Anchor QEA has been instrumental in the cleanup and revitalization of Bellingham’s waterfront.  Our involvement in this project spans over a decade, including management of a range of Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) and engineering design tasks at the Whatcom Waterway Site, a 2 million cubic yard sediment cleanup site located in Bellingham Bay, Washington.  The project has included successful agency negotiations, appropriately focused investigations and contaminant transport modeling, detailed engineering design, and construction of cost-effective interim remedial actions.  The remedial action plan for the Whatcom Waterway includes the following elements:

• Hydraulic dredging of approximately 400,000 cubic yards of sediment from the federal navigation channel, and disposal into an adjacent upland facility
  
• Capping of contaminated sediments located outside of the federal navigation channel (the effectiveness of capping was demonstrated in an early interim capping action of “hotspot” sediments at the site)
  
• Monitored natural recovery of more marginally contaminated sediments and anticipated dredging residuals (natural recovery has already achieved cleanup standards throughout most of the site)
  
• Integration of habitat restoration elements into the overall cleanup plan, cost-effectively addressing potential Natural Resource Damage liabilities and concurrently streamlining permitting/agency approvals
  

The total estimated cost of the Whatcom Waterway remediation plan is approximately $15 million.  Anchor QEA has assisted the client in developing cost-sharing arrangements to further reduce this cost, such as through U.S. Army Corps of Engineers maintenance dredging/beneficial reuse and Water Resources Development Act authorities, and tipping fees for co-disposal of other parties’ contaminated sediments into the upland disposal facility.