Background. The Portland Harbor Superfund Site includes an in-river and an upland portion of the lower Willamette River, contaminated from decades of industrial use along the Willamette River.
Why is Portland Harbor a Superfund Site?
The 11 mile stretch of the river is a Superfund site, because it contains PCBs, PAH, DDE, Dioxin, and many other pollutants. The “cleanup” is an exercise to reduce risk to people and the ecosystem from these pollutants in the river sediments.
Why were Superfund sites created?
The federal Superfund program was created in December 1980 in response to serious threats across the country posed by toxic waste sites such as the infamous Love Canal landfill in Niagara Falls, NY.
What is Portland Harbor Superfund?
The Portland Harbor Superfund Site includes a portion of the Lower Willamette River and some surrounding upland areas, extending roughly from the Fremont Bridge to Sauvie Island in Portland, Oregon ( see map: PortlandHarborMap. jpg). This area was contaminated from decades of industrial use along the Willamette River.
What is the largest Superfund site in the US?
Hanford (USDOE) Site
The 586 square mile Hanford Site is home to one of the largest Superfund cleanups in the nation.
How many Superfund sites are in Oregon?
The Environmental Protection Agency has a special designation for the country’s most-polluted places: Superfund Sites. Oregon is home to a number of these sites, which can all be found on the National Priorities List, an archive of the dirtiest places in the U.S., of which there are more than 1,300.
How polluted is the Willamette River?
A century of poison has made the Willamette one of the most polluted rivers in the United States – it contains at least 65 chemicals that risk human and environmental health, according to the EPA, including petroleum, poly-chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), pesticides like DDT, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and heavy
What is the problem with Superfund?
The strongest complaints about Superfund have been that few sites have been cleaned up, too much is spent on lawyers and administrative costs, and cleanups are too costly. These are legitimate complaints, but problems of this sort with government programs are not unusual.
What was the purpose of the Superfund that was created in 1980?
Superfund, U.S. government fund intended to pay for the cleanup of hazardous-waste dump sites and spills. The 1980 act creating it called for financing by a combination of general revenues and taxes on polluting industries.
Which state has the most Superfund sites?
Superfund sites by state
The states with the most Superfund sites were New Jersey (113 sites), California (97 sites) and Pennsylvania (95 sites). The states with the fewest Superfund sites were North Dakota (no sites), Nevada (one site) and South Dakota (two sites).
Where is the Portland Harbor Superfund site?
The Portland Harbor Superfund Site in Portland, Oregon is located in the lower Willamette River, just south of the Columbia Slough (river mile 1.9) and north of the Broadway Bridge (river mile 11.8).
Is the Willamette River clean?
Yes, it’s safe to swim in the Willamette most times of the year. DEQ and the city of Portland regularly monitor bacteria levels in the river. Data collected since 2012 show that bacteria are almost always at healthy levels in Portland.
Does Portland have a port?
The Oregon Legislature created the current Port of Portland in 1970 by merging the original Port of Portland, a public corporation dating from 1891, and the Portland Commission of Public Docks, a city agency dating from 1910.
What is the most toxic place in America?
Kotzebue, Alaska
The title for most toxic location in the United States goes to a remote, and perhaps surprising location. According to the EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), Kotzebue, Alaska, a city of 3,500 residents located 30 miles north of the Arctic Circle takes that dubious honor.
What is the most toxic place on earth?
DZERZHINSK, RUSSIA: This city of 245,000 has been in the top 10 since 2006—and was dubbed the most chemically polluted city in the world by Guinness World Records in 2011—boasting a “white sea” in the middle of town that is the residue of Soviet-era chemical manufacturing…
What is the most contaminated place in the US?
Around 3,500 residents reside in Kotzebue, AK, roughly 30 miles beyond the Arctic Circle. Iñupiat Eskimos make up 70% of the population. According to 2016 research data, the town is the most toxic place in America. Kotzebue produced at least 756 million pounds of toxic chemicals.
What is a cercla site?
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act — otherwise known as CERCLA or Superfund — provides a Federal “Superfund” to clean up uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous-waste sites as well as accidents, spills, and other emergency releases of pollutants and contaminants into the environment
Is it safe to eat fish from the Willamette River?
Do you fish in the Willamette River? Eating fish is good for you! However, some fish and shellfish in the Lower Willamette River through Portland contain contaminants that make them unsafe to eat. Contaminated fish do not look or act sick.
Why is the Willamette River so brown?
“The river often ran carrot-red in some areas and brown with sewage in others, and in general, it was full of fiber from industrial processes such as papermaking and the contributions of many food processors as they turned Willamette Valley fruits and vegetables into products,” Kennemer said.
What does Willamette mean in English?
Willamette, pronounced “will-AM-it,” is believed to derive from the colonized pronunciation of Wallamt, which means “still water,” describing a place on the river near Oregon City. The area was and is largely inhabited by Kalapuyans (members of the Kalapuya Tribe) as well as Molalla, Clackamas and Chinook peoples.
Why is it called a Superfund?
The program is designed to investigate and clean up sites contaminated with hazardous substances. Sites managed under this program are referred to as “Superfund” sites.