Center Hosts Conference Exploring New Methods for Cleaning Toxic River Sediments- June, 2006

In order to give the public full information on clean up options, the Oregon Center for Environmental Health, EPA, and the Portland Harbor Community Action Group hosted a “Healthy Communities, Clean River” conference. The conference was attended by over sixty community members from neighborhoods, business and government. Speakers at this conference discussed new biological and thermal methods for treating contaminated sediments that would leave them safe for other beneficial uses. Download the conference announcement flyer here. View the presentations here.

Enforcing the Law

Kinder Morgan, a principal tenant at the Port of Portland has agreed to spend up to $75,000 to stop soda ash from washing into the Willamette River under a preliminary settlement reached with the Center. The Center sued Kinder Morgan last April after a veteran longshoreman complained he was working in a "fog" of soda ash that covered the grounds and riverbank, and later washed into the Willamette River. Read the Oregonian news article.

GASCO Waste Gets Hazardous Treatment

The Portland Harbor Citizen’s Advisory Group and the Center provided comments to EPA on the agency’s consideration of whether or not to require Northwest Natural to send the contaminated petroleum waste at the site to a hazardous landfill or a less secure solid waste facility. EPA agreed with the community that the waste needed to be disposed of in a way that most protective human health and the environment and ruled that the waste must go to a hazardous waste landfill.

Clean Water, Safe Fish

More than 30,000 people have been reached through our Clean Water Safe Fish project. The Center hired three outreach workers from the Russian-speaking, Asian and African American communities to deliver the message about contaminated fish in the Portland Harbor. Utilizing ethnic electronic and print media and personal presentations to churches, women’s groups, clinics and federal food subsidy programs, the message is getting out. We have also enhanced the program, aimed at women of childbearing age, to include information about dangerous mercury levels in ocean-going fish.