The EPA has approved the plan, but questions linger about whether the new administration might defund enforcement After months of public comment and many more years of study, the Environmental Protection Agency has finally approved its plan for cleaning u ...
2 Feb 2017 - Stephen Quirke
The first Native American to represent Portland in the state Legislature brings an eye on affordable housing, the Superfund clean-up and our problematic foster care system Portland has often been described as a “white city.” Just this summer, a lengthy ar ...
8 Sep 2016 - Stephen Quirke
Yakama Nation argues EPA plan violates an 1855 treaty After 16 years of study funded by polluting industries, the public comment period for the Willamette River cleanup is scheduled to end Sept. 6, 2016, with some officials hoping for a finalized plan by ...
2 Aug 2016 - Stephen Quirke
COMMENTARY | EPA extends comment period on the Superfund cleanup plan for the Willamette River, which drew protests for doing too little Early this month the EPA released its draft plan to remove toxic contamination from the bottom of the Willamette River ...
30 Jun 2016 - Stephen Quirke
This is no time for hand-wringing, finger-pointing and resignation over the horse that left the stable. We have to get back in our saddle. Maybe, finally, 2016 might be the year Portland creates real progress for the environment. The year has certainly pr ...
16 Jun 2016 - SR editorial board
Residents have the power push the project in a more effective direction Threats to our health coming from the air and water have been exposed to the light of day. Agencies and leaders whose job it is to protect the community have been found to be lax in s ...
9 Jun 2016 - Barbara Quinn
COMMENTARY | Relearning our own history will be the key to unlearning our mistakes The Willamette waterfront is many things to many people – a place to sleep, a food source, a wildlife habitat, a place to swim and for others, a place to dump industrial wa ...
9 Jun 2016 - Stephen Quirke
The Clean Water Act of 1972 made it a lot harder for industrial facilities to dump large amounts of toxic materials into U.S. waterways with the institution of a permitting process with limits on toxic releases – it put a stop to many of the activities th ...
23 Oct 2014 - Emily Green
Each day Sean Morgan wakes up just as the light of morning creeps into view — a habit he picked up from years of working as a concrete finisher. He turns on his stove, boils water in a teakettle and then pours it into a French press with three scoops of g ...
25 Sep 2014 - Emily Green
Since the completion of the Big Pipe project in 2011, which stopped Portland’s sewage from spilling into the Willamette River during rainstorms, there’s been a movement led by Human Access Project to change the public’s perception about swimming in the ri ...
27 Aug 2014 - Emily Green