Water Quality | Rosemere Neighborhood Association

Progress on Rosemere’s Superfund Petition for Camp Bonneville WA

December 13, 2010 Author: admin
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From left to right: Renee Nordeen, Ecology and Environment, Inc.; Daniel Wright, geologist; Monica Tonel, USEPA Region X Office of Environmental Cleanup, Site Assessment Manager Assigned to Rosemere's Superfund Petition. Group is reviewing maps of Camp Bonneville in preparation of EPA site inspection plans and data gathering efforts, Dec 8, 2010

Background: Camp Bonneville Superfund Petition, Submitted by Rosemere Neighborhood Association & Columbia Riverkeeper

In February 2009, following Rosemere’s extensive involvement in what we consider a faulty clean up action plan at the Camp Bonneville military installation, Vancouver WA, Rosemere and Columbia Riverkeeper submitted a formal petition to the US Environmental Protection Agency to list the property on the National Priorities Superfund List.

See the original Superfund petition here: http://www.rosemerena.org/home/2009/04/06/preliminary-superfund-petition-for-camp-bonneville-february-3-2009/

The goal of the petition was to bring EPA back into the project in order to correct failing cleanup efforts, currently at a complete standstill. EPA had been a major participant in cleanup efforts more than 10 years ago, but in 2003, EPA withdrew its involvement citing a lack of cooperation from Clark County government, the Washington State Department of Ecology, and the US Department of Defense that owned the contaminated property. Camp Bonneville was a former 4000 acre international military training site where munitions, including missiles, grenades, and chemical warfare were used in live drills.

Documented groundwater contamination at the site has entered the Troutdale Aquifer System, a federally designated Sole Source Aquifer that was petitioned by Rosemere and Columbia Riverkeeper and established in 2006. The source of the contamination is a vast collection (both known and unknown) of buried military munitions and chemicals that have leached into the soil and groundwater throughout the site. Rosemere contends that the plume of toxic chemicals has been mobile for many years, and may have exited to compound, threatening Lacamas Creek and its tributaries, and Lacamas Lake which is hydrologically connected to the Columbia River. [Read More...]
Rosemere Neighborhood Association & Columbia Riverkeeper Submit Letter to Ecology RE: Alcoa/Evergreen Aluminum Smelter Supplemental Cleanup Action Plan

December 7, 2010 Author: admin
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Alcoa Power Plant, Vancouver, WA

Rosemere Neighborhood Association and Columbia Riverkeeper have for years raised serious concerns about Washington Department of Ecology’s cleanup and oversight at the former Alcoa/Evergreen Aluminum Smelter. One of the major concerns is Ecology’s delay of the cleanup process by separating the East Landfill groundwater contamination decision from other cleanup actions.

As part of the public comment process on the Alcoa/Evergreen Vancouver Aluminum Smelter Supplemental Cleanup Action Plan and Consent Decree Amendment for the East Landfill, Rosemere and Columbia Riverkeeper submitted a letter urging Ecology to take additional steps to address the contaminants at the site to ensure the protection of human health, salmon, and other aquatic, terrestrial, and avian life in and around the Columbia River.

To view the letter, please click on this link:
http://www.rosemerena.org/home/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Alcoa-Vancouver-East-Landfill-12-6-10.pdf
Environmentalists Suggest EPA Close Civil Rights Office (reprinted with permission from Inside Washington Publishers)

October 18, 2010 Author: admin
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This article originally appeared in Inside EPA Weekly Report on October 15, 2010. It is reprinted here with permission of the publisher, Inside Washington Publishers. Copyright 2010. No further distribution is permitted.

Click here to view article (pdf format):

Environmentalists Suggest EPA Close Civil Rights Office 10-15-10
Stormy Weather for Clark County Stormwater Plan

September 28, 2010 Author: admin
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New story from the Public News Service – Washington:

September 28, 2010

Stormy Weather for Clark County Stormwater Plan

TUMWATER, Wash. – How tough should counties be on developers in planning and controlling storm water runoff, a major source of water pollution? That’s the issue in a case to be argued this week at the Washington Pollution Control Hearings Board. It alleges that Clark County has what amounts to a special deal with builders for managing the stormwater effects of their projects, allowing them to put off planning for runoff control and let the county take care of any problems.

The Rosemere Neighborhood Association and two environmental groups behind the complaint – Columbia Riverkeeper and the Northwest Environmental Defense Center – say water quality has suffered as a result. Their attorney, Jan Hasselman with Earthjustice, explains.

“Clark County is effectively subsidizing developers out of very limited county funds. The idea is that developers don’t have to take on the burden of dealing with the storm water from their projects – the county will pay for it from general funds.”

The Washington Department of Ecology approved the Clark County plan, and will explain its reasons at the hearing. The problem, says Hasselman, is that if one county has a weaker storm water control policy, state law allows others to adopt it.

“That’s why this case is so important, not just for Clark County, but statewide. This threatens to really undercut our collective efforts to begin improving the health of rivers and streams, and recover Puget Sound.”

