Dedicated to promoting the welfare of our neighborhood, our community, and our environment.
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...]
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...]
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...]
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...]
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...]
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...]
Largemouth Bass
Anglers frequent fishing spots along the Columbia River and Vancouver Lake, and have done so for many years. However, Toxic Monitoring Data from the Washington State Department of Ecology indicates that fish in Vancouver Lake are not safe to eat. This is particularly dangerous for low-income folks who fish in this area out of necessity. [Read More...]
The Washington State Department of Ecology (DOE) requests public feedback on proposed permit modifications for continued construction of Hanford’s Waste Treatment Plant. This plant will convert radioactive liquid waste that is stored underground into immobilized glass using the process of vitrification. The DOE claims that this process will stabilize the radioactive waste and make it safer for long-term storage. [Read More...]
The Southwest Regional Office of the Washington State Department of Ecology (DOE) submitted a list of six projects to the Olympia office for consideration of funding a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study. Burnt Bridge Creek was the ranked second among this list of six projects, but it was not chosen as part of the statewide priority list for this funding cycle (the cycle lasts for five years). Only 9 projects were funded statewide from four regional offices. [Read More...]
