Industrial Safety
Action Step #1
Why odor reports matter in the Marine Drive corridor
Smell something? Say something!🗣️
If you notice strong odors near Marine Drive, Little Squalicum Park, or the Bay to Baker Trail, report them. Public complaints are one of the few ways residents can help create an official record of what is happening in real time. Northwest Clean Air Agency (NWCAA) says complaints are an important way it tracks air-quality problems. Report to Northwest Clean Air Agency HERE!
This matters because the Marine Drive corridor is not an isolated industrial strip. It is an area where heavy industrial land, homes, schools, parks, and trail use overlap. It also includes an active federal Superfund site the EPA describes as a 27-acre property in a mixed residential and industrial area where contaminants remain on site and long-term monitoring and maintenance continue. EPA’s current site profile says the cleanup remains protective, but also confirms that the site is still active in the Superfund program and remains subject to ongoing review.
The neighborhoods around this corridor have changed over time. As Bellingham has grown, more and more people live, walk, study, and recreate near this area than ever before.
This is also why the state health-burden map matters. The Washington Department of Health’s Environmental Health Disparities Map is designed to show where environmental pressures and social vulnerability stack up over time. It is a cumulative-burden screen, not a finding that any one source caused a neighborhood’s health outcomes. But it is still relevant because it signals that agencies should pay closer attention in places where multiple burdens are already present.
The Map ranks the census tract containing the neighborhoods near the Marine Drive industrial corridor among the highest-burden tiers in Washington. The map combines indicators across four categories: environmental exposures, environmental effects, socioeconomic factors, and population health measures.
That brings the discussion to Whatcom County’s current comprehensive plan update, which would direct the county to study whether Heavy Impact Industrial zoning still fits this corridor — and consider whether lighter industrial zoning may be more appropriate where heavy industrial land sits next to homes, schools, parks, and trails. The county’s current comprehensive plan page says the final plan vote is anticipated this year.
The policy does not immediately rezone any property. It does not order any facility to shut down. What it does is start a formal conversation about whether long-term heavy industrial zoning still fits a corridor that now functions much more like part of a lived-in urban neighborhood. That is why the zoning fight matters beyond any single company.
There is organized opposition to that policy direction from industrial and business interests. Their basic argument is that changing heavy industrial zoning would create uncertainty, complicate future operations, and make existing industrial uses harder to expand or modify.
Odor reports matter because complaint records help agencies see patterns. The comprehensive plan update matters because zoning rules shape what kind of industrial activity this corridor is expected to carry in the future. If residents do not report impacts, there is less official evidence. If the county never studies whether current zoning still fits the area, there is less chance of future industrial activity facing closer public review.
If you notice an odor event, report it promptly. Include when it happened, where you were, what the odor smelled like, whether it was still happening when you filed, and whether other people nearby noticed it too. Also describe how it has impacted you, such as leaving the area or going inside and closing your windows. If the odor is strongest on the trail or in the park, say that clearly. Specific reports are more useful than general concerns.