On April 8, City inspections of a local stormdrain system that borders Rosemere found a dangerous cross connection with sewage lines. The problem was identified using specialized remote cameras in the stormdrain system. Unfortunately, the cross connection occurs at the Southwest Regional Office of the Washington State Department of Ecology. This means that raw sewage from a large and heavily staffed state office dedicated to environmental protection has literally been discharging to Burnt Bridge Creek for at least a dozen years.
Posts under ‘Safety’
EPA Places ‘High Priority’ On Completing Munitions Cleanup Guidance – February 18, 2009
(Daily News from InsideEPA.com – February 18, 2009) EPA’s waste office is placing a high priority on finalizing a controversial munitions cleanup policy following months of waiting for the White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) to address objections raised by the Defense Department over it. The renewed attention to the pending policy for former ranges may signal stepped-up scrutiny from EPA over munitions contamination matters — considered a major cleanup liability for DOD.
RNA Receives letter of support for Camp Bonneville Superfund Petition – February 9, 2009
camp_bonneville
The Rosemere Neighborhood Association has received a letter of support for our Camp Bonneville Superfund Petition from Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger (Wisconsin). CSWAB was organized in 1990 when rural families near Wisconsin’s 7,400-acre Badger Army Ammunition Plant learned that private drinking water wells were polluted with high levels of cancer-causing chemicals. Read the entire document here (Adobe PDF format).
Preliminary Superfund Petition for Camp Bonneville – February 3, 2009
The Rosemere Neighborhood Association has requested that the Environmental Protection Agency conduct a preliminary assessment of the known and suspected release of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants at Camp Bonneville, the former US Military installation in Clark County, Washington (just outside Vancouver). Read the entire document here (Adobe PDF format).
“Greening” the Foods We Eat or, Current Applications of Benjamin Franklin’s “Green Economics” – January 6, 2009
DID YOU KNOW?
# Food safety experts have identified the five most common food-borne pathogens. The “Big 5,” easily transmitted through food and the cause of severe illness are: Enterohemorrhagic E.coli or Shiga-toxin producing E. coli, Hepatitis A virus, Norovirus, and Salmonella Shigella. Salmonella is one of the most common pathogens and it has many different strains. Salmonella Shigella is only one strain. Since 1971 there have been at least 20 outbreaks of food-related poisoning.
Clams and Crayfish Used to Study Waterborne Contaminants – January 6, 2009
Asian clams collected at Frenchman’s Bar, Vancouver
Asian clams collected at Frenchman’s Bar, Vancouver
Recent water quality monitoring efforts in the Columbia River have relied upon the analysis of clam tissue to determine the levels of dangerous toxins that have been absorbed by aquatic organisms. In Vancouver, high levels of PCBs, a cancer-causing agent, have been identified in clam tissues taken from samples in front of Alcoa at the Port of Vancouver, and downstream toward the mouth of the flushing channel to Vancouver Lake.
Bursting the Bubble on Household Cleaning Products – January 5, 2009
Soap bubbles with cute smiling faces, sliding joyfully around a tub and shower, who wouldn’t want to buy what these animated little darlings want to sell you? But no matter how endearing, the only reality of the never ending need to clean our shower and tub is, as our parents used to say, “elbow grease.” A good scrubbing with a green scrubber and a non toxic product is the only way to clean a bathroom.
Danger Still Lurks at Camp Bonneville – April 20, 2006
Despite repeated concerns from many knowledgeable community members at various public meetings, Clark County is on a fast track to receive Camp Bonneville in a “dirty transfer” from the US Army, meaning the County and its working partners will receive the property while it is still contaminated and covered with unexploded ordnance and munitions/explosives of concern. County officials are hoping to have all agreements signed with the Army, the state and clean-up contractors by July 1, 2006 in order to initiate a devised clean-up plan of the property that may take several years. The County’s goal is to transform one third of this contaminated 3800 acre property into a free range public park, while explosive devices will remain hidden on the remainder of the property, the two sections separated by a mere three foot barbed wire fence that could easily be straddled by anyone of average height.
Sewage Spill Reported at Frenchman’s Bar for Second Year in a Row – April 8, 2005
Anglers return to Frenchman’s Bar the day following the report of a sewage spill
The Washington State Department of Ecology’s Spill Responder’s Unit was dispatched to Frenchman’s Bar (near Vancouver Lake) on April 5, 2005 following another report of a raw sewage spill. This scene is a replay from a year ago when fishermen called in the worst sewage spill in memory at Frenchman’s Bar in April 2004, where the spill team found tampons, condoms, syringes, and globules of raw sewage washed ashore along two ½ miles of beach at Riverfront Park. A source was never discovered for the 2004 sewage spill, though a spill responder indicated that wind and weather conditions supported the theory that the spill was caused by a sewer overflow from Portland. However, Oregon’s DEQ was not able to identify a malfunction of Portland sewer treatment facilities. The Health Department closed Frenchman’s Bar under a public health emergency and special equipment was brought in to collect syringes hidden in the beach sand.
NATIONAL NIGHT OUT: TUESDAY AUGUST 3, 2004
In light of security measures in the Pacific Northwest, The Rosemere Neighborhood Association is setting another precedent. We are asking everyone in Rosemere to stay home, stay out on your porch or in your front yard, and turn on your porch light for National Night Out.
