The controversial ABC Recycling facility on the Port of Bellingham’s waterfront has been working without correct stormwater permits for months, according to the Washington State Department of Ecology.
ABC Recycling, the largest metal recycling company in western Canada, began operations at the Log Pond area and the shipping terminal of the waterfront last summer with a 15-year lease through the Port of Bellingham. As the landowner, the port is responsible for updating wastewater and stormwater permits for the site, and is in the process of revising them with Ecology.
The site, the subject of a bevy of complaints about noise from residents on Bellingham’s South Hill, has only been operating for a few months.
The port currently does “not have the right permit for the metal recycling piece of ABC Recycling,” said Ecology’s Amy Jankowiak, the compliance and technical assistance unit supervisor for water quality in Washington’s northwest region. “They do have a permit for discharging, but it’s not directly tied to metal recycling.”
Updates have been in the works since an Ecology site visit last November. The other issues noted by investigators during the visit, related to best management practices for a waterfront recycling facility, have since been corrected.
Even so, confusion about the permitting issues — and which entity is responsible for solving them — remains.
The port holds several permits for the leased spaces, including two different types of stormwater discharge permits for the areas where ABC operates. Those permits include an individual wastewater permit that authorizes discharges into the Aerated Stabilization Basin (ASB): a self-contained basin with no water released into Puget Sound. But, Jankowiak said, those aren’t written to address metal recycling.
Representatives from the Port of Bellingham said they had plans to update the stormwater permit during an upcoming major cleanup project — the Whatcom Waterway Phase 2 — but have accelerated those plans.
The log pond area has a permit the port has used for industrial activities in the past, said Mike Hogan, the port’s public affairs administrator.
“I think both us and ABC were assuming that that would be an effective solution until the ASB went offline as part of that cleanup,” Hogan said.
Hogan said the port planned to acquire the newer permits once redevelopment began through the waterway project, but that timeline has now been adjusted.
Though the port hasn’t acquired the proper permits, it has been following strict monitoring regulations, Ecology said this week.
“They have started sampling all requirement parameters at all their discharge points,” said Sylvia Graham, the stormwater permit manager for Ecology’s water quality program. “They’ve addressed all the violations that were listed for the wharf area” from the November site visit.
Andy Anthony, vice president of U.S. operations at ABC, said the company is continuing its regular operations at the Bellingham facility.
“We are allowed to operate under the port’s umbrella, under that operating permit as other tenants have been allowed to do so in the past,” he said this week.
Anthony said representatives from ABC and the port met April 6 for additional discussions about the stormwater permit, but he didn’t want to speculate on next steps.
Jankowiak said it’s not for Ecology to say if the facility can keep operating without the correct permit in place.
“It’s not Ecology’s role to say that a site can continue to operate or not,” she said. “It’s our role to say whether or not they are authorized and have the right permits.”
In the future, Jankowiak said, Ecology may take formal enforcement actions, including penalties, fines and citations under Washington’s Water Pollution Control Act.
Since the plant began operations, it’s caused significant consternation for neighbors in the South Hill neighborhood, who complained about noise and long operating hours. Port commissioners met with residents during a special meeting in January, where they heard complaints from neighbors about the 24-hour workday. Short-term measures, including a noise barrier constructed with shipping containers, were implemented until more permanent solutions could be developed.
