtown business core.
We need your help in setting the record straight! Please take a few moments to fire off some well-considered prose to the media and our elected officials (addresses below). Or let us know if you'd like some help jump-starting your thought process. We're happy to work with you to come up with a draft. The important thing is that they hear from us - and especially from you!
The Bellingham Herald prints Letters to the Editor of 200 words or less. Email to:
Other important addresses include:
http://www.newwhatcom.org/contact-us.htm
Watch this space for information about upcoming educational and volunteer opportunities. Meanwhile, keep the faith & remember—CLEANUP COMES FIRST!
Anna Hall-Evans
Chair, People for a Healthy Bay