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THE PLANET
At low levels of exposure, it can cause memory problems, irritability and sleep disturbances. At high levels, it can cause rashes, chest pains and even brain damage. This is elemental mercury, and it resides in the soil of a defunct paper mill site in Bellingham, Wash. Exposure to mercury, a liquid metal, can cause a variety of health problems. The Georgia-Pacific site, a former paper mill, is located on the waterfront north of Western Washington University. The Port of Bellingham and the Department of Ecology are currently cleaning up this contaminated site, along with the mercury, which is the first step to making the site safe for future waterfront development. Georgia-Pacific began operating the mill in 1965. The site employed roughly 2,000 people during its peak, environmental site project manager Brian Gouran said. The site produced various paper products and Georgia-Pacific operated the pulp portion of their paper mill until 1999, Gouran said.