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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 2006)
4 NOVEMBER 1,2006 Smoke Signals EPA Takes Oveir AirCteinnia SanpeiriFaamidl Sifte Tribe is supportive; its oversight role remains the same. By Ron Karten "Within the Portland Harbor," said Tribal Biologist Jeff Baker, "there's about a six mile stretch of the river that is a Superfund site. It is not real firm on boundaries. Within that area, there are three sites, called Early Actions where (the Environ mental Protection Agency) knows the contamination's so bad that they'll get right in (to clean things up) rather than do more analysis. These sites also are referred to as Hot Spots. The Arkema (Inc.) site is one of those hot spots. "The Arkema site next to the Wil lamette River at river mile 7.5," ac cording to a June, 2005 newsletter about the Arkema cleanup from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), " is just upstream of the Rail road Bridge. Arkema was formerly known as Atofina Chemicals, Elf Ato chem and Pennwalt. Manufacturing no longer takes place at the facility, and many of t he buildings have been demolished. From 191 1 to 2001, vari ous chemicals were produced at the site, including chlorates, chlorine, sodium hydroxide, DDT, ammonium perchlorate and hydrochloric acid. In the late 1940s, waste from the manu facture of DDT was discharged to a floor drain that is believed to have discharged to the Willamette River. From 1948 until 1954, DDT waste was discharged to an unlined, on-site sett ling pond. Hexavalent chromium and other hazardous substances were released at the site. DDT disposal ponds partly remain in the upland areas. Interim removal actions are under way in the upland areas, guided by a Department of Environ mental Quality (DEQ) source control agreement." The cleanup at the McCormick Baxter Superfund site (Smoke Sig nals, 3106) that the Tribe also has been monitoring, is across the Wil lamette River from Arkema. Since 2000, when the EPA declared the entire Portland Harbor as a Su perfund site, the federal agency has provided oversight for the cleanup. Superfund law provides for that, and for Tribes to partner with EPA and other federal and state agen cies in the process. In the case of the Portland Harbor Superfund, which is in the ceded lands of the Grand Rondes, the Grand Rondes are joined by five other Trib al governments in the oversight pro cess: Siletz, Uma tilla, Nez Perce, Warm Springs and Yakama. "We're trying to make sure that Tribal resources are protected," said Baker. To help with evalu ating this techni cal process, the Tribe has hired Seattle-based En vironmental In ternational. Tribal repre sentatives review documents that Arkema and oth ers draw up defin- ing the problem and the area affected along with proposed solutions. "We're making sure these documents are scientifically and technically sound and at the same time, we're making recommendations to EPA on how they should respond to what Arkema says they want to do," said Baker. But in the six years since EPA declared the Harbor a Superfund site, Arkema has not made progress in solving the problem. Just before taking over the project, the agency's Region 10 Superfund Remedial Pro gram Manager Sean Sheldrake said in a letter to Legacy Site Services, .'V Looking north along the Portland Harbor from the St. John Bridge. The nettling thing about the pollution in the water is that you can't always tell its there just by looking. a related company that is planning the Arkema portion of the cleanup, that the action was required "princi pally by the clear absence of progress on the work plan. ..and Arkema's resistance to proactively present ac ceptable means and methods for this significant project." "Specifically," the letter said, "there remain many unresolved issues, including but not limited to: the presentation of the conceptual site model; and the lack of a clear and substantiated rationale for develop ing a removal action area that ad dresses principal threat material and I . . ISA iM ' Hf 4 "WWW i r K r, - i 'in' .Til - "Wf 'iiin ii, in, .rr.iMr H'ii. J' t-- " t . ! ii mi' Looking south along the Portland Harbor from the St. John Bridge. The Arkema site is just beyond the train trestle at the top of the picture, and on the right side of the river. The Baxter-McCormick site, reported on in an earlier Smoke Signals article, is just across the river from Arkema. A 6-mile stretch of the harbor is contaminated. priority risks for the site. "We're supportive of the feds taking over," said Baker. "Arkema's been the term that's usually used is "non-responsive" to the group by not addressing substantial concerns and comments. Hopefully, now we'll make some progress on the cleanup." "I think its all about money," said Baker. "The longer they can put off spending money on the cleanup the longer they can keep the money in their investments. They're trying to limit their liability. They've got shareholders to answer to." Under the Superfund law, com panies determined to have polluted the harbor area are responsible to pay for the involvement of all the parties working to see it cleaned up. "We have had to negotiate to get my wages paid, as well as pay for legal staff and our consultants," said Baker. "With some of them, it's been pretty difficult." Although it's often hard to see the contamination in the river, it remains a danger to human, animal and plant life in the area. And because it is so hard to see, people come and go from the Superfund site without realizing what they're getting into. In fact, the EPA has photos of boaters in the area, and neighbors say that from time to time, they see people sun bathing and swimming there. In a report to Tribal Council last year, Tribal participants in this cleanup reported that "Toxic sub stances have concentrated in fish that are eaten by Tribal members." "I go to one meeting and a couple of conference calls a months, but our consultants are involved almost daily with EPA and responsible par ties," said Baker. Among challenges, Baker said, the EPA has said that they're not able to address some of our concerns about the risk to human health from lam prey through the Superfund process, a position we'd like to see change. To date, the EPA has refused to request that the responsible parties fund analysis of lamprey collected by Grand Ronde biologists for con taminants. "As a result, we're now pursuing these concerns with new grant funds of our own." What to eat tonight? Sometimes it's not fish Recommendations from the Ore gon Department of Human Services about eating fish from the Portland Harbor Women of childbearing age, par ticularly pregnant or breastfeed ing women, children and people with weak immune systems, thyroid or liver problems, should avoid eating resident fish from Portland Harbor, especially carp, bass and catfish. Healthy women beyond child bearing age and healthy adult males should restrict the amount of resident fish eaten from Port land Harbor to no more than one 8-ounce meal per month. Crayfish taken within 1,000 feet of the property lines of the former McCormick & Baxter site located south of the Burlington Northern Railroad Bridge in Portland Har bor should not be eaten.
