Dredging starts soon at Bellingham Shipping Terminal

Dredging of contaminated sediment is expected to begin later this month at the Bellingham Shipping Terminal, Washington State Department of Ecology said.

With federal funding, the Port of Bellingham is making improvements to the terminal, including dredging about 22,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment to restore water depths for ship access.

This dredging will also accomplish part of the Ecology-required cleanup action for this portion of the Whatcom Waterway site.

To protect migrating juvenile salmon, the in-water dredging work is set to occur at two separate times, January to mid-February and August to October.

The winter dredging work is expected to begin on January 29, 2024.

The Port’s non-cleanup related work at the terminal is expected to occur between April 2024 and September 2025. 

Engineering design of the cleanup action for remaining Phase 2 Site Areas is underway, with construction activities anticipated to begin in 2025 and last several years, said Ecology.