Street roots
Aug. 15, 2014
3
•TTT
BY EMILY GREEN
STAFF W RITER
fish.
“We do not have enough data on beaches
within the downtown stretch to know
whether walking barefoot poses a health
. hazard. We do know that within the Portland
Harbor, two beaches were identified as
posing health concerns: former Gasco
Beach (a public health hazard due to
polyaromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs), and
Willamette Cove (an area of public health
concern due to lead and dioxins).
“The downtown stretch of the Willamette
River is a working marine port with
motorized boat traffic. We caution to stay
out of boat traffic areas when swimming.”
ince the completion of the Big Pipe
project in 2011, which stopped
Portland’s sewage from spilling into
the Willamette River during rainstorms,
there’s been a movement led by Human
Access Project to change the public’s
perception about swimming in the river.
Events promoted by the nonprofit, like the
annual Big Float and the opening of Poet’s
Beach in downtown Portland, are intended
to encourage the public to swim and play in
the often-snubbed waterway.
■ But is it really safe? Although E. coli
counts are down, some areas are still highly
contaminated. More than 100 years of
industrial activity along the river has taken
its toll — especially along the stretch of rivet
between the Broadway Bridge and the
Columbia Slough where the presence of
PCBs, dioxins, heavy metals, pesticides and
other toxic chemicals are known to lie in the
sediment In 2000 the EPA added the site
to its National Priorities List and is
expected to issue a final decision in 2017
about how it will be cleaned and who will
have to pay for it.
To get to the bottom of whether or not it
truly is safe to swim in the Portland Harbor,
Street Roots asked several local experts the
same question:
Is it safe to swim in the stretch of | |
Willamette River that runs through Portland
and to walk barefoot on the beaches
alongside it?
S
Oregon Department of
Environmental Quality
Portland Harbor Community
Advisory Group
“Generally I feel it is safe to swim in the
Willamette River, and to walk barefoot on
some beaches,” says Jim Robison with the
Portland Harbor Community Advisory
Group, “I would not walk barefoot along the
beach at Willamette Cover, or the Swan
Island Lagoon. I would not w ant to swim in
the Swan Island Lagoon, or n e ar th e sites of
Gasco and Arkema (west side of the river
just down stream and just upstream from
the railroad bridge).
One other area of the river where I would
avoid swimming or walking the beach
barefoot (not that there is a beach) would be
at River Mile 11, essentially the east side of
the river from just north of the Fremont
Bridge to just north of the Broadway bridge.
Oregon Environmental Council
“Yes, it is safe to swim in the Willamette.
The reason it is now safe to swim in is
because the Portland Bureau of
Environmental Services completed the ‘Big
Pipe,”’ says Teresa Huntsinger. “Green
stormwater facilities (the planted swales you
see alongside streets) also play a huge part
in making sure the system doesn’t overflow.
Yay! You can swim in the river without being
exposed to fecal bacteria that can make you
sick.
“Having said that, we still have a lot of
work to do before the Willamette is clean
and safe for the fish and wildlife that live in
it. There are still toxic chemicals in the river
that come from streets and cars^industrial
plants, pesticides from farms and yards, and
pharmaceuticals and other chemicals that
make their way through wastewater
treatment plants. These chemicals are at
very low concentrations, so you would have
to spend a lot of time in the water to be
exposed to enough to cause harm. But the
fish and other aquatic (fritters that spend
their whole lives in the river are exposed to
much more.
“Lastly, be aware that the Portland
Harbor Superfund Site is on the northern,
industrial end of the city. Even though most
of the Contamination is in the fish and
sediment, why press your luck by swimming
right in a Superfund site? Just to be on the
safe side, Td do my swimming and barefoot
beach walking upstream of the Broadway
Bridge; downtown Portland is fine.”
Portland Fire and Rescue
“‘Safe’ is so hard to define when it comes
, .< < •
Safe
.■?
STR EET R O O T S P H O T O
to swim?
With the renewed attention on swimming in the
Willamette River, we asked the experts how safe it
really is to go back into those m urky waters
to river safety,” says Ron Ruse with Portland
Fire and Rescue. “All swimmers need to be
aware of their skills and limitations. And
even though the temperature averages 70
degrees this time of year, it drops to 50
fairly quickly at night Portland Fire and
Rescue recommends that all swimmers
know about the dangers of hypothermia and
how to deal with it. Also, be aware of early
signs of symptoms of heat exhaustion and
dehydration in hot weather. And always
wear a personal flotation device when in or
around the river.
“You can reduce the threat of injury by
wearing proper/protective footwear when on
the beach. And don’t forget to carry a first
aid kit of some kind when on the beach.”
