Port ECAP Monitors the Waterfronts

Dan Tucker • October 21, 2024

The Port of Bellingham's Environmental Compliance Assessment Program monitors Whatcom Waterfronts

Port of Bellingham staff visit Northwest Marine Industries in Fairhaven on a regular inspection. Photo: Adrienne Douglass-Scott

[Port of Bellingham - Oct 16, 2024] - As a responsible public entity, the Port is an active part of the business community and is committed to its role as a leader of environmental issues. An assertive Environmental Compliance Assessment Program (ECAP) identifies, for the Port’s use, cleanup needs in a timely manner, making it possible for earlier remediation at potentially lower costs. Port tenants come and go from the premises, occasionally leaving cleanup responsibilities to the Port. The financial burden then falls to public funds. A thorough and thoughtful ECAP is therefore in the interest of all Whatcom County citizens.

A proactive approach to environmental compliance also provides management with valuable information for planning and operation purposes. The ECAP serves as a tool to measure, in part, the Port’s overall environmental compliance status. It was implemented in 1993 and has evolved to focus more often on tenants with higher potential environmental risk, based on activity type and location, stormwater permit status, type and amount of waste generation, air pollutant generation, inspection by regulators (e.g. DOE, EPA, NWCA) and previous ECAP visit results.

Risk rankings could change, for example if the Port has a strong relationship with a tenant, and is aware of their controls in place to prevent pollution. High risk tenants (e.g. boatyards) are ideally visited every 2-3 years. Moderate risk tenants are ideally visited every 3-4 years and low risk tenants every 4-5 years. Tenants with office-only operations are generally not included, unless there is some unusual activity that we are alerted to. Port of Bellingham operations are visited for ECAP purposes at least every 4 years.

Storm drains such as this are part of the ECAP inspections for contamination and impacts at each location. Photo: Adrienne Douglass-Scott

The primary objective of the ECAP is to ensure that Port tenants manage leased properties without harming Port assets or the environment, and in compliance with applicable environmental regulations and best practices. Other specific benefits associated with the ECAP are:

Improved overall environmental and stormwater management;
Improved relationships with tenants;
The opportunity to discover potential or actual negative impacts to Port assets or the environment ;
Communication of best management practices (BMPs) to assist in pollution prevention and illicit discharges;
Enhanced support of financial programs and budgets for environmental requirements;
Increased awareness of potential and actual environmental and/or stormwater problems by property representatives, environmental management personnel, and tenants;
Identification of illicit discharges or potential for them;
Appropriate referrals to appropriate technical assistance, and
Updated education and outreach on environmental and stormwater regulations.

It remains the tenants’ responsibility to ensure that they comply with all applicable environmental laws and regulations. The ECAP is a tool for both the Port and the tenants- as the Port is not an enforcement agency, this is intended as a service to the tenants to point them in the direction of appropriate environmental consultants, permitting agencies or other third parties.

The last round of ECAP site visits was performed in October 2024. Thank you to all of the tenants who participated!