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Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay
December 3 - 9, 2015
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IN THIS
ISSUE
The Bridge holds open house, page 3
Holiday activities in Blaine and beyond, pages 7-9
Health and wellness special section, page 10
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
BNSF strikes Holiday spirit blooms in Blaine deal to reduce fines on leaky oil tankers By Steve Guntli
s City employees set up the Blaine Christmas tree in H Street Plaza on December 1. The tree will be lit during the Holiday Harbor Lights festival Saturday, December 5.
Photo by Steve Guntli
Firefighters to hold Santa Run this weekend By Steve Guntli North Whatcom Fire and Rescue (NWFR) and Whatcom County Fire District 4 are holding their annual Santa Run this weekend to help provide happy holidays for needy local families. On Saturday, December 5, NWFR firefighters will join forces with Santa Claus at Woods Coffee in Birch Bay Square from 9:30 to 11 a.m. to gather donations. From 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.,
the firefighters will relocate to Blaine Station 61 at 9408 Odell Road. The firefighters will be gathering donated toys, clothes, books, food and cash to distribute to needy families. NWFR has been participating in the Santa Run since 2011. District 4 runs the charity throughout the county, and NWFR is in charge of the northern route. The Santa Run is part of Project Santa, a charity program sponsored by the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office since 1979.
Rescued kittens looking for new home By Steve Guntli Two kittens that were abandoned near the Peace Arch border crossing on an icy night will soon be looking for a new home. The two-month-old kittens, named Tesla and Mercedes, have been recuperating at the Whatcom Humane Society in Bellingham since they were saved two weeks ago. Humane Society executive
director Laura Clark said the kittens are healing well and should be available for adoption soon. “They are just constantly purring,” Clark said. “They’re very happy kittens. And we’ve already had a lot of people call who are interested in adopting them.” According to Blaine Police, at approximately 5:30 p.m. on November 19, U.S. Border Patrol agents spotted a car with
two occupants driving to a secluded area near the border and dumping something out of their vehicle. When the agents and Blaine Police officers went to investigate, they found three kittens near the roadside. The temperature that night was below freezing, so the officers attempted to recover the cats as quickly as possible. One kitten was captured quick(See Kittens, page 2)
Last year, more than 300 families benefited from the charity. Kids and families are invited to bring their donations to Woods Coffee, where they’ll have a chance to meet Santa and have their picture taken. At Station 61, kids can get personal tours of the station and check out real fire engines and aid vehicles. All donations must be new. Food items must be nonperishable and unexpired. For more information, visit nwfrs.net.
INSIDE
Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) railroad has negotiated a settlement with the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (WUTC) to reduce fines on unreported hazardous material spills, including one at Cherry Point. According to the WUTC, BNSF will pay $71,000 for failing to report crude oil leaks in a timely fashion. That amount is roughly one-tenth of the original $700,000 WUTC had recommended back in March. Under the proposed deal, $40,000 of the reduced penalty may be suspended if the company commits no new violations of the accident reporting rules within the next year. The WUTC imposed the fines following an investigation spanning from November 1, 2014 to February 24, 2015. State safety regulations require companies to report hazardous material leaks to the state’s emergency operations center within 30 minutes of discovering the leak. On March 19, the commission filed a complaint against BNSF, alleging the company committed 700 violations of this requirement across 14 locations, including a leaky oil tanker at BP Cherry Point. Under UTC regulations, each day a leak goes unreported counts as a separate violation, and each violation carries a $1,000 penalty. BNSF responded to the UTC’s original report with information that reduced the number of violations to 239. The new deal was put in place to avoid lengthy legal proceedings and encourage future compliance from BNSF, according to the WUTC’s website. In addition to the leak at Cherry Point, WUTC identified spills in Seattle, Auburn and Vancouver, Washington, as well as a leak of hazardous solid waster in Everett.
Letters . . . . . . . . . 4 Sports . . . . . . . . . . 6 Classifieds . . . . . 11 Police . . . . . . . . . 14 Coming Up . . . . . 14 Tides . . . . . . . . . . 14
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