Schnitzer Steel Enforcement Action
On Thursday, December 4, 2008, NEDC sent Schnitzer Steel formal notice of our intent to initiate a Clean Water Act citizen suit against the company. Schnitzer's sprawling industrial property adjacent to Portland harbor is riddled with contaminants, and prominently features a mountain of scrap metal piled high directly adjacent to the Willamette River.
Check out a recent Oregonian story concerning our enforcement action, or a video clip of Schnitzer's discharge.
Schnitzer Steel's Scrapyard in Portland Harbor.
Thanks to Alder Creek Kayak and Canoe for logistical support!
Protecting Water Quality From Urban Stormwater Pollution
As urban development and redevelopment continue to alter the natural landscape, opportunities to implement innovative green infrastructure and low-impact design principles have never been greater. NEDC is working to ensure that the next round of municipal separate storm sewer system pollution discharge permits for Oregon's largest municipalities require creative solutions to the urban stormwater problem, and are as protective of water quality as possible.
On November 14th, we submitted extensive comments on this subject to Oregon DEQ on behalf of a coalition of Oregon conservation groups, and we also included an article on this topic in our most recent newsletter.
PGE's Boardman Coal-Fired Power Plant
Earlier this year, NEDC joined several other conservation groups in sending formal notice of our intent to sue PGE for violations of the Clean Air Act. On September 30, we filed the complaint in federal court.
Are emissions from PGE Boardman harming the Columbia River Gorge? Read "The Costs of Coal" in our newsletter, and our fact sheets:
Local Economic Impacts of Air Pollution in the Columbia Gorge
The Environmental Effects of Nitrogen Pollution in the Pacific Northwest.
Visit our PGE Boardman page for further backround.
NEDC's Clean Water Act Enforcement Work Yields Results
Kosta's Scrap Metals, Inc. 8250 N. Albina, Portland, Oregon
This scrap yard was discharging heavily contaminated industrial stormwater straight to a local waterway everytime it rained, until NEDC got involved and required the operator to install pollution control technology.
Our environmental enforcement work was one of the topics discussed by Oregon's attorney general candidates during a conversation on Oregon Public Broadcasting's Think Out Loud, and was also referenced in an interview with DEQ's new director in the Portland Tribune.
Willamette River Dock Lawsuit
Citing "significantly changed circumstances", the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers formally suspended authorization on Sept. 8, 2008 for a luxury vessel dock on the Willamette River near the mouth of Tryon Creek pending formal consultation under the Endangered Species Act. The city of Lake Oswego proposal was the subject of controversy as it threatened to undermine considerable salmonid habitat restoration work completed in the Tryon Creek watershed in recent years. The decision to authorize the dock was the subject of a lawsuit filed on behalf of NEDC by attorneys Dan Rohlf and Tom Buchele at the Pacific Environmental Advocacy Center.
 Protecting the Rogue River
On October 3, NEDC joined the newly formed Rogue RiverKeeper and the Northwest Steelheaders by intervening in support of the state of Oregon in a challenge by Rogue River riparian property owners to the state's recent navigability determination concerning an 89-mile stretch of the stunningly beautiful Rogue River. Here is a helpful background factsheet developed by the Oregon Department of State Lands.
Thanks to Portland attorney Thane Tienson for representing us in this matter.
Columbia River Crossing
View the comprehensive comments we submitted July 1 on the Columbia River Crossing I-5 bridge proposal. Many thanks to the PEAC legal team, our coalition partners, and NEDC's law clerk Lizzy Zultoski for the many hours of work expended in this endeavor.
Grabhorn Landfill
The Grabhorn Landfill is the only unlined garbage dump in the Portland metropolitan area. Oregon DEQ's analysis shows that discharges of contaminated groundwater from the landfill to the nearby Tualatin River "represent a potential threat to the river's bird, mammal, and aquatic life populations."
Read the Willamette Week article "Grapes of Trash" and an editorial in the Oregonian to learn more.
This spring, NEDC sued the landfill owner under the Clean Water Act to address unlawful discharges to the Tualatin River basin. Read a story in the local newspaper and a January 31st column in the Oregonian referencing NEDC as Oregon's "de facto environmental watchdog".
Chetco River
NEDC submitted extensive comments on an ill-conceived proposal by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to authorize all current and future gravel mining activity in Oregon's scenic Chetco River with a broad under-protective general programmatic permit.
NEDC also recently submitted extensive comments to Oregon DEQ on two proposals to increase gravel extraction activity in the Chetco River in 2009.