At issue is how strict counties should be with developers in order to meet federal Clean Water Act requirements. Clark County has said new development hasn’t posed much of a stormwater problem, and that it has enough money to mitigate such problems. The complaint asks that Clark County abide by the same standards as other counties.

The hearing runs Tuesday, Sept. 28 to Friday, Oct. 1, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, 1111 Israel Road SW, Tumwater.

Click here to view this story on the Public News Service RSS site and access an audio version of this and other stories: http://www.publicnewsservice.org/index.php?/content/article/16097-1
Press Release: Pollution Control Board Hearing

September 17, 2010 Author: admin
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Press Release******Press Release******Press Release

September 17, 2010

Pollution panel to weigh closing illegal loopholes in Washington’s building rules and strong controls for polluted runoff

WHAT: The Pollution Control Hearings Board will begin a trial to determine whether to throw out Clark County’s “special lopsided deal” under the state stormwater code.

The County’s plan allows harmful development without proper runoff controls.

The hearing raises issues of statewide importance, including the question of whether state vesting laws should trump efforts to protect rivers, streams and Puget Sound.

The vesting law allows developers to build projects under whatever rules are in place when they file a development application. This lets developers avoid any new rules that may be adopted later, even if the rules are adopted before anything is actually built.

WHEN: September 28, 2010 – October 1, 2010

Time: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

WHERE: Pollution Control Hearings Board

Environmental Hearings Offices—Room 301

1111 Israel Road S.W.

Tumwater, WA 98501

CONTACTS: Jan Hasselman, Earthjustice, 206-719-6512 (cell)

Dvija Michael Bertish, Rosemere Neighborhood Association, 360-281-4747

Brett VandenHeuvel, Columbia Riverkeeper, 503-348-2436

Mark Riskedahl, Northwest Environmental Defense Center, 503-768-6673

BACKGROUND: In February 2010, local residents and clean water advocates filed a challenge to Clark County’s on-going failure to protect rivers, streams and comply with laws limiting stormwater pollution. The county’s contested plan was developed with the Department of Ecology, the agency charged with regulating Clark County under state law and the federal Clean Water Act.

The public interest law firm Earthjustice filed an appeal on behalf of the Rosemere Neighborhood Association, Columbia Riverkeeper, and the Northwest Environmental Defense Center asking the Washington State Pollution Control Hearings Board to throw out a recent agreement between Clark County and the Washington Department of Ecology. Local residents and clean water advocates argue the state authorized inadequate development standards that will generate illegal stormwater pollution.

Stormwater runoff is federally regulated as a major source of water pollution. It contains toxic metals, oil, grease, pesticides, herbicides, bacteria and nutrients. Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency released a startling report on toxics in the Columbia Basin, which identified stormwater as a leading cause of toxic pollution in the Basin. When stormwater runs off parking lots, buildings, and other urban development, it carries with it toxic metals, particularly copper and zinc, which harm salmon and other aquatic life.

Under a lopsided deal reached in early January, Ecology agreed to allow Clark County to retain inadequate stormwater standards for new development in exchange for a promise to implement county funded stormwater mitigation projects.

However, Clark County is already required to implement these projects under federal law. Additionally, the agreement allows Clark County to mitigate new development anywhere in the county, up to three years after the development occurs.

The appealing groups are represented by attorneys Jan Hasselman and Janette Brimmer of Earthjustice.

About the Pollution Control Hearings Board

The Pollution Control Hearings Board acts like a court for appeals of state environmental regulations. The three board members hear appeals from orders and decisions made by the Department of Ecology and other agencies as provided by law. The Board’s function is to provide litigants a full and complete administrative hearing, as promptly as possible, followed by a fair and impartial written decision based on the facts and law. The Board is not affiliated with the Department of Ecology or any other state agency. The Board consists of three members, who are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the State Senate for staggered six-year terms.
Alexandra Cousteau — Expedition Blue Planet 2010

July 26, 2010 Author: admin
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Alexandra Cousteau onstage at the Bagdad Theatre for Expedition Blue Planet 2010

July 21, 2010, Bagdad Theatre, Portland Oregon

Alexandra Cousteau, granddaughter of Jacques Cousteau, continues her family legacy with another journey, a 138-day interactive tour of the US, Canada and Mexico, to explore critical water issues. Accompanied by a production crew who film, broadcast, blog, and edit on a biodiesel bus, Ms. Cousteau will travel more than 14,500 miles to film water problems and host community watershed programs. The tour includes coverage of the dwindling Colorado River, the Gulf Coast plagued by the BP Oil Spill, the Great Lakes that are experiencing hot temperatures and low levels, Chesapeake Bay suffering from stormwater pollution and sewage, and the Tennessee Valley where coal ash and mountaintop removal mining poison the water.

