Demolition happens for all sorts of reasons. In the case of this Bridge Way Demo project, our purpose was to contribute to a larger coastal wetland habitat restoration project along California Creek in Blaine, WA.  

The dedicated professionals at Whatcom Land Trust acquired a property through a federal grant that could only be restored to a true functioning wetland habitat if a dilapidated, abandoned, and asbestos-ridden home was demolished and invasive Himalayan blackberries were removed to make way for planting native species. Though the actual demolition happened over the course of a day or two, the process to get there was arduous and took nearly two years due to the permitting and safety precautions required.

It was worth the effort though. “Restoring wetlands helps to mitigate climate change in a myriad of ways by absorbing greenhouse gases, protecting water quality, reducing flooding, and even recharging drinking water aquifers. This restoration project will have long term impacts on overall ecosystem resilience in the California Creek watershed,” said WLT Stewardship Director Jennifer Mackey.

It’s not just the watershed that will benefit. Rather than sitting there for another hundred years to decay further, the 300 cubic yards of debris from the demolished home was sorted. Anything that could be salvaged for recycling was sent to local centers like Lautenbach Recycling. In this particular project, roughly 75% of the demolition was able to be recycled. Had it not been for an atypical amount of trash and unrecyclable debris in the mix, that percentage would have been higher and is with most demolition we take on.

We were thrilled to be able to help Whatcom Land Trust restore this space by providing the demolition, brush mowing, trucking, sorting and recycling, and erosion control necessary. Learn more about this project and eco-friendly projects on our blog.