Oregon has13 Superfund sites. One of the sites that would benefit from this new provision would be the Portland Harbor Superfund site. The area covers almost 11 miles of the Willamette River from the Broadway Bridge north to the Columbia
Slough. It was an area utilized for building and scrapping ships
throughout World War I, World War II and up to the Korean War. It’s been
highly contaminated with dozens of pollutants from more than a century
of industrial use.
The area is significant for five tribes that used that river for thousands of years for fishing and hunting. Those tribes are: the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, the
Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla
Indian Reservation, and the Nez Perce Tribe.
“There’s impact for people up and down the river,” Blumenauer said. “It affects
Native people, it affects certain neighborhoods where people didn’t have
access to the river in their backyard or front yard.”
The Environmental Protection Agency oversees the cleanup for Superfund sites and partners with responsible agencies. It hasrecently finalized cleanup agreements for the Portland Harbor Superfund site with 12 responsible parties. The agency estimates it will take roughly 13 years and $1 billion to clean
up the site.
“This provides some certainty, some action in terms of the cleanup, protecting the health of people who live along the river and being able to meet our obligations to Native Americans who have treaty rights to being able to have the rivers condition restored.”
The legislation now awaits action in the Senate before it can reach President Biden for final approval.
A spokesperson for the Department of Defense said it does not comment on pending litigation citing agency policy.
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