DRAYTON HARBOR BLUES

Drayton Harbor has endured a lot from the Americans who arrived in the 19th century: clearcutting of the old growth forest, followed by toxic pilings to support piers for lumber milling, and a municipal waste dump on the beach, that was later covered with dirt to become Marine Park, and continues to leach toxins into the harbor. Now, the shoreline and streams that flow into Drayton Harbor are being destroyed by unlawful development and non-enforcement of the Shoreline Management Plan by the City of Blaine. 

Listed as an impaired waterway at the EPA due to human fecal bacteria making it unsafe for wading and shellfish consumption, the suspension of the Blaine Municipal Code on March 9, 2026 to accommodate Drayton Harbor waterfront developers--without an environmental impact statement or any public review--is just the latest harm in the two centuries since the Americans founded Blaine on the Indigenous-occupied shores of Drayton Harbor.