Archives West Finding Aid

The records of the Lake Whatcom Improvement Committee span the years from 1953 to 1969. The records were compiled by the head of the Lake Whatcom Executive Committee, Dr. B.J. Gilshannon, who was a resident on Lake Whatcom. The committee began when the Whatcom County Health Department and Whatcom County Planning Departments proposed that a sewer district be formed for Lake Whatcom area residents. Residents responded by forming the Lake Whatcom Improvement Committee. Committee Records end when their compiler, Dr. B.J. Gilshannon, sold his home and moved from the Lake Whatcom area.

Correspondence contains incoming and outgoing correspondence from the Lake Whatcom Improvement Committee dating from 1953 through 1969, the bulk of which is dated between 1964 and 1967. Correspondence includes letters that are primarily business-related between the committee and Whatcom County Commissioners; local, state, and federal politicians; the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare; consulting engineers; lawyers; and others.

Statements and Resolutions include statements of position, a statement that was presented to the Washington State Pollution Control Commission, and statements regarding the work of the committee. Resolutions include those produced for submission to the Whatcom County Board of Commissioners and the Bellingham City Council. Also included in this series is a news release from the Department of the Interior regarding a Puget Sound Pulp and Paper Mill Pollution Report released by the Federal Water Pollution Control Administration.

The Projects and Activities documents include a number of grant proposals produced in an attempt to secure funding for water quality testing projects and Lake Whatcom sewer programs. A number of petitions, mostly undated, can be found. Some are in draft form and others include signatures. Meetings and Conference materials contain primarily meeting minutes from both the Lake Whatcom Improvement Committee as well as meetings of other organizations attended by committee members. Finally, contracts include drafts of contract drawn up for water quality and limnological testing project undertaken in cooperation with Western Washington State College or contracting engineers.

Publications and Writings include primarily drafts of reports and papers produced by the committee for presentation to other organizations such as the Washington State Pollution Control Commission. A number of publications from outside sources are also contained in this series. These include the Lake Whatcom Planning and Engineering Study: Preliminary Plan, 1967; “Soil, Water, and Suburbia”, “Wastes in Relation to Agriculture and Forestry”, “An Engineering Report on Lake Whatcom Utility and Pollution Control Investigation”, 1968; and a copy of the Federal Water Pollution Act.

Included in the Whatcom County Regional Planning Council materials are correspondence between the Lake Whatcom Improvement Committee and that organization, as well as minutes from some Regional Planning Council meetings. Of interest in this series are the Whatcom Regional Planning Council Interim Planning Program of 1966-1967, “A Planning Proposal for the Whatcom County Regional Planning Council – Preliminary”, and the Whatcom Regional Planning Council Planning Program for 1967.

There are included in this collection a great number of newspaper clippings dating between 1964 and 1969. These clippings pertain primarily to the Lake Whatcom issue as well as to pollution and water quality issues in general.

Reference Materials contain a variety of articles and pamphlets on issues related to Lake Whatcom Improvement Committee concerns. There is also a small collection of maps of the Lake Whatcom area as well as a copy of an undated Bellingham City Ordinance relating to the issuance of construction permits.

The final item contained in the collection is a scrapbook compiled by the Lake Whatcom Improvement Committee that includes additional newspaper clippings, statements, and copies of correspondence.