Randy Coots, a water quality environmental specialist with the Olympia office of the Washington State Department of Ecology presented data to the Vancouver Lake Watershed Partnership today, relating the levels of specific toxins in fish tissue and sediment samples in Vancouver Lake and Lake River. Ecology has published another study entitled Vancouver Lake PCB’s, Chlorinated Pesticides, and Dioxins in Fish Tissue and Sediment [March 2007]. Similar studies were conducted in 1992 and 2002, resulting in listing of Vancouver Lake for failed water quality standards in PCB’s. Analyses from previous years showed that fish tissue samples exceeded National Toxics Rule thresholds for human health in both PCB’s and DDT. [Read More...]
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Fish and Sediment Toxicity Levels at Vancouver Lake – April 18, 2007
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Coal Plant To Be Built in Kalama? – December 16, 2006
Energy Northwest — a group of 20 public utilities in Washington — is planning to build a coal or petroleum coke plant in Kalama, Washington. This $1 billion, 600-megawatt facility will increase our air and water pollution, threaten habitat for endangered salmon and add to our global warming problem — the plant will produce more than 4 million tons of carbon dioxide per year … that’s like adding 700,000 cars to our highways.
Read more about it here. [Read More...]
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Columbia River may cause dead zones off Oregon and Washington coasts and contribute to problems with Vancouver Lake – December 11, 2006
Posted 11:30 AM PST, December 11, 2006
Over the past several months RNA has been studying and networking to find information about the growing dead zones off the Oregon and Washington coasts. There may be a direct connection to understanding the adverse impacts to Vancouver Lake. This research was conducted in partnership with Columbia Riverkeeper.
There may be a direct correlation between the causes of the dead zones off the coasts and the problems suffered by the lake. [Read More...]
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Letter to Elected Officials About Hanford – December 11, 2006)
Posted 6:30 PM PST, December 11, 2006
To: Various Elected Officials representing Southwest Washington
Maria Cantwell, Patty Murray, Brian Baird, Richard Curtis, Deb Wallace, Jim Moeller, Craig Pridemorem, Bill Fromhold
From: Rosemere Neighborhood Association
Hanford is considered to be one the nation’s worst contaminated nuclear sites with cleanup expected to cost $60 billion and cleanup work to continue through 2035. The site is an environmental nightmare that includes groundwater contaminated with radioactive waste, and the salmon that spawn in the area are known to be reversing sexes due to contaminants in the Columbia River (which could cause the extinction of salmon runs in that area). [Read More...]
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STATE HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICE OPENS IN VANCOUVER – September 8, 2006
On Friday, September 8, 2006, a ribbon cutting ceremony ushered in a much needed Human Rights office in our community, located within the State School for the Deaf. The celebration was very uplifting, and various members of the community were shown appreciation for their hard work over the years that paved the way for state legislators to budget a satellite office in Vancouver. Earl Ford, president of the local chapter of the NAACP, offered thanks to those who spearheaded the Human Rights campaign in 2001, and offered a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr, “A truth pressed to the earth will continue to rise.” Some attendees spoke of discrimination that occurs regularly in the community, including the public schools and the workplace. [Read More...]
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SOLE SOURCE AQUIFER ACHIEVED! – August 14, 2006
Posted 9 pm, August 14, 2006
As of 3:00pm on Monday, August 14, 2006, the Troutdale Aquifer System in Clark County, WA, has been officially designated as a Sole Source Aquifer by the Environmental Protection Agency. Click here to view the EPA SOLE SOURCE FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICE.
On December 4, 2005, a petition was formally submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 10, Seattle, requesting that agency to designate the Troutdale and Unconsolidated Alluvium Aquifer System in Clark County, Washington, as a Sole Source Aquifer. The EPA defines the Sole Source Aquifer Program as a tool used to protect drinking water supplies in areas with few or no alternative sources to groundwater resources, and where if contamination occurred, using an alternative source for the potable water supply would be extremely expensive.
To qualify for Sole Source Aquifer designation, the proposed aquifer service area must prove to be at least 50% dependent on groundwater for the potable water supply. Factual analysis shows that 99.4% of the potable water currently used in the proposed Sole Source Aquifer service area in Clark County is obtained from groundwater, confirming that the Troutdale Aquifer System qualifies as a Sole Source Aquifer. READ MORE HERE
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VANCOUVER LAKE REOPENED FOR WATER ACTIVITIES – July 20, 2006
[From a news release from Clark County Health Department]
Vancouver, WA – Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation and Clark County Public Health have reopened Vancouver Lake for swimming, wading, and wind-surfing. The lake was closed last Friday when regular water testing detected E. coli above acceptable levels.
“We’ve tested the water twice this week and results from both tests indicate that E.coli levels are now within the range that’s considered safe for swimming and other water activities. [Read More...]
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VANCOUVER LAKE CLOSURE – July 14, 2006
[From a news release from Clark County Health Department]
Public Health closes Vancouver Lake due to E. coli test results
Contact: Alan Melnick, Clark County Health Officer
(360) 397-8000 ext. 7209; alan.melnick@clark.wa.govMarni Storey, Clark County Public Health Department
(360) 397-8000 ext. 8434; marni.storey@clark.wa.govJilayne Jordan, Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation
(360) 619-1141; jilayne.jordan@clark.wa.govVancouver, WA – Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation and Clark County Public Health have closed Vancouver Lake to swimming, wading, and wind-surfing for at least the next week, according to Health Officer Dr. Alan Melnick. Regular testing of the lake recently detected E. coli above acceptable levels. [Read More...]
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COLUMBIA RIVER CROSSING STAFF SPEAKS AT RNA MEETING – June 22, 2006
In December 2001, Rosemere residents on ‘K’ street learned that they could have lost their homes to make way for a potential I-5 widening project. The RNA received many phone calls from worried neighbors when this issue first arose in a Columbian article entitled “In the Way on ‘K’,” and RNA members became very active in public meetings with the Bi-State Transportation Commission that was established to help find solutions to traffic problems relative to the I-5 bridge crossing. The RNA canvassed the neighborhood and rallied residents to attend Commission meetings and provide written and verbal testimony in order stop unnecessary demolition of homes that abut I-5. The message was loud and clear, and Commission members acknowledged that design plans should be changed to ensure that homes were not lost in Rosemere and other neighborhoods. [Read More...]
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RNA RECEIVES CORPORATE DONATIONS TO FURTHER WATER QUALITY WORK – June 21, 2006
Brent Foster, Executive Director, Columbia Riverkeeper, performing water quality monitoring on the Columbia River
In February 2006, RNA received a $5000 contribution from Allweather Wood, Inc. in Washougal. In June 2006, RNA received a second $5000 corporate donation from Metro Metals Inc, in Portland. Both donations will be used to pay for water quality monitoring on the Columbia River. These corporate donations were arranged through RNA’s continued working partnership with Columbia Riverkeeper. [Read More...]
