Brookes Manufacturing to Issue Respirators to Sunnyland, Lettered Street Neighborhoods

Interim measure in effect in Bellingham until July 2008

In an agreement with Northwest Clean Air Alliance and the City’s Health Department, Brookes Manufacturing will begin issuing about 1,500 respirators to residents in the Sunnyland and Lettered Streets Neighborhoods on March 1, 2008.

“It’s a compromise that residents will have to live with,” says Abe Vigodar of the Health Department. The deal came into effect after Northwest Clean Air Alliance received numerous complaints about a sweet chemical odor emitted from Brookes over the course of about two years. The source of the smell is a mixture of diesel and pentachlorophenol, used for pressure-treating wood products, according to NWCAA.

Brookes is modifying its treatment plant to eliminate the odor, a process that will take about three months according to a company press release.

“The respirators need to be worn at all times when residents are outdoors or operating motor vehicles in those neighborhoods,” says Vigodar. Health Department enforcement officers will begin issuing warnings to residents not wearing respirators after a two-week grace period. If officers make contact a second time, they have the option to issue a $210 fine.

“People need to take this seriously,” says Vigodar.

Brookes Manufacturing, located at 2220 Pacific Street, will cover the costs of the units, valued at about $25 each.

“That adds up to a lot of money, but we think it’s worth it,” says Brookes spokesman James Poluta. “They’re even kind of nifty looking.”

Sunnyland resident Dave Corothers doesn’t agree. “So we’re supposed to wear gas masks when we’re pushing our kid's strollers around?”

“We really don’t like to refer to them as gas masks. That turns it into a negative," said Poluta. "We prefer the trade name: Brookes Industrial Trademarked Corrective Health Enhancement Solution. That way when we drive around those neighborhoods and see somebody wearing one, we can say ‘look, there’s another one of our B.I.T.C.H.E’S’."

“Wait. You’re not going to print that, are you?”

Vigodar cautioned against children being outdoors when the odor is present. “The studies aren’t conclusive, but in juvenile laboratory rats, airborne exposure to this chemical mix causes sterility and extreme passivity.”

“For some residents of these neighborhoods, that would be a good thing,” said Poluta. He says he is having difficulty sourcing respirators in children’s sizes. “They just don’t make them that small. It’s probably better just to have the younger kids stay inside during odor events.”

Some residents have observed birds falling from the sky in the lower Sunnyland Neighborhood.

“What’s happening is that they’re flying through a concentrated pocket of the aerosolized chemical. Kind of like swimming through the warm spot in the swimming pool. If you don’t have your mouth open, it’s not a big deal,” says Vigodar. “The up-tick in avian deaths will end as they naturally change their migration patterns. We have great birds here. They’ll adapt.”

Brookes entered into an agreement with Bellingham High School and Options High School to not emit the chemical during school hours. The evening student presentation of “Songs for the Dark of December” was moved up two hours on December 20th to conform with scheduled emissions.

“We had to evacuate about 200 parents and kids out of the area quickly after the show, but that was the only inconvenience,” said Bellingham High School principal David Ferrie. He did note that a family of four was run over by a minivan trying to flee the school after the performance. “That driver hit the panic button. I think what this whole Brookes thing should teach people is try to have a little patience. Besides, it’s not like anyone died.”

Bellingham High soccer coach Jim Garrison says that players will likely wear the respirators during after-school practice. “I look at this as a win-win. My players will be able to run further and faster on less oxygen than opposing teams. I don’t know why we didn’t come up this earlier.”

Whatcom Transit Authority buses will still operate on arterials in the Sunnyland and Lettered Streets Neighborhoods. Four buses have been equipped with ceramic intake filters that screen out pentachlorophenol, according to WTA spokesperson Mary Brame. “Bellingham Police Department has authorized WTA to increase the speed of these buses as they pass through the neighborhoods from 25 mph to 50 mph to minimize exposure. This will necessitate ‘rolling stops’ at most locations, but we think younger riders will find this fun.”

Realtor Jim Swarthhart sees an opportunity with the odor. “People are always talking about the lack of affordable housing in Bellingham. If people can just ignore the odor - which isn’t that bad - I have a number of listings for less than $300,000 near the treatment plant. And we’ll throw in up to four bonus B.I.T.C.H.E’S for any guests you might have over.”