April 14 - 20, 2016
FREE
Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay HHHECRWSSHHH Postal Customer
IN THIS
ISSUE
Birch Bay aims to set world record, page 3
Council decides on one lane road for Blaine pier
Proposed county districting map, page 8
100-year-old golfer honored in Birch Bay, page 10
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Splashing towards summer
By Oliver Lazenby
(See Pier, page 3)
s Nuggy McKenna enjoys a low tide in Birch Bay.
Blaine fishermen indicted on pollution charges By Steve Guntli The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has indicted two Blaine fishermen for allegedly dumping harmful waste into Blaine Harbor and the Pacific Ocean. According to the charges, Bingham and Randall Fox, a father-and-son team
who work the commercial fishing vessel Native Sun, ordered their crew to dump oil and bilge into Blaine waters and in the open ocean. The DOJ alleges the Foxes dumped material consistently between 2011 and 2013. The men have been indicted on charges of conspiracy and violations of the Clean
North Whatcom beaches closed to shellfishing The beaches from Sandy Point to Point Roberts are closed to shellfishing due to unsafe levels of biotoxins. The closure order came from the Washington Department of Health (DOH) last week. The department detected unsafe levels of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) biotoxins in molluscan shellfish from the region. The beaches are closed to harvests of all species of clams, mussels, scallops and oysters, and even some smaller invertebrates such as moon snails.
Photo by Jack McKenna
PSP can lead to nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain and a numb sensation in arms, legs and toes. Symptoms can appear in as little as 10 minutes, and in extreme cases the poisoning can prove fatal. Crab meat is not affected by PSP, but crab butter, the yellow crab entrails often served as a delicacy, can retain the biotoxin. PSP biotoxins cannot be destroyed by cooking or freezing. The increase in biotoxins is a common
occurrence. Each year, the increasing temperature in the waters off the coast leads to an increase in algal blooms, which produce PSP biotoxins. The DOH will be monitoring for biotoxins on a weekly basis to determine when it is safe to harvest shellfish. Additionally, The Northern Light will publish regular updates about the biotoxin levels. Check the DOH website at doh.wa.gov/ ehp/sf/biotoxin.htm, or call 1-800-5625632 before harvesting.
Water Act and the Act to Prevent Pollution From Ships. Prosecutors say Bingham Fox ordered his crew to dump materials during dockside maintenance in Blaine Harbor, while Randall, who was a crew member under (See Fox, page 2)
Sports . . . . . . . . . . 6 Classifieds . . . . . 11 Police . . . . . . . . . 15 Coming Up . . . . . 15 Tides . . . . . . . . . . 15
INSIDE
Blaine City Council made a middleof-the-road decision on the future of the road leading to Blaine Pier at its April 11 meeting. In a unanimous vote, council directed city staff to pursue design and construction of a single-lane road that would restore vehicle access to the pier. That was one of four options and a compromise choice between a two-lane road and path that would have only allowed pedestrians and bicycles out to the pier. “For me it’s not too hard a decision. We’ve always been able to go to the end of the dock,” council member Charlie Hawkins said. “If you make it available for handicap access or drop-off, it will get used. The way it is now it won’t even come close to being used as much.” The city closed the road in April 2014 due to structural damage, but the bulkhead was crumbling in the mid 1990s, said Sylvia Goodwin, Port of Bellingham planning and development director. A contractor estimated that the singlelane road would cost either $2.7 million or $3.1 million, depending on whether rip rap or a bulkhead is used under the road, a point that will be decided later in the design process. That’s a lot of money, but the Blaine Park and Cemetery Board in its recommendation to council pointed out that the road repair would be expensive regardless of which option council picked. The cheapest option, a bike and pedestrian path on top of rip rap, would cost $2.5 million. The most expensive alternate called for a full two-lane road and would cost an estimated $3.6 million. The project will repair 1,200 feet of road between the playground and the pier, but the alternatives presented to council are identical except for the approximately 400 feet to the end of the pier. The Port of Bellingham and the city of Blaine are working together to get state
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