JUNE 15, 2000
9
Water supply
continued from f"""f
from the facility and stockpiled in an area deemed
safe by EPA.
Pending the results of EPA's testing of the con
taminated soils, treatment of the soils could be done
off-site. Treatment or disposal of the soils will begin
this summer.
The chemicals found at the site and in the adja
cent South Yamhill River are arsenic, pentachlo
rophenol (PCP), polynucleararomatichydrocarbons
(PAHs) and various metals.
These chemicals are less dense than water and
travel on the surface water.
Creosote was also found in the soil at the site. Creo
sote is heavier than water and concentrates in the
soil and sediment. Creosote can be extremely diffi
cult to clean up. In most cases, the contaminated
soil must be removed and replaced with fresh ground.
Taylor Lumber began operating a sawmill on the
site in 1946. Lumber is peeled, milled, planed and
chipped to produce lumber products.
Waste and debris from the site were historically
deposited in an area southeast of the mill from the
1960s through the 1980s.
Wood treating of poles, pilings, posts, railroad ties
and plywood began at the facility in 1966. Creosote,
PCPs and chemonite (a water-based solution contain
ing arsenic acid, coppersalts, zinc and ammonia) was
used as a wood preservative from 1982 to 1996.
According to the EPA, the facility had numerous
creosote and PCP spills, including a 3,500-gallon spill
in February of 1999 and a 30,000-gallon spill in Sep
tember of 1999. EPA is overseeing the cleanup of
the spill sites.
Surface water from the drainage ditches empty into
the South Yamhill River less than two miles from
the City of Sheridan's drinking water uptake. The
Yamhill River is also a popular swimming and fish
ing area and home to salmon and steelhead popula
tions. According to the EPA, the site is currently being
evaluated for placement on the EPA's national pri
ority list and possible listing as a Superfund site.
Currently, Taylor Lumber and the EPA are in
stalling a concrete cap around the main treatment
plant. The cap is intended to prevent further move
ment of airborne contaminates, such as arsenic, in
airborne dust. The cap is also intended to prevent
additional seepage of water into the ground, where it
could be contaminated by the wood treating chemi
cals in the soil.
The Oregon Department of Environmental Qual
ity (DEQ) and EPA are charged with being Taylor's
watchdog during the cleanup effort. They are re
sponsible for making sure that all environmental
rules are followed.
"There are a lot of issues here legal as well as
environmental," said Bruce Summers, the president
of Taylor Lumber. "The most important thing is
the fact that we don't pollute. It is not our intention.
I live here. My family lives here. We don't want to
do anything that will damage the environment or in
some way endanger anyone."
Summers pointed out that no chemicals from
Taylor's treatment plant have been found down
stream in Sheridan's drinking water supply.
"The city of Sheridan draws water down stream
from our location," said Summers. "They test it and
even during when we had the spill here a year ago,
the water was still being tested, we didn't find any
thing that would cause a problem. We test to very
stringent specifications. To my knowledge, we haven't
had any real issues of any type of endangerment. It
is a very complex issue as far as the testing the
regulations and so forth."
Mark Prevo of the city of Sheridan's water plant
confirmed what Summers said about no pollution
showing up in Sheridan's drinking water.
"That's true," said Prevo of Summers' statement.
"We have done extra testing above and beyond our
required testing to insure that there has not been a .
problem because of Taylor Lumber being upstream
of our river intake. All together, we probably took
over to the lab probably seven to eight different
samples and all of those samples were negative.
There was no sign of anything to give us any alarm."
Prevo said he has worked closely with the Oregon
Health Department, DEQ and EPA on the water qual
ity testing.
"We all have been working together to make sure
that there would not be a problem concerning the
GG
We want to make
sure our Tribal members
are safe and not at risk
from this situation.
And, we want to
know the risks from
recreational exposure."
Kathleen Feehan
Tribal Environmental Specialist
safety of the city's drinking water downstream of
them," said Prevo.
Prevo said the city will soon issue its annual drink
ing water report. He said the report, known as a con
sumer confidence report, is a new requirement of all
drinking water systems. The report will include all
testing information on the drinking water supply.
Summers said the company is taking actions to
mitigate the pollution problems.
"We're in the process of developing our storm wa
ter treatment plant," said Summers. "We've got a
removal action in place right now. That is the game
plan at this point in time.
"That has really been a driver for the company
is how do we go about dealing with issues of the prac
tices that were legitimate 30 years ago now have led
to problems we have to remediate," said Summers.
"So, we are virtually spending every dime we have in
the investigation and working with EPA as far as
ways to insure that we don't pollute. And, it is very
expensive, but we're going forward with it."
Mike Slater, of the Oregon EPA office, confirmed
that Taylor is building a stormwater treatment fa
cility on site and will be using a charcoal filtration
system to treat the surface water runoff.
Slater said Taylor Lumber has a long history of
problems and violations on the site, but he said the
company has been fairly compliant with EPA cleanup
requests in the last year.
