The slow-moving cleanup of the Willamette River superfund site took a step forward Wednesday as the Portland City Council approved spending $2 million to develop its cleanup plan for Willamette Cove and another $2 million on a public database to track information about the entire superfund site.
The ordinance passed on a 4-0 vote. Commissioner Chloe Eudaly was not present.
The Willamette Cove property sits on the east side of the river between the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad bridge and the St. Johns bridge. Metro purchased the property in 1996 to redevelop into a natural area and extend an existing greenway. But those plans were stymied when pollution was discovered from its previous use as a lumber mill and dry dock for ship construction and deconstruction.
The 27-acre property and 45 acres of water around it are designated as a priority site because they pose a public health risk. Metro has attempted to restrict access but people still frequent the area.
The City of Portland is one of four parties who have taken responsibility for cleaning up the water at the site. The others include the state, the U.S. Department of Defense and the Port of Portland. Planning for the cleanup is expected to take three to four years and cost $8.1 million, which the parties will split evenly.
City officials said they’re hoping their proactive step to develop a cleanup plan in consultation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will motivate other responsible parties to do the same. There are as many as 150 “potentially responsible parties” along the 10-mile stretch of the river the EPA designated as a federal superfund site in 2000. Many have been dragging their feet on submitting cleanup plans to the EPA or reaching agreements to divvy up the costs of the cleanup for which they’re responsible.
“This is a milestone year for us,” said Commissioner Nick Fish, noting the agreement that the city reached with the state earlier this year to establish a $24 million trust to fund the cleanup. “We can’t control what certain rogue (potentially responsible parties) are going to do. We don’t have as much influence as we did at EPA.” But this, he said, “is a real milestone.”
EPA officials have warned the responsible parties that it wants to see cleanup blueprints by the end of the year for the superfund site. Otherwise they could end up in court. The EPA estimates the cleanup could take 30 years and cost $1 billion.
“This is a great demonstration of public agencies coming together to get work done,” said Annie Von Burg, the senior program manager for the superfund site at the Bureau of Environmental Services. “We’re hoping this creates momentum for other responsible parties to step up and do their part as well.”
Wednesday’s vote also included an additional $2 million to fund an information management system that will serve as a publicly accessible repository of information for the entire superfund site. There are up to 18 distinct project areas in the site, and officials expect an enormous amount of information will be collected and analyzed over a period of decades. Von Berg said there is currently no plan on how to gather it, store it, and make it easily accessible for those involved in or interested in tracking the progress, which is critical for the long-term success of the project.
Finally, the council voted to make $300,000 available to fund public involvement efforts with affected communities over the next four years. The money will be spent on grants to encourage public participation in the design of the cleanup.
A number of community and advocacy groups were on hand for the vote and praised the city’s action.
“We think the city is right to take this leadership and break the logjam to get this process moving forward,” ssid Bob Sallinger, conservation director with the Audubon Society of Portland. “We remain concerned with how many (potentially responsible parties) are not in negotiation with EPA.”