DOWNTOWN BLAINE TOXIC WASTE SITE

Former Blaine City Council member Mike Hill was previously under investigation by the Whatcom County Sheriff's Department for accosting Blaine Water Coalition activist Otto Pointer at the November 12, 2024, city council meeting (Case #24A39027). Pointer had contacted the Department of Ecology regarding a November 28, 2023, Hazardous Materials Analysis Report presented by GeoEngineers to the City of Blaine, showing Hill's Chevron listed as a 'high-risk' Department of Ecology site (Cleanup Site ID # 9280) due to confirmed releases of petroleum products--including Benzene--on and off the property, contaminating the groundwater that migrates from the Chevron station under Starbuck's toward Cain Creek and Drayton Harbor.

The Drayton Harbor estuary is home to juvenile endangered chinook salmon, and I have seen river otters in the saltwater marsh below the Chevron station near the planned Cain Creek salmon restoration project on Peace Portal Drive by the Washington State Department of Transportation. Hill's petroleum products have reportedly already migrated from underground storage tanks to beneath the proposed condominium site across from his gas station. The City of Blaine, which railroaded Central Business District (CBD) up-zoning without an Environmental Impact Statement, has yet to publicly acknowledge this public health impediment to downtown developers such as former council member Hill and current council member Sarbjit Bains--implicated in self-dealing votes on up-zoning that financially benefit them. 

Mike Hill's property behind the Blaine Visitor Center, Bordertown Mexican Grill, and Starbuck's was used by Blaine Community Development Services (CDS) director Alex Wenger in his slideshow presentation of the financial benefit to developers in the Central Business District of reduced parking requirements at the June 10, 2024, vote by city council. For more detail on the history of self-dealing in the CBD by the Downtown Advisory Committee (including Gurdeep Bains)--facilitated by CDS--see the January 15, 2024, Glen Pentland report to the City of Blaine.

Benzene is a natural constituent of petroleum and is one of the elementary petrochemicals. Benzene is a colorless and highly flammable liquid with a sweet smell, and is partially responsible for the aroma of gasoline. Benzene is classified as a carcinogen, as it "promotes the development of cancer."

The Benzene plume moving from former Councilman Mike Hill's Chevron station under Starbuck's on its way to Cain Creek is likely why Hill assaulted Blaine Water Coalition activist Otto Pointer at the November 12, 2024, Blaine City Council meeting where Chris Damitio from the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) made a presentation on the Cain Creek salmon restoration project that Hill bad-mouthed in The Northern Light.

Given this new information covered up by Hill and the City of Blaine, remarks by Hill in The Northern Light disparaging the WSDOT salmon restoration project on Cain Creek make sense. Hill evidently does not want it coming to light that his empire consisting of Chevron, Starbuck's, Bordertown Mexican Grill, and the Blaine Visitor Center is located over a current toxic waste site. 

Blaine City Councilman Mike Hill's many votes on zoning amendments that financially benefit him violate the Blaine City Council Rules of Procedure. Enforcement of these rules governing council propriety is delegated to the mayor. Mayor Steward has not once in her seven years as mayor of Blaine enforced the Appearance of Fairness Doctrine dealing with Conflicts of Interest.

At the February 13, 2025 Blaine Chamber of Commerce, Blaine City Manager Mike Harmon and Blaine Community Development Services director Alex Wenger were the guest speakers. Skye and Mike Hill of Hill's Chevron won Persons of the Year "for always going above and beyond for the community and their contributions to downtown Blaine."

On February 23, 2025, Blaine Water Coalition submitted a Formal Complaint Under Rule 31 of 2024 City Council Rules & Conflicts of Interest against Mike Hill, City Council Member, to Blaine City Attorney Peter Ruffato, along with a request for an independent investigation by a third party law firm. The submission notes that despite Conflict of Interest training by the city attorney four years ago, Councilmember Hill’s nondisclosure and failure to recuse himself when voting on matters that directly affect his property value—as evidenced by his vote on November 12, 2024, and subsequent actions—constitute clear violations of the Ethics in Public Service Act (RCW 42.52) and the City Council’s conflict of interest protocols.