Page 8 * The ST. JOHNS REVIEW * #1-Jan. 15, 2016 * Email: reviewnewspaper@gmail.com * Mail: PO Box 83068, Port. OR 97283 * Web: www.stjohnsreview.com * Phone: 503-283-5086
A River for All
Continued From Page 1
By Barbara Quinn
over time in the Willamette Riv-
er with its regular seasonal scours
and fl ooding. Fault lines on either
shore could also undermine the
river’s stability in the event of a
predicted earthquake. EPA says
monitoring of natural recovery
will determine the treatment’s ef-
fectiveness and other methods will
be chosen if it doesn’t work. Of
course, that simply kicks the can
down the road for 65% of the river
and puts off the majority of clean-
up. Though natural recovery ap-
peases industry reps and their law-
yers who believe “do nothing” is
the ideal treatment, it only makes
sense to use it where there are few
serious contaminants and in limit-
ed areas where sand is unlikely to
get washed away—not 65% of the
11-mile stretch.
The Community Advisory Group
along with their consultant, Envi-
ronmental Stewardship Concepts,
the Yakama Nation, Audubon
and Willamette Riverkeeper are
instead asking for an enhanced
version of option G, they call G+,
with increased dredging and less
natural recovery that would meet
EPA’s own goals for remediation
of the most serious contaminants:
PCBs, PAHs and DDTs.
Another concern is that the pro-
posed toxic waste dump is also
still included in several options in
spite of massive public rejection of
the idea expressed in a 2000-sig-
nature petition and resolution
letters against the proposal from
three neighborhood associations,
Linnton, St. Johns and Cathedral
Park as well as Occupy St. Johns,
that have all been presented to
the EPA. The siting of a contam-
inated dumpsite in the St. Johns
neighborhood at T4 adds risk to
neighborhoods in north and north-
west Portland already affected by
exposure to industrial air pollution
who do not wish to add further to
the issue with concentrated con-
taminants, some of whom may
go airborne, placed in an unstable
earthquake and fl ood hazard area.
Studies on the cumulative effects
of pollution on human and envi-
ronmental health have not been
adequately addressed in the super-
fund process.
Often forgotten in this process,
is that this river belongs to all cit-
izens. It is by law, a part of the
commons. Community members
need to ask, “Are the common
assets being responsibly managed
on behalf of the general public or
a distinct community of interest?”
Referring to the commons, Rob-
ert Kennedy Jr. said, “There is
an ancient law that goes back to
Roman times it’s called the pub-
lic trust doctrine. It says those
things that are not susceptible to
private ownership but by their na-
ture are the property of the whole
community, the running waters,
the air, the wandering animals,
the public lands, the fi sheries,
that everybody has the right to
use them whether you are rich or
poor, humble or noble, black or
white. Every child has the right to
go down to their local waterway
pull out a fi sh and come home
and feed it to their family with
the security they’re not poisoning
somebody.” (Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The Cove: Mercury Rising 2009).
Indeed “Oregon courts and the
legislature have recognized that
water is publicly owned, and the
Oregon Supreme Court has ruled
consistently in favor of public
rights in waterways, based on lan-
guage in the Statehood Act that de-
clared navigable waters to be pub-
lic highways that would remain
‘forever free,’ not monopolized by
private owners” (https://law.lclark.
edu/live/files/11170-421blum-
mpdf, Oregon’s Public Trust Doc-
trine: Public Rights in Waters,
Wildlife, and Beaches, by Michael
C. Blumm & Erika Doot, 2012).
The river belongs to all and we
have a right to ask for it to be re-
stored to health. At the forum you
can hear more about EPA’s range
Bill
Egan
fi shing
on the
Willa-
mette
River
of options for cleanup, get your
questions answered and have a
say. Find out how the cleanup
could impact you! The forum is
free and all are welcome. Babysit-
ting and snacks will be provided.
For more information contact bar-
baraqnn718@gmail.com or go to
PortlandHarborCAG.info.
Forum:
Willamette River Superfund
Community Forum: Jan. 26,
Tuesday, 7-9pm
St. Johns Community Center,
8427 N. Central St.
Free - All are welcome. Babysit-
ting and snacks provided.