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Your Voice
The intent of the Portland Harbor Community Advisory Group is to act as a conduit for your voice in guiding the process of the Portland Harbor Superfund cleanup.
Your voice in this case refers to all the communities of the Portland Harbor whose neighborhoods are located within or adjacent to the Superfund site as well as those citizens of Portland and the state as a whole who share in the health and wealth of the Willamette River.
The river is a shared resource of all citizens of the State of Oregon and we encourage all to share their ideas about a restored river with us.
Portland Tribune - Sustainable
Comments
Response to CDF
Last week the EPA unveiled their latest proposal for containing waste material at the Portland Harbor Superfund site. The Lower Willamette Group and EPA have concluded that the best (cheapest) method of disposal would be to build an earthen berm across the front of Slip 1 an area large enough to park an aircraft carrier and in staying with the CWA (Clean Water Act) allow said water to evaporate. No explanation of how fish would be removed (of which there are thousand and every species in the harbor). In addition there is no plan to line the site before dumping contamenated fill but rather to allow over time ground water to leach through the berm. At other EPA sites, the closest being the FOSS at Tacoma this method has resulted in heavy contamenation of fish populations and would put Willamette River Sturgeon at risk as well as the health of sports anglers. The length of time after the berm is built and before waste is added remains a mystery because the area is about 50 feet deep in water, subject to ground water flow, tides and it does rain in Oregon. The truth may come out in November when the EPA is scheduled to release the ROD (record of decision). This report should cover all plans for the much delayed clean up but, the T$ site is an early action so it will be a top priority to accomplish. Estimated costs for building the site are 50-63 million dollars and must be monitored for the life of the project (450 years).
To further anger Oregonians a second disposal site may be built at Swan Island lagoon and used to house the industrial waste from this site. The public will likely lose the boat ramp and access to that area. The site would probably be a dump and cap site and left with some water over it but limited or no access to protect the cap. Half a mile of what use to be the main river channel has already been filled in over the years until environmental laws put a halt to such practices. Cost rather than safety again seems to be the chief mitigating factor. No mitigation for loss of water has been discussed.
Those concerned about their sewer costs should know that the super fund site often runs waste waters through the Portland Sewage Plant containing comtamenates that can damage that system and dredging in the clean up site will put more burden on the system.
Those interested in what is going on with the harbor should attend the Portland Harbor Citizens Advisory Group meeting with the LWG and EPA on November 9th, currently scheduled for the Water Pollution Control Laboratory, 6543 N Burlington Ave, Portland, Oregon just south of Cathedral Park and the St. Johns Bridge.
not much has changed
Just found an old post from 2008- well you were a little off on the 2011 completion date, but everything else remains the same.
by Bill Egan Just when you think the proposal for a CDF (Confined Disposal Facility) at T4 is Slip 1 has been put on the shelf, the Port of Portland is trying to resurrect it and begin using if by 2011. Last night at the April CAG meeting representatives for the Port told attendees the CDF was not dead but merely sleeping. The Port has not given up on this 60 million dollar project and hopes to present more to the public this November. In Slip 3, where two years ago the Port put in sheet piling walls (and cut off some excellent Spring crappie fishing) will undergo clamshell dredging this July-August period. The drained water from the Port hopes to get a special permit to run it though our sewage treatment plant on Columbia Blvd. The plant is designed for human waste and rain water and not industrial waste. (another bad idea). Arkema, the former chemical plant site continues to pollute the Willamette with DDT and other toxins while dragging their feet on a clean up. The Gasco site, where NW Natural Gas spent over 30 million dollars to clean up 5% of the pollution is being looked at again for another run at clean up by the EPA. The public will be allowed to comment before Pandora's Box is opened again. The current cap at the site is not holding. Ross Island's 100' plus hole has been suggested as an alternative disposal site for harbor waste. It could be buried deep and covered with clean fill and then a cap, not subject to river current or ship traffic. The CAG continues to ask involved parties to look at alternative clean up methods and new technology for dealing with Harbor waste.