Whatcom County MRC Projects - Marine Restoration and Protection

Marine Creosote Log Remediation Project

Marine Creosote Log Remediation Project
Project Partner with the City of Bellingham

City of Bellingham Area

Fairhaven
South Hill
Whatcom Industrial
Central Waterfront
Squalicum
Squalicum Industrial
Cliffside Drive

This area consists of the shoreline between the ferry terminal in Fairhaven and the Nooksack River Delta. There are over 14,673 fixed creosote-treated pilings in this area. The inventory of the area around the Whatcom Waterway has not yet been completed.

More than 970 cubic feet of rogue creosote-treated wood was found on the beaches in this area at the first inventory during the summer and fall of 2001. Initial removals, done in May and June of 2002, collected and disposed of over 530 cubic feet of treated wood, and follow-up removals in July of 2003 removed another 120 cubic feet.

After completing an initial inventory and removals, a follow-up inventory and removals one year later, and an analysis of the condition and number of fixed pilings present in Bellingham Bay, it seems obvious that the number one source of rogue creosote-treated wood on the beaches of the bay is derelict dock structures. The areas that tend to have accumulations of rogue creosote-treated wood are the same areas that have abandoned dock structures. Specifically, the old ferry dock and structures at the end of Cornwall Avenue, the dock and other fixed piling structures at the Squalicum Creek estuary, and the cement plant pier at Little Squalicum beach. These structures continue to break apart with each passing winter and end up high on the intertidal beach, sometimes in valuable forage fish habitat, such is found at Little Squalicum beach.

Fairhaven Subarea
There were no rogue creosote-treated logs or timbers from the industrial area next to Marine Park north to the beach above Taylor Street Dock at the time of the initial inventory or the follow-up inventory. There are roughly 1,192 fixed creosote-treated pilings in this area that may contribute to rogue logs in other areas of Bellingham Bay.

South Hill Subarea
This subarea extends from the southern end of Boulevard Park to the northern most beach in Boulevard Park. This area has approximately 1,631 fixed pilings in it, a large part of which are short stubs intermixed with concrete rubble on the shores. There may be quite a few more fixed piling stubs below the surface of the concrete. Most of the fixed pilings in this subarea are derelict, very old and weathered, and are most likely a source of rogue logs in Bellingham Bay. In fact, one of the dolphins on the west side of the pier at the south end of the park lost one of its pilings over the winter of 2002.

Approximately 127 cubic feet of creosote-treated wood was found on the beaches in this area at the initial inventory in July of 2001, 19 cubic feet (only 2 pieces) at the follow-up inventory of November of 2002, and 19 in July of 2003. Most of the materials found during the initial inventory washed away and the two pieces found in November of 2002 had washed away by July of 2003. More than 44 cubic feet was removed in June of 2002 and 19 cubic feet in July of 2003.

The southern-most beach at Boulevard Park is an area of accumulation for pilings and timbers. The other two pocket beaches in Boulevard Park also tend to have small numbers of materials accumulate.

Whatcom Industrial Subarea
This area is comprised of the shoreline from the stretch of railroad between the north end of Boulevard Park and the shipping terminal. There are roughly 4,945 creosote-treated fixed pilings in this area. The shipping terminal dock alone has about 3,100 creosote pilings supporting it. There are a large number of steel and CCA (Chromated Copper Arsenic) pilings in the east side of the shipping terminal pier, also.

Approximately 83 cubic feet of treated wood was found during the initial inventory during the summer and fall of 2001, 37 cubic feet was found during the follow-up inventory of November of 2002, and 4 cubic feet during the second follow-up inventory of July of 2003. All of the materials found in November of 2002 washed away. About 46 cubic feet was removed in May and June of 2002 and what wasn’t removed had washed away. 4 cubic feet was removed during follow-up removals. The materials that typically appear on this beach are pilings and timbers, and they are continually moving onto and off of the beach.

The beach at the end of Cornwall Avenue is an area that receives a significant amount of rogue creosote-treated materials.

One source of these materials is the old ferry dock adjacent to the Cornwall Avenue landfill, which had a large portion break off of it during the winter of 2002. This and the other fixed piling structures adjacent to the landfill should be removed to prevent continued breakage of these materials.

Central Waterfront Subarea
This is a small area consisting of the shoreline between the shipping terminal, including the mouth of Whatcom Creek, to the little beach on the north side of Georgia-Pacific’s Aerated Stabilization Basin. The inventory of creosote-treated fixed pilings is not yet complete, but there are approximately 1,355 counted so far. There are a large number of derelict fixed pilings in the area at the mouth of Whatcom Creek, and there may be an even larger number of fixed pilings in use in this area.