Environmental Protection Agency
“EPA has determihed that the greatest
health risk from exposure to contamination
in Portland Harbor is from eating resident
fish and to infants that are breast-fed by
mothers who eat resident fish on a regular
basis,” says Alanna Conley with the EPA.
“There are many chemical contaminants
“ifi the sediments, fish and shellfish at
Portland Harbor, including PCBs and
pesticides. Some of these chemicals don’t
break down and persist in the river
sediments (mud). People may be exposed to
these contaminants found in and along the
river shoreline in various ways such as:
recreational activities or working on the
docks or shore, eating resident fish caught
from the river (fish that spend their
lifecycles in the harbor: i.e., catfish, bass
and carp), or indirectly exposed through
consuming breast milk from mothers who
may have been exposed to contaminants
from Portland Harbor.”
<
“From a water quality perspective it is
safe to swim and recreate in the Willamette
River in Portland most times of the year,”
says DEQ’s Tom Gainer. “DEQ, the city of
Portland and others monitor the Willamette
River year-round for E. coli bacteria, an
indicator qf fecal contamination. Exposure
to bacteria is the greatest health concern
for people swimming or recreating in the
river. Monitoring data from the past decade
and from the City of Portland shows that
bacteria rarely reach unhealthy levels in
Portland. While water quality is safe for
swimming, people should be aware of
potential physical hazards on beaches and in
shallow water, such as debris from historical
activities, and understand the inherent risks
with swimming in an urban waterway.
“The EPA’s Portland Harbor Superfund
project generally concluded that beaches in
Portland Harbor are safe for recreational
use, although DEQ and the Oregon Health
Authority have noted that several specific
areas should be avoided for frequent, long
term exposure due to localized
contam ination, such a s th e W illam ette Cove,
G asco , a n d R iv er M ile 13.1 b e a c h e s . R iv er
Mile 434*is located downtown (outside th e
Portland H arbor Superfund study area,
conducted as a DEQ-lead investigation and
clean up) just upstream of the east side of
the Hawthorne Bridge (by the floating
dock).” 4
City of Portland Bureau of
Environmental Services
Willamette Riverkeepers
“Yes, it is safe to swim in this stretch of
“In general it is safe to swim and recreate the Willamette River,” says the bureau’s
in and on the Willamette River, with the
Kim Cox. “In December 2011,
rare exception these days of a combined
Environmental Services completed a 20-year
sewer overflow in the Portland area,” says
program to control combined sewer
Travis Williams with Willamette
overflows (CSOs) and today the Willamette
Riverkeepers. “The bigger issue is with the
River is cleaner than ever. From May to
potentially chronic
October, city staff
health impacts from,
cbllect weekly
consumption of some
samples at five river
"There are still toxic
species of fish from
recreational areas to
the river. There are
track E. coli bacteria
chemicals In the river that
levels of both mercury come from streets and cars,
and temperature at
public access points.
and PCBs in some fish
industrial plants, pesticides
tissues that can
Water quality
from farms and yards, and
monitoring for
impact people.”
bacteria conducted by
pharmaceuticals and other
the City of Portland
chemicals that mahe their
Oregon Public
and Oregon
Health Division
way through wastewater
Department of
“The Willamette
Environmental
treatment plants. These
River is not a
Quality show that
chemicals are at w r y low.
regulated swimming
bacteria levels are'not
concentrations, so yon would a threat to human
site, so there may be
haw . to spend a lot of time in health. Even though
bacteria and disease-
causing germs that
Willamette River
the water to he exposed
can occur in any
bacteria levels are
enough to canse harm ."
outdoor water body,”
low during dry
says Jonathan Modie.
weather, it’s never
(See the City of
safe to use water
Portland’s website for
directly from urban rivers and streams as a
results of monitoring the river for E. coli.)
source of drinking water, because that water
“From the analysis that OHA has
has not been treated to meet protective
conducted within the Portland Harbor,
drinking water standards.
chemical exposure in the river water is not
“In general, walking barefoot may not be
the best idea because of potential physical
a health concern. The contaminants
hazards froin stepping on debris. To date,
associated with the Superfund site
the Oregon Health Authority, with two
concentrate in the sediment at the bottom
exceptions, has indicated that using the
of the river and bioaccumulate in fish, not H
beaches in the Portland Harbor Superfund
the water itself. Contaminant levels in fish
Site does not pose a threat The two
tissue can be 3.5 million times higher than
exceptions are the Gasco site and the east
what is in thè water. This is why there is a
parcel of Willamette Cove.”
fish advisory in place for resident harbor