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
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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.