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Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay
September 16 - 22, 2021
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IN THIS
ISSUE
Run with the Chums race, page 10
NWFR levy on November ballot, page 13
Bellingham train shunt conviction, page 13
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Unofficial memorial remembers 20 years since 9/11 Investigators cite vandalism as likely in Custer train derailment By Grace McCarthy
(See Train, page 3)
s An unofficial 9/11 memorial held at Peace Arch State Park honored people who died and put their lives on the line during the September 11, 2001 terror attacks. September 11 first responders, state senator Doug Ericksen (R-Ferndale), U.S. Consul General Brent Hardt and U.S. and Canada emergency workers were in attendance. See more on page 10. Photo by Grace McCarthy
City council approves first East Maple Ridge plat, setting east Blaine development in motion By Ian Haupt A portion of a 353-unit development received final plat approval from Blaine City Council during its September 13 meeting, allowing land developer Skip Jansen to turn 48 single-family lots and 12 multi-family parcels that will contain 48 units over to independent construction companies. In June 2020, city council approved a preliminary plat for East Maple Ridge, a 88-acre development area north of H Street, east of Jerome Street and west of Harvey Road, near Pipeline Field, that would consist of 353 units. According to
the application, final plats of the preliminary plat will be submitted for approval in up to 13 phases. This first approval consisted of phases 1 through 3. “It’s a relief,” Jansen said. “Oh man, what a long haul.” Jansen said the development, which has been in the works for decades, will include a city park, three ponds, bike and pedestrian paths, a sports field and hundreds of mature maple and evergreen trees. The proposed development plan also includes a neighborhood commercial center with 24,000 square feet of commercial space. The expected $6 million east Blaine sewer system update – one of the largest
Third hornet nest eradicated, another found By Grace McCarthy Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) eradicated the third Asian giant hornet nest in the U.S. ever during the early morning of September 11. This comes as entomologists discovered a fourth nest in east Blaine and are planning for another eradication, according to the state agency. The nest eradicated September 11 had four combs, but WSDA has not yet released the number of hornets found in the
nest. For comparison, the nest eradicated August 25 had nine combs and the nest eradicated in October 2020 had six combs. “This is starting from citizen reports,” WSDA public engagement specialist Karla Salp said. “People getting photos and reporting is one of our best ways to get hits. We really appreciate people sending in information.” On the morning of September 8, east Blaine resident Dean Tjoelker captured a hornet attacking a paper wasp nest on his back deck. He knew it was a hornet, be-
cause he had seen one last year and, knowing it was only useful to scientists if kept alive, captured it with a 1-liter soda bottle. By mid-afternoon, WSDA entomologists arrived from Olympia and attached a radio tag to track the hornet, fed it Tjoelker family homemade jelly and started tracking it back to its nest. “They don’t do a lot of good dead,” Dean Tjoelker said. “[Entomologists] have to track them.” (See Nests, page 8)
projects the city is currently tackling – and contractor negotiation issues initially delayed approval. Public works director Bernie Ziemianek said in a project study session that public works is scheduled to start construction on the six-month sewer project in spring 2022. Jensen of East Maple Ridge LLC currently owns half of the preliminary plat while Doug and Louise Connelly own the other half, according to the Whatcom County Assessor’s Office. The East Maple Ridge project began in 1996 after the city annexed the property. (See Approval, page 2)
INSIDE
Investigators are considering vandalism as a likely factor in the Custer train derailment December 22, 2020, according to a Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) report released September 9. The report did not determine a cause for the derailment. The FBI is still investigating. The 108-car train was carrying highly flammable Bakken crude oil from North Dakota to the Phillips 66 oil refinery in Ferndale when 10 rail cars left the track around 11:40 a.m. Fire burned into the night, forcing the evacuation of 120 people and shutting down I-5 for four hours. No injuries were reported. The derailment occurred less than a month after two Bellingham women were arrested for tampering with BNSF tracks in north Bellingham. FRA released its report September 9; the same day one of the Bellingham women was convicted in federal court for one count of violence against a railroad carrier. The FBI announced in November an investigation into over 40 shunt placements, which can derail trains, in Whatcom and Skagit counties since January 2020. In addition to vandalism, FRA cited three possible contributing factors in its September 9 report: BNSF not notifying crews of track vandalism in the area; BNSF didn’t follow federal requirements to secure the train before it was left unattended between crews; and the new crew did not properly check the train. “In both instances, vandals had opportunities to tamper with the couplers and brake pipe angle cocks,” the report reads. “FRA’s investigation determined that two crews failure to comply with train check requirements established the foundation for this derailment.” The report ruled out weather, crew fatigue and drug and alcohol use as factors in the derailment. A crew from Everett left the train at a
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