There were no rogue creosote-treated materials between the shipping terminal and the south side of the I & J Waterway at the time of the initial inventory or the follow-up inventory.

Squalicum Harbor Subarea
This subarea stretches from the beach at the I & J Waterway to below Weldcraft in Squalicum Harbor. There are about 1,500 fixed creosote-treated pilings in this area, all of which are in Squalicum Harbor.

The initial inventory found 207 cubic feet in March of 2002, and the follow-up inventories yielded 2 cubic feet in October of 2002 and 1 cubic foot in July of 2003. At the time of the initial inventory there were two dolphins (a group of pilings cabled together) that had washed in. About 111 cubic feet was removed during initial removals in June of 2002 and one piece totaling 0.5 cubic foot was removed in July of 2003. What wasn’t removed at the time of the removals had washed away or been removed by someone else.

The beach at the end of the I & J Waterway is an area of accumulation for rogue pilings, pile stubs and timbers.

Squalicum Industrial Subarea
The shoreline area around the industrial area that includes Bellingham Cold Storage, to the beach below the cement plant, makes up this area. There are almost 4,000 fixed creosote-treated pilings within this area. A large portion of these are at the mouth of Squalicum Creek. The cement plant pier also has a significant number of these, totaling about 1,670.

Approximately 130 cubic feet was present in March of 2002 at the time of the initial inventory, 14 cubic feet in October of 2002, and 37 in July of 2003. About half of the materials found during both the initial inventory and the follow-up inventory washed away. About a third of the amount of creosote materials found at the initial inventory were found at the time of the follow-up inventory. These materials consisted of timbers, pilings, piling stubs and railroad ties. About 68 cubic feet removed in June of 2002. What wasn’t removed was not accessible. Two pieces found during the follow-up inventory washed away, and the rest, totaling approximately 37 cubic feet, was removed in July of 2003.

The beach between the parking area at Little Squalicum and the cement plant seems to be ever-changing and is constantly replenished with new batches of rogue creosote-treated wood. The wood gets scattered upon the shoreline, not collecting in any particular spot.

The derelict pilings and dock structure at the mouth of Squalicum Creek are a significant source of rogue creosote-treated wood in Bellingham Bay. The top part of the dock between Mt. Baker Plywood and Bellingham Cold Storage actually fell into the water over the winter of 2002. Some of these dock structures washed north onto the beaches between Little Squalicum and Cliffside Drive. All of the remaining abandoned fixed pilings in the estuary should be removed to control this source of rogue logs and timbers.

Cliffside Drive Subarea
This subarea starts at the beach below the north end of the cement plant and goes to the Nooksack River Delta. There are only about 50 creosote-treated fixed pilings in this subarea, all of which are located near the Locust Street beach access. They are all abandoned, very old and weathered pilings that are likely breaking apart little by little each year.

Two areas that receive a lot of rogue creosote-treated wood each year are below the cement plant and below the Cliffside Drive access. About 420 cubic feet was found during the initial inventory in February and March of 2002, 71 cubic feet in October of 2002, and 60 cubic feet in June of 2003. All of the materials found in October of 2002 had either washed away or were covered up in wood chips by June of 2003. The majority of the materials found below the cement plant were railroad ties, totaling over one dozen.

The shore below Cliffside Drive is the area of thickest accumulation of rogue creosote-treated wood in all of Bellingham Bay. The materials found during the initial inventory consisted of aged timbers, pilings, piling stubs and railroad ties. The area is covered with a thick layer of fine ground wood chips that cover up a lot of the wood on the beach, making it difficult to draw conclusions about long-term movement of materials on the beach. However, there were a few rogue materials identified during the initial inventory that moved north over the winter in the same direction as the drift cell there. There were also a significant number of logs and timbers found at the time of the initial and follow-up inventories that later could not be found that were probably covered up with wood chips. The materials found during the follow-up inventory were all aged timbers and pilings that look like dock structures that came from within the bay.

This was a difficult area for removals due to the low water and the limited beach access. Towing large logs and timbers by boat was not an option. About 261 cubic feet of rogue creosote-treated wood was hauled off the beaches of this area in June of 2002, and another 60 cubic feet in July of 2003.

From the beach access spot at Cliffside Drive north to the Nooksack River Delta the beach is covered in fallen trees and hardly receives any movement of driftwood or rogue creosote logs. This is a difficult area to inventory, and would be extremely difficult to remove creosote logs from due to the fallen trees, extremely limited access, and low water.

The source of the accumulations of rogue creosote-treated wood in this area seems to be derelict piling structures from inner Bellingham Bay. A remediation plan for all of the abandoned creosote pilings in the bay is necessary to correct this problem.