For More Information, Call:
Dvija Michael Bertish
Rosemere Neighborhood Association
Lauren Goldberg
Conservation Director,
Columbia Riverkeeper
541-965-0985
lauren@columbiariverkeeper.org
November 24, 2008
Groups praise cleanup action at Alcoa’s Vancouver site, but say more is needed
VANCOUVER, WA — The Rosemere Neighborhood Association (RNA) and Columbia Riverkeeper (CRK) today called on the Washington Department of Ecology to require prompt cleanup of all toxic contamination caused by the Alcoa site in Vancouver. The Alcoa-Evergreen site is located on the banks of the Columbia River, inside Vancouver city limits, at the Port of Vancouver. The site is approximately 5000 feet from the mouth of the flushing channel to Vancouver Lake. As a former aluminum smelter site, the Alcoa property contributed significant quantities of toxic PCB contamination to the Columbia River. Toxic pollution from Alcoa continues to this day including TCE, PAHs and PCBs that are actively leaching into the Columbia just east of public recreation areas where local residents have direct contact with the river and also harvest shellfish. PCB contaminants from the Alcoa site may have migrated downstream beyond the Alcoa property. The same PCB markers identified within the river at Alcoa’s site have also been found downstream in clams and sediments within the flushing channel to Vancouver Lake.
Earlier this month, Ecology entered into a Consent Decree with Alcoa, which includes removing contaminated PCB sediment from the Columbia. However, Ecology failed to include key portions of the Alcoa site and potential offsite locations in the Consent Decree despite the tireless efforts of local citizen groups concerned about Alcoa’s legacy of toxic pollution. The Consent Decree does not address contaminated groundwater leaching into the River from the East Landfill, and Ecology has not committed to a timeline that will remediate the East Landfill.
The Rosemere Neighborhood Association and Columbia Riverkeeper submitted extensive comments to Ecology on the proposed Consent Decree and Cleanup Action Plan. The groups commended Ecology for its efforts to expeditiously cleanup PCB contamination in the Columbia River. Yet Ecology’s proposal fell short. “RNA and CRK are concerned that Ecology is not requiring Alcoa to take additional measures to prevent the release of toxics during cleanup,” said Columbia Riverkeeper Conservation Director Lauren Goldberg. The groups urged Ecology to amend the Consent Decree and Cleanup Action plan to include the entire Alcoa Vancouver Site and the threats the site–as a whole–poses to people who rely on the Columbia River for fishing and use the river for recreation.
“It is hard to believe that the state has been overseeing cleanup efforts at this site for 20 years, yet we still have an unlined landfill leaking toxic pollution into the river,” said Dvija Bertish of the Rosemere Neighborhood Association. “Ecology has not committed Alcoa to a timeline for cleanup on toxics leaching from the East Landfill. The sluggish response by Ecology makes it appear as if the state has deemed this leaking landfill an acceptable risk. The state has also failed to study the potential for migration of contamination off the Alcoa property where additional hotspots are known to exist,” said Bertish, “but Ecology has requested assistance from EPA to analyze the offsite migration issue.”
“The Rosemere Neighborhood Association and Columbia Riverkeeper are asking that Ecology stop the delays of toxic cleanup at Alcoa. Ecology works for the citizens of Washington. We need Ecology to step up to the plate and commit Alcoa to a prompt timeline for toxic cleanup,” said Bertish. “In light of Alcoa’s existing threats, more delay is simply unacceptable,” Bertish said.
The Rosemere Neighborhood Association and Columbia Riverkeeper play an active role in monitoring and demanding cleanup activities at Alcoa’s Vancouver site.
