Park Place Facility Design and POST Media Development

Herrera is currently working with the City of Bellingham on this multi-phase research & development (R&D), performance monitoring, and regional stormwater treatment facility design project. The goals of the project are to develop a new stormwater treatment media capable of removing a high level of total phosphorus from stormwater runoff, monitor a pilot scale facility using the new media, and reconstruct a regional stormwater treatment facility using the new media. The initial R&D phase of this project (2018) evaluated various combinations and configurations of media components to create a non-proprietary stormwater treatment media with very high total phosphorus removal capabilities. After R&D, a pilot scale prototype filter (2019-2021) was built and monitored in the field in accordance with Technology Assessment Protocol – Ecology (TAPE), to achieve a General Use Level Designation (GULD) from the Washington State Department of Ecology. Following the pilot testing, Herrera designed and prepared bid-ready construction documents (plans, specifications, and estimate) for a total reconstruction of the Park Place Stormwater Facility to increase its phosphorus removal performance for approximately 180 acres (35%) of the Lake Whatcom watershed within the City limits of Bellingham. The project will be built in the summer and fall 2021 and be commissioned and activated in early 2022. This collaborative project between the City of Bellingham, Herrera, and the Washington State Department of Ecology is funded through a variety of sources including local funds, Grants of Regional and Statewide Significance (GROSS) and Stormwater Financial Assistance Program (SFAP).