columbia river | Rosemere Neighborhood Association

Letter to Elected Officials About Hanford – December 11, 2006)

April 4, 2009 Author: admin

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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...]

COLUMBIA RIVER CROSSING STAFF SPEAKS AT RNA MEETING – June 22, 2006

April 4, 2009 Author: admin

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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...]

RNA RECEIVES CORPORATE DONATIONS TO FURTHER WATER QUALITY WORK – June 21, 2006

April 4, 2009 Author: admin

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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...]

Public Hearing on the Future of Hanford Cleanup – March 23, 2006

April 4, 2009 Author: admin

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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...]

Sewage Spill Reported at Frenchman’s Bar for Second Year in a Row – April 8, 2005

April 3, 2009 Author: admin

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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. [Read More...]

Rosemere Neighborhood Association and Clark County Natural Resources Council File Supplemental 60-Day Notice of Intent to Sue Under the Clean Water Act – April 8, 2005

April 3, 2009 Author: admin

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The RNA and CCRNC filed a Clean Water Act lawsuit in October 2004 against
the City of Vancouver pertaining to the City’s unpermitted and contaminated stormwater discharge into Burnt Bridge Creek, and the Columbia River (both of which flow into Vancouver Lake). These discharges into threatened or endangered waterbodies are conveyed through the municipal stormwater sewer system.

On April 1, 2005, RNA and CCNRC’s attorneys filed a supplemental notice of
intent to sue the City of Vancouver under the Clean Water Act for
unpermitted and contaminated non-stormwater related discharges. The city’s municipal stormwater system illegally conveys discharges into Burnt Bridge Creek and the Columbia River on a daily basis during dry weather. These discharges travel to and can impact the water quality of Vancouver Lake. [Read More...]

Lower Columbia Salmon Recovery Plan – December 15, 2004

April 2, 2009 Author: admin

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Governor Locke presents the State’s First Regional Salmon Recovery Plan at the Clark County Hearing Room in Vancouver.

On December 15, 2004, Governor Locke arrived in Vancouver to sign and approve a plan to revitalize the endangered salmon population in the Columbia River Basin. This plan was presented to the federal government as the first locally developed regional salmon recovery plan for the State of Washington. This Salmon Recovery Plan was the product of collaboration among local, state, and tribal governments, community leaders and non-profit groups. [Read More...]

RNA tours Columbia with Riverkeeper – September 15, 2004

April 2, 2009 Author: admin

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From Left to Right:

Patrica Giles, Greg deBruler, Karen Axell, Leslie Zega
Dvija Michael Bertish (front)
Aboard the Columbia Riverkeeper’s Boat near the I-5 Bridge
Photo taken by Cindy deBruler

On a warm and sunny September day, RNA board members took a 2 ½ hour tour of the Columbia River from Camas all the way to the Port of Vancouver. Greg deBruler, Columbia Riverkeeper, and his wife, Cindy deBruler, Executive Director of Columbia Riverkeeper, brought their motor boat from White Salmon. [Read More...]

Sewage spill at Frenchman’s Bar Park – April 15, 2004

March 29, 2009 Author: admin

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The RNA received this response to our complaint from the Washington State Department of Ecology in Olympia on April 20, 2004.

Thank-you for voicing your concerns in this matter. Ecology was notified of the incident on the day that it occurred. This Department is actively investigating the situation at this time. The report will be available to the public upon the completion of the investigation. Please feel free to inquire after June 1st about the status of this investigation. Please refer to ERTS number 540239 when making inquiries. [Read More...]

RNA’s letter of commendation to prospectors who saved thousands of baby salmon – March 19, 2004

March 28, 2009 Author: admin

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3/19/04
Mr. Bob Mote
President
Northwest Mineral Prospector’s Club
P.O. Box 1973
Vancouver, Washington 98668

Dear Mr. Mote,
On behalf of the Rosemere Neighborhood Association, I would like to heartily congratulate you and your colleagues for coming to the aid of thousands of baby chum salmon in the Columbia River recently at such a crucial time in their development. [Read More...]