Superfund study has cost public the most

Willamette - Portland and the Port pick up about half of the $42 million tab, a surprise to watchdogs

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

BRENT HUNSBERGER and RYAN FRANK

City and Port of Portland officials say they have footed about half of the $42 million bill to study pollution in the Portland Harbor Superfund site -- the first disclosure of the public's stake in the project.

Until now, a group of 14 mostly private landowners along the Willamette River has publicized the amount it has spent studying pollution in the federal Superfund site. But the so-called Lower Willamette Group, which includes the city and Port, has kept its members' individual contributions secret.

Now, city officials say the city has agreed to cover 25 percent, or $10 million so far, of the group's costs of investigating pollution along a nine-mile stretch of the harbor.

On Monday, Port of Portland spokeswoman Martha Richmond said the Port has spent "about as much as the city." But she declined to reveal the exact amount, citing confidentiality agreements the Port has with other group members.

The amount of the public's financial contributions took community members watchdogging the cleanup process by surprise.

"I'm just astonished," said Jane Harris, executive director of the Oregon Center for Environmental Health. She noted that federal environmental regulators had identified at least 80 parties as potentially responsible for the pollution. "Why on earth is the public paying half the cost?"

City officials defended the decision, which they said was made six years ago to start the cleanup as quickly as possible.

"We're very much interested in seeing this thing move along," said Dean Marriott, director of the city's Bureau of Environmental Services. City sewer and storm-water ratepayers have paid the city's contribution. The Port gets 3 percent of its operating revenue from local property taxes.

The disclosures come as city commissioners planned to meet today for their first significant briefing on the Superfund investigation since the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency listed the site in December 2000. This week, more than six years later, the process will reach two critical junctures.

On Wednesday, Lower Willamette plans to give the EPA an exhaustive, seven-volume investigative report into the kind, location and extent of the harbor's pollution. The report has eaten up a big portion of the $42 million so far.

Also this week, a group of more than 20 other companies known as the Blue Water Group plans to sign an agreement to contribute to Lower Willamette's costs. The city, Port and other Lower Willamette members had pressured the EPA for months to force other potentially liable parties to contribute.

"As far as I'm concerned, it's a deal in everything except signature," said Christopher Rycewicz, attorney for Shaver Transportation Co., a Blue Water member. The group also includes Schnitzer Steel Industries Inc. and Northwest Pipe Co., based in Portland, and Exxon Mobil Corp., the oil giant.

Neither Rycewicz nor Lower Willamette spokeswoman Barbara Smith would say how much Blue Water has agreed to pay. But Smith said the amount is "not anywhere near" the $42 million spent by her client.

Lower Willamette formed in 2001 after the EPA notified 69 companies and agencies that they might be liable for cleanup of decades of the Willamette's industrial pollution.

From its original membership of 10, the group has expanded to 14, including the two public agencies. Private members include Northwest Natural Gas Co., the Gunderson unit of Greenbrier Cos. and Oregon Steel Mills Inc., all based in Portland. The EPA last year identified 11 additional potentially liable parties.

The city's liability stems from decades of storm-water and sewage overflows that probably dumped metals and other contaminants into the river bottom. The Port's responsibility stems largely from the offloading of ships at its docks.

Rick Applegate, the city's Superfund project manager, emphasized that the city has not agreed to pay 25 percent of overall cleanup costs, which will run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Several years from now, the EPA is expected to select a cleanup plan. About the same time, the city, the Port and other responsible parties will divide costs of the cleanup based on how much arbitrators or a court deems they polluted. At that point, the city's contribution could change, attorneys say.

"If the city's overpaid, it will get a refund," Rycewicz said. "If it's underpaid, it'll pay more."

The Oregonian and Harris' group have sought copies of the Port's confidentiality agreements with Lower Willamette through requests under the Oregon Public Records Act. Last year, Multnomah County District Attorney Michael Schrunk's office ordered the Port to release them.

But the Port sued Harris and her group in Multnomah County Circuit Court to block disclosure. A court hearing is scheduled in July, Harris said.

"The public has an absolute right to know what they're spending on the cleanup," she said.

With its recent disclosures, the city is diverging from the Port on the secrecy of the public financial figures.

"We've often explained to the other members that we're different, and so we're going to take the liberty of talking about a few things that they all might not talk about," Marriott said. "We obviously need to respect the confidentiality of the agreement we signed. But when it comes to finances, our budget is an open book."

Brent Hunsberger: 503-221-8359; brenthunsberger@news.oregonian.com