Environmental group OSPIRG called on Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski at a forum Saturday to reduce toxic emissions in the Willamette River and hold polluters accountable.
The forum, called the State of the Willamette Address, focused on the efforts needed to clean up the polluted Willamette River and was held at Alton Baker Park. It featured state senators, city councilors and environmental advocates, and attracted about 80 students and citizens.
“Back in 2002 OSPIRG convinced then-candidate Ted Kulongoski to include the cleanup of the Willamette in his environmental platform,” said Rhett Lawrence, Clean Water and Toxics Advocate for the Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group. “Unfortunately, more than a year into his tenure, we are still waiting for concrete action from our governor.”
The Willamette is now polluted by a variety of sources, such as urban and agricultural runoff and industrial dumping, Lawrence said.
Industries that discharge their waste water into the Willamette must pay a fee for a permit. However, the fees do not cover the administration costs of issuing the permit, much less the cost of enforcement and monitoring, he said.
“Since taxpayer dollars have to fill those gaps, in a very real sense we are essentially subsidizing these industries for the privilege we have granted them to be able to dump their waste water into our river,” he said.
Four officials — including two state senators, Springfield City Councilor John Woodrow and a Eugene mayoral candidate — joined Lawrence.
State Sen. Vicki Walker, D-Eugene, recalled the efforts of former Oregon Gov. Tom McCall, who built sewage treatment plants and imposed controls on industrial polluters during the 1960s. In 1972, the Willamette River graced the cover of National Geographic magazine under the title “A River Restored.”
“The Willamette River is no longer a showcase and a model for the nation,” Walker said. “Today I would say that the Willamette River belongs in the hall of shame. It is 187 miles of flowing toxins and carcinogens that kill fish, birds, wildlife and most likely humans who dare to eat, swim and drink in this cesspool on a regular basis.”
Portland’s antiquated sewer system results in the release of an estimated 3 billion gallons of untreated sewage into the river each year, she said.
“Eugene is spending $2 million a year to repair leaking pipes, and Springfield is working just as hard,” she said. “But dumping raw sewage into the Willamette is not acceptable and more needs to be done.”
Kitty Piercy, a former state representative now running for mayor of Eugene, told the crowd that the pollution of the Willamette River is not exclusive to Portland. Polluted storm water runoff and sewage and waste treatment issues are concerns for Eugene as well, Piercy said.
“That is why we need to tackle this as a city as well as urging the governor to thoroughly clean up the whole river,” she said.
State Sen. Richard Devlin, D-Tualatin, said the goal of totally eliminating pollutants from the Willamette was not scientifically feasible, but reducing its pollution would prove worthwhile.
“As long as there are over two million people in close proximity to this river it will not be feasible to prevent all pollution from going into our rivers and streams,” he said. But he added that it is important to encourage the government and businesses to be more creative in reducing pollution.
After the forum, OSPIRG coordinator for the Willamette campaign Tannith Perry said she was impressed with the panel’s dedication. Perry said she did not know how much the forum would push the governor into cleaning up the Willamette River, though.
“I know that OSPIRG is not making it easy to ignore this issue,” she said. “But to what extent it’s going to make him take action soon, I’m not sure.”
Lane Community College junior and OSPIRG member Else Wieseke said she was happy to see so many people at the forum.
“It’s a really great campaign,” she said. “I think it’s awesome that all these people turned out today.”