Mercury Reduction
NEDC worked to raise public awareness about mercury emissions from Ash Grove Cement Company's eastern Oregon cement kiln, and actively participated in an advisory committee formed to deal with the issue. Even though the Bush EPA has failed to demonstrate leadership on this critical public and environmental health matter, the company voluntarily agreed to step up and make the Oregon plant the first in the nation to install mercury controls.
Will Trans Alta follow suit and voluntarily agree to install mercury control technology at its coal-fired power plant in Centralia, Washington?
Industrial Stormwater Permit Challenges
In January, NEDC and Columbia Riverkeeper filed suit against the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality concerning its under-protective industrial stormwater permit. Read coverage in the Willamette Week.
In spring of 2006, NEDC and Columbia Riverkeeper sued DEQ over the terms of the 1200-COLS industrial stormwater permit for the Columbia Slough.
Read a copy of the petition.
NEDC's Coastal Water Pollution Permit Commenting Guides
NEDC has developed two straightforward, easy-to-use guides to commenting on Oregon coastal water pollution permits. Our Sewage Treament Plant Citizen's Guide focuses on issues specific to coastal sewage treatment plant water pollution discharge permits, while our Construction Stormwater Run-Off Citizen's Guide addresses pollution related to coastal development.
Toxic Emissions From Plywood and Veneer Mills
Plywood and Veneer Mills across the Pacific Northwest emit significant amounts of hazardous pollutants including formaldehyde, acrolein and methanol into the air each year. Rather than requiring legally mandated emissions controls at these mills, Oregon DEQ is presently engaged in an effort to either extend compliance deadlines or to simply allow the mills to avoid regulatory requirements altogether. Read a story from the Oregonian on the subject.
For example, Oregon DEQ is not requiring Freres Lumber Company to perform adequate source testing, control hazardous air pollutant emissions, monitor those emissions, or to take enforceable permit limits that will insure those emissions remain below regulatory thresholds. NEDC is working with attorneys at the Pacific Environmental Advocacy Center to rectify Oregon DEQ's approach to these sources.
Willamette Dams Litigation
On March 14th, NEDC and Willamette Riverkeeper sent a 60-day notice of intent to sue the Army Corps of Engineers for failing to insure that Willamette River dams are not jeopardizing the continued existence of several Willamette basin fish species protected under the Endangered Species Act.
Read a copy of the formal notice letter.
Fish Passage Center Defunding
On January 24th, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reiterated its directive to BPA to fully restore funding for the Fish Passage Center, and found BPA's actions to defund the center "arbitrary, capricious and contrary to law". The court characterizes BPA's faulty reliance on Senator Craig's remarks as "slavish adherence to a sentence in a legislative committee report". The Center's history of sound science has prevailed over the personal political agenda of Idaho's senior senator Larry Craig, who single-handedly attempted to shut the Center down.
Visit our Fish Passage Center webpage to learn more and to see the court's order in NEDC vs. BPA.
Mining Victory
On August 7th, 2006, the U.S. Forest Service was required by federal Magistrate Judge Paul Papak to enjoin gold mining activity in the North Fork Burnt River watershed in eastern Oregon. The Forest Service had unlawfully approved the mining in 2004 in violation of the Clean Water Act.
The court held that the Forest Service may not ignore or defer its responsibility to remedy existing water pollution "based on a misguided notion that the right to mine trumps federal and state law."
Read a copy of the decision.
NEDC vs. Owens Corning Lawsuit
On May 17th, 2006 federal Magistrate Judge John Jelderks denied Owens Corning’s motion to dismiss NEDC vs. Owens Corning, ruling in Plaintiffs’ favor on every issue.
Visit our Owens Corning webpage for more details.
Columbia Slough Industrial Stormwater Pollution
NEDC's efforts to clean up the Columbia Slough continue. Visit our Columbia Slough stormwater page to learn more.
Oregon DEQ Withdraws its Proposal to Weaken Water Clarity Standard
Oregon DEQ proposed to weaken Oregon's turbidity (water clarity) standard, which would have allowed polluters to dramatically increase the amount of pollution they discharge and would have threatened fish and wildlife, as well as the aesthetics of Oregon's waters. NEDC partnered with several other environmental organizations to challenge this weaker standard, which was paid for by the Northwest Pulp and Paper Association. Thanks to Oregon DEQ for eventually withdrawing this ill-conceived effort after considerable public opposition.
Visit our Turbidity webpage to learn more.
Westwind 2008!
Photos courtesy of AndrewBurdickPhotography.com and HisAndHerPhotography.com
See more news items on our Archived News and Events page.
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