Dedicated to promoting the welfare of our neighborhood, our community, and our environment.
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...]
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...]
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
[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...]
[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.gov
Marni Storey, Clark County Public Health Department
(360) 397-8000 ext. 8434; marni.storey@clark.wa.gov
Jilayne Jordan, Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation
(360) 619-1141; jilayne.jordan@clark.wa.gov
Vancouver, 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...]
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...]
Approved Joint Public Statement
The City of Vancouver, Clark County Natural Resources Council and Rosemere Neighborhood Association have reached a mutually satisfactory agreement that ends the appeals of a 2005 judgement in a Clean Water Act lawsuit heard by the Federal District Court for the Western District of Washington. The joint agreement furthers the goals of all three parties by enhancing ongoing efforts to protect and improve the community’s water resources. Additional water monitoring, inventory work and public involvement opportunities, including creation of a Burnt Bridge Creek Watershed Council, are among the highlights of the agreement.
View Approved Clean Water Act Settlement Agreement, Signed May 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. [Read More...]
The Portland Corps of Engineers has been authorized to study the feasibility of providing erosion control and ecosystem restoration in the Vancouver Lake watershed, U.S. Rep. Brian Baird announced today.
Baird, a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said he secured authorization through a committee resolution, which does not need Senate approval.
The Vancouver Lake Watershed Partnership will coordinate all development and conservation in the area, according to Baird. [Read More...]
On March 22, 2006, the RNA along with Columbia Riverkeeper, Hanford Watch, Heart of America, and other volunteers attended a public hearing at the Red Lion Convention Center in Portland to discuss proposed cleanup efforts at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. This meeting was facilitated by the US Department of Energy (USDOE), and the Washington State Department of Ecology. This was a “scoping” meeting, where members of the public could state for the record what they wanted to see in an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). [Read More...]
