The Portland Harbor Superfund site is a highly contaminated stretch of the Willamette River that extends approximately 10 miles, beginning near the confluence with the Columbia River and stretching to the Fremont Bridge. In 2000 this area was designated a Federal Superfund Site under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA). After 17 years, a comprehensive clean up plan was finally approved. But now the Environmental Protection Agency is attempting to impose a layer of opaqueness in what was a relatively transparent process.
On this episode of Locus Focus, we talk with Willamette Riverkeeper Travis Williams about what the EPA's latest tactics mean for the health of the Willamette River and the communities that depend upon it.
Travis Williams has led Willamette Riverkeeper since June of 2000. Since that time he has helped to enforce the Clean Water Act with numerous examples of enforcement actions up and down the Willamette Valley. He has also led the charge for the cleanup of the Portland Harbor Superfund site, working on that issue since its inception in December of 2000 to the recent Record of Decision in January of 2017. He has worked since 2000 to decrease the impact of the US Army Corps Dams along the Willamette's tributaries, eventually enabling WR to sue the US Army Corps in 2007 that resulted in the Biological Opinion for the Willamette River system in 2008. He also helped to establish the transfer of 44 acres of Ross Island to the City of Portland.
Williams is author of the Willamette River Field Guide (Timber Press, 2009), as well as the two Water Trail Guides for the Willamette. He holds a BA from Portland State University in International Studies, and an M.S. in Environmental Science from Johns Hopkins University.
travis@willametteriverkeeper.org
- KBOO