Contractors for the EPA's Superfund Technical Assessment and Response Team gathering sediment samples 3/4/09 at a wetland location near Vancouver Lake.
In August, 2007, RNA and Columbia Riverkeeper submitted a formal Citizen Petition for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to conduct a Preliminary Assessment to consider Vancouver Lake a superfund site due to contamination from substances like PCBs. The Citizen’s Petition scored sufficiently for EPA to to move to the next step, which is a site inspection study. Contractors for the EPA arrived in Vancouver to gather around 30 sediment samples that will be shpped out of state for analysis at federally contracted laboratories.
The Contractors will also be collecting live clam samples to determine levels of toxicity that can accumulate in clam tissue. The lab results will be generated in a report, and the EPA will develop recommendations based on the data gathered.
Samples will be gathered from Vancouver Lake (including the permimeter, wildlife refuges, wetlands, and public areas), Columbia River, Lake River, Salmon Creek, Buckmire Slough, the Flushing Channel, Burnt Bridge Creek, and Cold Creek. Samples will be analyzed for chlorinated pesticides/polychlorinated biphenyls (pesticides/PCBs), semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs), dioxin/furans, total organic carbon (TOC), grain size, and Target Analyte List (TAL) metals.
SEE MAP OF SAMPLING LOCATION (3.25 mb, PDF format)
Contractors for the EPA's Supefund Technical Assessment and Response Team gathering sediment samples 3/4/09 at a wetland location near Vancouver Lake.
