by Wendy Steffensen
COURTESY TO THE BELLINGHAM HERALD, March 14, 2014

For decades, RE Sources for Sustainable Communities has worked
to protect the Salish Sea from the harmful contaminants in our stormwater with
our North Sound Baykeeper program. The Baykeeper Team is charged with
protecting and enhancing the marine and nearshore habitats of the northern
Puget Sound region. At the end of last year, the Baykeeper Team conducted
sampling at stormwater outfalls that drain to Bellingham Bay. Unfortunately, we
have discovered high levels of metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (or
PAHs) in our stormwater.
Why is this important? Metals, like copper and zinc, are common
in stormwater but are toxic to marine life.
According to the National Marine Fisheries Service, copper is toxic to
many of the organisms in the fish food web and disrupts salmon sensory systems.
PAHs, also common in stormwater, are complex organic pollutants that are found
in fossil fuels, and are formed by incomplete combustion of wood, coal, and
diesel fuels. They are carcinogenic to laboratory animals and acutely toxic to
some fish species.
The content of our stormwater is not unique to Bellingham. Urban
areas throughout the developed world struggle with similar issues. The
difference for Bellingham is that our stormwater is discharged to Bellingham
Bay. As we learned in January’s Bellingham Herald article, “Decline in Bellingham
Bay marine life eludes quick diagnosis”, a recent study of the health of our
bay showed that this water body is in serious trouble. The causes are still
under speculation but the metals and PAHs in our stormwater may be contributing
to a decline in diversity of species and contamination in sediment.
We all agree that the health of Bellingham Bay is important to
our community. That’s why RE Sources is launching the Neighborhood Clean Water
Project to coordinate the neighbors of Lower Whatcom Creek and Squalicum Harbor
watersheds to identify the sources of pollution and find ways to remove
contaminants from our stormwater. The kick-off meeting for this project will be
Tuesday, March 18 from 6:30-8 pm at RE Sources’ Sustainable Living Center above
the RE Store. This meeting is free and open to the public.
During the project’s first year, we will focus on data collected
from the C Street and Broadway Street outfalls on Whatcom and I & J
Waterways, respectively. These outfalls drain portions of the Lettered Streets,
Columbia, and Cornwall Park neighborhoods.
RE Sources will work with watershed neighbors to identify the sources of
this pollution and, where possible, attempt to fix some of these sources. We also hope to expand this project to
include other watersheds in the years to come.
Over the years, we have learned that the more people know about
a water quality problem, the more empowered they are to fix it. We developed
this project because there are things we can do as a community to improve water
quality and we know there are people in Bellingham that want to help. We can’t
control the rain falling from the sky, but we can make the stormwater it
creates cleaner before it reaches Bellingham Bay.
For more information, visit www.re-sources.org/programs/baykeeper.
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Wendy Steffensen is RE Sources’ North Sound Baykeeper,
responsible for protecting and enhancing the marine and nearshore habitats of
the northern Puget Sound region. North
Sound Baykeeper is a program of RE Sources for Sustainable Communities. RE
Sources promotes sustainable communities and protects the health of
northwestern Washington’s people and ecosystems through application of science,
education, advocacy, and action.