"There is a pretty long history of the site," said
Slater. "They have been treating wood poles out there
for a long time. They were regulated under the Re
source Conservation and Recovery Act which is for
hazardous waste management so the Oregon DEQ
and EPA have been working out there since the mid
80s. We still have a lot of stuff left over from the old
days and some problem with spills from the tank
with pentachlorophenol in them. They had some ac
cidents and equipment failures, so the ground is kind
of contaminated with pentachlorophenol and arsenic.
So those are the two things that we are trying to
cleanup out there. The cleanup program was out there
in November, December and through January."
According to Slater, although Taylor Lumber has
been compliant in the past year, they have not al
ways been so cooperative with EPA.
"The company has had a few environmental viola
tions over the years," said Slater. "They have faced
some enforcement actions from the EPA and DEQ. I
wouldn't say that they have a history of being out
standing environmental performers. I would say that
maybe that has improved over the last year or two.
They tell us that all these environmental require
ments are pretty expensive and it is hard to do every
thing that EPA and DEQ would like done."
Slater said the main threat to human health and
fish populations will come during high water and
storm water events. Since these events usually oc
cur in the winter months, this summer's recreation
and the city's drinking water supply should be safe
for now.
"I don't see a lot of human health exposures during
the dry season," said Slater.
Tribal Environmental Specialist Kathleen Feehan
said the Tribe will continue to monitor the cleanup
efforts and express concern over fish consumption
risks and the impacts of the pollution to endangered
species in the river.
"We want to make sure our Tribal members are
safe and not at risk from this situation," said Feehan.
"And, we want to know the risks from recreational
exposure."
Mentors needed
The Indian Child Welfare (ICW) Program is in
terested in developing a mentor program for our
Tribal children. Many of our children are in need
of companionship and positive role modeling. The
purpose of the mentor program is to provide at
risk youth with a relationship that will help to fos
ter healthy lifestyle choices. Mentors may spend
4 to 6 hours per week with a child. Mentors will
be compensated for their time.
The ICW Program would like to develop a list of
people interested in mentoring a Tribal child.
These children need consistency so it is important
that mentors are able to make a 3 to 6 month com
mitment. If you are interested in more informa
tion please contact Danis Bazzy-Bucknell or Dana
Leno at 1-800-242-8196.
Apprenticeship opportunity
in Traditional Arts
The Oregon Historical Society Folklife Program
has applications available for the 2000-2001 Tra
ditional Arts Apprenticeship Program (TAAP).
TAAP is an annual program that encourages the
continuation of traditional artistic skills within
communities by awarding stipends to master tra
ditional artists to teach a specific cultural tradi
tion to one or more apprentices. An average of
ten are funded each year. The postmark deadline
for applications is July 21, 2000.
All traditional artists are eligible for this program.
Traditional arts are forms of artistic expression
learned as part of the cultural life of a community
(such as an ethnic group, Tribe, religious or occu
pational group, or region). Traditional arts reflect
the history, culture and values of a community.
They are often learned informally, passed down
from one person to another.
Masters and apprentices apply together to the
program and can apply for up to $2500. They
decide when and where they will meet to work
during the year and set their own goals for what
they will achieve during the apprenticeship. Ap
prenticeships last eight months (September
through April) and generally involve 80-120 hours
of instruction time.
Apprenticeships must be Oregon residents and
from the same cultural community as the master
artist. For application information, contact Leila
Childs at (503) 306-5292.
Summer Safety Tips
Once again summer is here. The Grand Ronde medical
staff would like to share safety tips from the American Acad
emy of Pediatrics.
POOL SAFETY
Never leave children alone in or near the pool or any body
of water a creek, a lake, or even a bathtub even for a
moment.
Make sure the adults that are watching young children in
the water know CPR and can rescue a child if necessary.
If you have a pool, surround it with a sturdy five foot
fence.
Make sure the gates self-close and self-latch at a height
children can't reach.
Keep rescue equipment near the pool a shepherd's
hook (a long pole with a hook on the end), a life preserver
and a telephone.
Avoid inflatable swimming aids such as "floaties." They
are not suitable for approved life vests and can give children
a false sense of security.
Children are not developmental ready for swim lessens
until after their fourth birthday. Swim programs for children
under 4 should not be seen as a way to decrease drowning.
Whenever infants or toddlers are in or around water, an
adult should be within arms length, providing "touch super
vision." FUN IN THE SUN
Babies under six months of age should be kept out of
direct sunlight. Move your baby to the shade or under a
tree, umbrella or the stroller canopy.
Dress babies in lightweight clothing that covers the arms
and legs and use brimmed hats.
Apply a sun screen at least 30 minutes before going out
side and use sun screen even on cloudy days.
The sun protection factor (SPF) should be at least 15.
Try to keep children out of the sun between 10 a.m. and
4 p.m. that's when the sun's rays are the strongest.