The rumbling noise of cranes and trucks moving piles of scrap metal was juxtaposed by the sounds of bird calls and lapping waves at Bellingham’s waterfront.
Below the Ken Spirit, the 21,000-ton bulk carrier vessel that will carry a portion of the metal collected by ABC Recycling to Bangladesh for smelting, Kirsten McDade canoed nearby, sampling areas of the water around the ship and the log pond area. A CDN reporter had joined her to observe water collection.
McDade, a North Sound waterkeeper and community educator at RE Sources, collected a variety of data on the water’s pH levels and turbidity, and used chemical strips to determine possible pollutants, such as copper and zinc. What McDade observed is the tail end of the first of two trips — the first loading started April 5 and will finish by Saturday, April 13.
The Canadian company must remove 27,000 metric tons of recycled metal by June 30 from its location at the Port of Bellingham as part of the lease termination.
She explained that the Port of Bellingham already collects data on stormwater runoff and the kind of pollutants that may be mixing into the water.
“We’re collecting as it’s already mixed into the water,” she said. “So our tests are going to be very diluted. If we were to pick up on something, it would be a really big deal because that’s after dilution.”
As McDade leaned over the canoe edge to dip a test strip in the water, two cranes atop the vessel continued picking up heaps of scrap metal from the former ABC Recycling site and placing them into three open containers.
It’s unknown when the second loading will begin, said Riley Sweeney, ABC’s community relations and government affairs manager.
The scrap metal removal was a consistent concern for local environmental activists, and some residents complained about noise associated with the operations. Ultimately, the port and ABC “mutually agreed” to terminate the 25-year lease on March 25. ABC quickly got to work removing the metal, which will be taken for smelting, Sweeney said.
ABC Recycling started leasing space at the Port of Bellingham in 2022, utilizing the log pond area adjacent to the shipping terminal to store rusty metal that was trucked in from around the area, including portions of southwestern Canada.
The port issued a notice of default to the Canadian recycling company on Feb. 21, giving ABC 30 days to correct environmental violations port officials claimed were due to ABC’s activities at the shipping terminal.
The port accused ABC of violating stormwater controls. Data from quarterly stormwater samples taken at the shipping terminal since 2017 show pollution levels exceeding limits for turbidity, suspended solids, copper, zinc and lead. All of these except lead have been found at levels more than 15 times higher than the allowed limit, after ABC’s arrival.
The samples taken Friday by McDade will go into RE Sources’ own data log. If there’s anything off about the sampling, McDade will make a report to the port’s environmental team.
In a RE Sources Facebook post, McDade wrote there had been readings for iron, zinc and sulfate from the test strips with “low levels that don’t raise alarm bells.” There were also no signs of turbidity or metal in the water.
McDade told CND in a text message that RE Sources plans to do water testing again when ABC loads the rest of the scrap metal.
“It’s good to be a presence on the water,” she wrote.
The company has until Sept. 30 to vacate the waterfront area. The company’s lease on office space at the shipping terminal expires on Oct. 31.
Update: This story was updated on Tuesday April 16 at 4:30 p.m. to include the results of the water testing from McDade and her comment about being a presence on the water during ABC’s second scrap metal loading.
Annie Todd is CDN’s criminal justice/enterprise reporter; reach her at annietodd@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 130.
