An asbestos-filled landslide on Sumas Mountain has Peaceful Valley neighbors concerned about cancer and other health risks, especially as a new proposal to mine another part of the mountain moves forward in Whatcom County. But experts say it’s unlikely the mineral will be found in the affected area.
The proposed Ranch Quarry Surface Mine, a 70-acre hard rock pit on 108 acres between Sumas Mountain and Vedder Mountain, is surrounded by neighbors, many of whom have lived in the valley their entire lives and are ready to oppose a major quarry in their backyards.
Concerns about the mine from neighbors — who formed the group, HOME: Homeowners Opposed to Mine Expansion — vary from environmental destruction to plummeting property values. One of their shared concerns: asbestos.
Sumas Mountain, which borders the proposed quarry site, contains naturally occurring asbestos, exposed to the community through the slow-moving Swift Creek landslide on the west face of the mountain.
“We’re definitely concerned about the asbestos in Sumas Mountain,” said Andrew Clarke, one of the leaders of HOME. “We would 100 percent have to move. We couldn’t stay.”
Asbestos is a known carcinogen that increases the risk of lung disease, asbestosis and mesothelioma, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. In recent years, Whatcom County and the Washington State Department of Ecology have paid close attention to the asbestos deposits in the mountain. The two agencies have spent a significant amount of money to prevent additional spread or harm to neighbors in the area.
Cris Matthews, who works in the toxics cleanup program for Ecology, said asbestos likely isn’t in the area of the proposed mine site, but he couldn’t say for sure. The mountain is geologically complex, Matthews said, with serpentinite — the rock that contains asbestos — along the west side of the mountain, and the proposed quarry on the north.
“We don’t know what the bedrock itself looks like in that area,” Matthews said. “It’s not a given that they would encounter any of the asbestos-containing material, the serpentinite. It may not be there at all on that part of the mountain.”
“Whether or not there’s asbestos in the material they’re mining … that’s another question,” Matthews added. “I don’t believe so, but we don’t know that for sure.”
At this point, there’s little evidence of health impacts on neighbors living near the mountain, according to a 2021 asbestos cluster investigation from the Washington State Department of Health.
According to the report, “analysis of the risk from naturally occurring asbestos within the Swift Creek area indicates no increase in the risk of lung or bronchial cancer, mesothelioma or asbestosis hospitalizations.”
Even so, HOME members — many of whom already have ongoing health issues — are concerned.
“I have double lung cancer,” said Robin Cline, a Nooksack Indian Tribe member whose property abuts the proposed site. “I do not want to be breathing asbestos, or even dust, all day. I don’t want to have to stay in my house all day every day.”
Whatcom County staff say they’re still too early in the review process to know how the proposal would impact neighbors.
“We have a proposal, and now it’s time to start evaluating that proposal,” said Steve Roberge, the assistant director of Whatcom County Planning and Development Services. “Through that process, evaluation occurs for a host of things — everything from the environmental review to the specific mining regulations that would affect it. All of those things will need to be evaluated through the course of the application.”
Roberge said the new notice of application, necessary after the first notice was issued with errors, will likely be released April 4. Though the official two-week public comment period launches with the new notice, Roberge said the county can accept comments from residents up until the official hearing for the project, which could be months, if not years from now.
In 2022, Ecology and the county had secured more than $8 million in funding for projects related to Swift Creek, which transports asbestos around the region. Last summer, the county finished installation of sediment traps and a debris deflection berm to help prevent the spread of asbestos.
The two agencies have additional plans to request another $34.8 million over the next three state budget cycles.
