PORT TOWNSEND — A proposed ban on plastic bags will be submitted to the Port Townsend City Council for discussion and possible approval in June.
The potential ban — based on one approved by the city of Bainbridge Island in April — was discussed at a meeting of the city’s Special Projects Committee on Wednesday.
The exact date of the City Council’s consideration of the proposed ban has not been determined but likely will be June 4, according to City Clerk Pam Kolacy.
The bags that would be subject to the ban are plastic bags with handles that are given out by retailers at the cash register.
The Bainbridge Island ordinance says no retail establishment will provide a single-use plastic bag to any customer, with violation considered a civil infraction.
Specific fines, along with enforcement procedures, will need to be addressed prior to the passage of any local ordinance, according to Port Townsend City Manager David Timmons said.
If the Bainbridge Island law is used as a model, enforcement would begin six months from the date of council approval.
In Port Townsend, a plastic-bag ban has not been addressed by the council other than to delegate the matter to the Special Projects Committee for discussion.
The idea has been discussed by citizens during the public comment period, including an appearance by a “bag monster” wearing 500 plastic bags meant to represent how many bags are used per person in a calendar year.
On Wednesday, ban advocate Jim Todd submitted a petition signed by 1,083 people — almost all of them living within the Port Townsend city limit — supporting the ban.
Todd said the signatures were gathered from Feb. 14 to May 7.
Aside from Bainbridge Island, four Washington cities have implemented bans; Bellingham, Seattle, Edmonds and Mukilteo.
None of the cities have banned plastic bags outright; rather, there are exceptions in each jurisdiction, which were presented to the committee in chart form by City Attorney John Watts.
All of the bans make exceptions for produce bags and those protecting wet food, takeout, frozen food and prescription drugs.
Exceptions for newspaper bags, garden and garbage bags, and dry cleaning bags also are made by all the jurisdictions.
Charitable stores and food banks also are exempted.
About 20 people attended Wednesday’s meeting, with five people speaking in favor of the ban.
“Plastics, not just bags, have shown a hundredfold increase in the oceans since the 1970s,” said Port Townsend Marine Science Center board President Linda Dacon.
“At best, only 2 percent of plastic bags are recycled, and there is no reason that something we use for just a few minutes [should last] for 1,000 years.”
“There are a lot of health issues associated with plastic bags,” said Artemis Celt of Port Townsend.
“I am thrilled that Port Townsend is considering a ban.
“It’s one little step in the right direction, but it will improve our health and raise public awareness about the hazards.”
While no one spoke out against the ban, Watts received three emails that opposed the action.
Michael Johnson of “Poly” Bag LLC in Tacoma said more than 10,000 working families across America, including about 1,000 in Washington state, depend on plastic bag and film recycling for jobs and benefits, both in private and public sectors.
Thousands more are employed by manufacturers and distributors and other indirect industry offshoots, he said.
“We do not have a litter problem in Washington, and we certainly do not have a plastic bag problem,” Johnson wrote.
“The Pacific Northwest has the highest recycling levels in the country,” he added.
“Regardless of what certain activist groups would have you believe, plastic bags make-up less than 0.5 percent of the municipal waste stream.”
Johnson — along with Philip R. Rozenski, director of marketing and sustainability for the St. Louis-based Hilex Poly Co. LLC — said recycling is effective for plastic bags.
Locally, Gregg Knowles of Port Hadlock wrote in opposition to the ban:
“I own property in Port Townsend. I don’t live there, by choice,” Knowles wrote.
“It’s this kind of constricting ordinance proposal that kept me awake at nights and motivated me to move to the county.
“I agree with the concept and ask for paper when I shop. If this is important, people will do the same. If they don’t think it’s important, they won’t,” he added.
“Government intrusion into personal choice is why prohibition didn’t work and neither did the 55 mph speed limit,” Knowles wrote.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