On Day 20 of the tour that started in Washington DC, the crew appeared at the Bagdad Theatre in Portland after traveling from Vancouver BC. The Portland stop was sponsored by Willamette Riverkeeper, where Ms. Cousteau discussed the project, showed film footage, and fielded questions from the audience. The Blue Legacy project was started in 2008 by Ms. Cousteau as a dedication to her grandfather’s famous call, “You have to go and see.”

Biodiesel bus used by the tour, parked outside the Bagdad theatre. The bus was formerly owned by Sir Paul McCartney

Last year, Blue Legacy traveled 100 days across five continents to study global water problems, discovering similar themes among various cultures: water is a source of spirituality, conflict, and the basis of agribusiness. From the Ganges in India, the plains of Botswana, the Jordan River in Israel and Palestine, and the Cajun lands of the lower Mississippi River, a universal statement recorded from people of all these cultures shows how humanity has common ties, regardless of age, status, or religion: “Water is life.” [Read More...]
National Marine Fisheries Service Says Clark County’s Stormwater Plan is Deficient and Will Harm Salmon

June 23, 2010 Author: admin
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Under a lopsided deal reached in early January 2010, the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) agreed to allow Clark County to retain inadequate stormwater standards for new development in exchange for a promise to implement county-funded stormwater mitigation projects. In February 2010, Rosemere Neighborhood Association, along with Columbia Riverkeeper, and Northwest Environmental Defense Center, appealed Ecology’s special deal with Clark County to the State Pollution Control Hearings Board in an attempt to repeal Clark County’s faulty stormwater management plan. The three conservation groups also filed a 60-day Notice of Intent to Sue Clark County in federal court for violations of the Clean Water Act. Earthjustice, a public interest law firm, represents the three conservation groups in these legal challenges.

Local residents and clean water advocates argue Washington State authorized inadequate development standards in Clark County’s stormwater permit that will generate illegal stormwater pollution, and that the stormwater pollution will also harm endangered species of salmon and their habitats.

Clark County’s Phase I municipal stormwater permit is issued under the National Pollutant Discharge & Elimination System program (NPDES) and is administered by the US Environmental Protection Agency. In turn, EPA defers management and enforcement of the federal stormwater management permit to Ecology. In the appeal, Rosemere et al cite that Ecology is not properly enforcing the federal stormwater permit.

In June 2010, The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association) issued public comments on Clark County’s alternative municipal Phase I stormwater permit. Clark County is home to 15 endangered species of salmon, steelhead, smelt and sturgeon. NMFS states that Clark County’s stormwater plan will not meet required goals to protect these fisheries and concludes that “adverse effects to listed (endangered) salmon will be significantly increased.” Stephen W. Landino, the Washington State Director for Habitat Conservation, states that NMFS “strongly encourage(s) the EPA to object to the issuance of this (Clark County) permit.”

To read the NMFS comment letter, please click here. [Read More...]
Agency Civil Rights Office Shuffle Replaces Director With Ex-Interim Head (reprinted with permission from Inside Washington Publishers)

June 23, 2010 Author: admin
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This article originally appeared in Inside EPA Weekly Report on June 18, 2010. It is reprinted here with permission of the publisher, Inside Washington Publishers. Copyright 2010. No further distribution is permitted.

Click here to view article (pdf format):

Agency Civil Rights Office Shuffle Replaces Director EPA 06-10
Columbia River Crossing Project Environmental Impact Analysis

May 31, 2010 Author: admin
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I-5 Interstate Bridge Over Columbia River

In Summer 2008, a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) was released on the Columbia River Crossing Project, and various environmental organizations, including Rosemere Neighborhood Association, submitted public comment to show that the draft document was incomplete and full of data gaps. Concerns were also raised regarding the draft’s compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act.

Since the release of the DEIS, Rosemere has met several times with Columbia River Crossing (CRC) staff and has raised concerns regarding the project’s impact on the environment, including the aquifer system that provides Clark County residents with drinking water and local streams within the construction footprint.

In 2005, Rosemere submitted a petition to EPA 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 such an aquifer is vulnerable to contamination. Sole Source designation requires at least a 50% dependence on an aquifer for its potable water supply. Factual analysis provided by Rosemere and its partners shows that 99.4% of the potable water used in Clark County is obtained from groundwater. In August, 2006, EPA officially granted Rosemere’s petition and designated Clark County’s Troutdale Aquifer System as a federally protected Sole Source Aquifer. One of Rosemere’s goals was to ensure adequate environmental review of the CRC project under the federal Sole Source Aquifer program. [Read More...]
Video: Dvija Michael Bertish Interview with Jake Thomas on the Portland Observer Hour

May 13, 2010 Author: admin
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Please click on the arrow to begin the video.

Dvija Michael Bertish recently sat down with Jake Thomas, Web Editor & News Reporter of the Portland Observer on Portland Observer Hour, and discussed the history of Rosemere Neighborhood Association’s landmark environmental justice case as well as our dedicated work for environmental protection and improving the status of environmental justice communities. [Read More...]