BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – The finals steps of a major cleanup on the Bellingham waterfront are expected to begin later this fall.

The Port of Bellingham Board of Commissioners voted unanimously on Tuesday, Sept. 1, to move forward with the port’s cleanup of the former Georgia-Pacific West Pulp and Tissue Mill.

The 74-acre property was divided into two cleanup sites and work at the first area – located at what is now the Portal Container Village – finished in 2016.

Cleanup of the Chlor-Alkali area – which is located closer to Bellingham Bay – is expected to begin this November and last three to five years.

The most difficult part of the project will be cleaning up the old chlorine plant, which contains over 17,000 cubic yards of mercury-contaminated soil. The plan calls for a method of solidifying most of the soil into a cement block.

Areas that contain the contaminated soil will also be hard-capped to prevent it from contaminating the surface water.

The Washington State Department of Ecology is overseeing the cleanup as part of a legal agreement settling the port’s liability after the port acquired the property from the Georgia-Pacific Corporation in 2005 and assumed the responsibility of cleaning it up.

After it’s finished, the port plans to redevelop the property for commercial, industrial, retail and residential use.