Bellingham City Council will consider Monday whether to share responsibilities with Whatcom County in conducting an environmental review of the proposed ABC Recycling metal shredder operation.
The controversial ABC Recycling project to start a metal-shredding operation at 741 Marine Drive, in the Alderwood area northwest of Bellingham city limits, has met fierce opposition from some nearby residents angry about potential noise, traffic and other environmental impacts of the shredding plant.
The operation would shred and crush old automobiles and appliances. The iron-based metals would then be transported by truck to the Bellingham shipping terminal and shipped overseas to be recycled.
The City Council will discuss joining the project’s environmental review in an 11 a.m. committee meeting on Monday, March 11, and make a decision at a 7 p.m. meeting.
Whatcom County is the default lead for the environmental review, due to the proposed project being outside of Bellingham city limits. But the city’s Planning and Community Development Director, Blake Lyon, said the city’s interest in being a co-lead in the environmental review is two-fold.
First, while the the proposed project is not technically in Bellingham, it is just north of Bellingham in a City of Bellingham Urban Growth Area. It will also likely have impacts within city limits.
“The potential for trucks coming through the city, airflow coming into the city, noise coming into the city — a lot of the potential environmental impacts associated with it extending into the cities and the members of our community, we bear the potential for those environmental impacts, so it’s important for us to play a part and a role in that evaluation,” he said.
The large public interest in the project was also a motivator, Lyon acknowledged.
“We want to make sure that that our folks are adequately represented in the scope of that document and that the nature of those concerns are represented accordingly,” he said.
The environmental review process will include identifying a consultant, determining what level of environmental analysis is needed, and then undertaking that review with public input, Lyon said Friday, March 8.
Lyon said if the Bellingham City Council opts against approving the memorandum of understanding, the city would still be involved in the review process as a “responsible agency.” That means it would still provide and submit comments to the county on the review, but the county would have the final decision about the extent to which those comments are incorporated.
If the city and county were co-leads, Lyon said, they would develop together the analysis, project alternatives and mitigations, and other provisions of the State Environmetal Policy Act (SEPA).
“We [would] have a little bit more shared and common interest and how that that stuff gets put together as opposed to just being a responding agency and waiting to see what comes of it,” he said.
The Canadian-owned recycling firm applied for permits to operate the facility in October — one day before a Whatcom County Council hearing about a proposed moratorium on heavy industry in the area. The 19.7-acre property is immediately north of a former cement plant. Commercial businesses are to the north, across Marine Drive. Residences are to the west, northeast and southeast.
Charlotte Alden is CDN’s general assignment/enterprise reporter; reach her at charlottealden@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 123.
