Dedicated to promoting the welfare of our neighborhood, our community, and our environment.
Living in the Northwest, we are fortunate to have a seemingly abundant supply of water. Although there is a considerable amount that falls from the sky, there is an equally important amount of water that lies below us.
The rain that falls from the sky eventually finds its way into the aquifers below ground. We rely on this water for everything from drinking water to water for our crops. [Read More...]
Alcoa Power Plant, Vancouver, WA
This editorial was published by the Columbian newspaper.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Rosemere’s effort deserves credit, too
The Dec. 17 editorial, “Cleanup under way,” lauds the current cleanup of the Columbia River shoreline from Alcoa’s extreme pollution. This is indeed a victory. The Columbian, Gov. Chris Gregoire, and DOE Director Jay Manning, all deserve praise for their fine work. [Read More...]
Flooding Chehalis, WA, on I-5 corridor. State Stormwater regulations work to alleviate stresses of high level storm events that can cause major flooding. These events represent only 1% of the rainfall in our state, yet do the most significant damage.
This editorial was published by the Columbian newspaper:
Sunday, December 14, 2008
By Dvija Bertish, Rosemere Neighborhood Association and Lauren Goldberg, Toxics and Conservation Director, Columbia Riverkeeper
The recent story regarding the City of Vancouver’s move to increase protections for our local creeks and rivers from the stormwater that carries thousands of pounds of heavy metals, pesticides, and oil from city streets should be welcome news to everyone who values clean water, salmon or the chance for your family to enjoy a swim in a local river or lake. [Read More...]
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. [Read More...]
Posted 12:15 AM, April 13, 2008
Submitted to The Columbian, April 1, 2008
Last November 2007, the Columbian published an article “Tussle Over Trestle”. Local citizen, Ed Swindell, noted that a collapsed creosote laden railroad trestle was probably polluting Burnt Bridge Creek and it should be removed. This initiated finger pointing between Clark County and BNSF Railway over whose mess this was. Neither was inclined to claim property ownership. [Read More...]
Posted 12:15 PM, October 3, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 2, 2007
Contacts:
Brett VandenHeuvel, Columbia Riverkeeper. 503 224-3240. bv@columbiariverkeeper.org
Dvija Michael Bertish, Rosemere Neighborhood Association.
Environmental Groups Challenge Proposed Climate Polluting, Coal Fueled, Power Plant in Kalama, WA.
Seeking to stop a power plant that would spew millions of tons of toxic greenhouse gasses and other contaminants into Washington State skies, Columbia Riverkeeper, Willapa Audubon Society, and Rosemere Neighborhood Association have been granted the legal status to intervene in the permitting process for Energy Northwest’s proposed 680-megawatt coal-fueled Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) power plant in Kalama. A total of six environmental groups will intervene in objection to the proposed coal-fueled power plant, along with the State Attorney General’s Office and the Washington State Department of Ecology. [Read More...]
2007 NEWSLETTER
SEPTEMBER 2007 NEWSLETTER
PROPOSED COAL-BURNING POWER PLANT
On September 20, 2007, representatives of Columbia Riverkeeper, Willapa Audubon Society, and the Rosemere Neighborhood Association, along with a number of other concerned citizens, attended a public hearing held by Washington’s Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council to voice their opinions about Energy Northwest’s proposed Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) power plant in Kalama, WA. The council took comments from the public on Energy Northwest’s greenhouse gas “sequestration plan” (view the plan at http://http:www.esfec.wa.gov/pmec.shtml). [Read More...]
Please join Columbia Riverkeeper, Willapa Hills Audubon Society, and the Rosemere Neighborhood Association to:
Say no to more water and air pollution and increased global warming!
The Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council is holding a public hearing:
September 20, 2007, 6:30 P.M.
Kalama Community Building, 126 North Second Street, Kalama, Washington
Please attend. The Council will take comments on Energy Northwest’s greenhouse gas “sequestration plan” for the proposed Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) power plant in Kalama, which would be a major new industrial polluter on the Columbia River. [Read More...]
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...]
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...]
