Portland Harbor Watershed Home

Project Overview

Introduction

The Lower Willamette River was named a Superfund site by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2000 because studies showed that sediments on the bottom of the river are contaminated with PAHs, PCBs, pesticides, herbicides, dioxins/furans, metals. The Superfund site includes an approximately six mile stretch of the river where numerous industries have occurred, such as an oil gasification plant, ship repair facilities, agricultural chemical manufacturing, rail car construction, wood treating facilities, and port activities. The site has been nicknamed "Portland Harbor" since most of the site is a working waterway.

NOAA Resources at Risk

NOAA is involved in the site investigation and cleanup work because the site impacts natural resources that NOAA manages on behalf of the public. The Willamette River supports spawning populations of Chinook and Coho salmon, steelhead, American shad, Pacific lamprey, and white sturgeon, which are all NOAA trust resources. The lower river, between the mouth and Willamette Falls, provides a migratory corridor for both juvenile and adult anadromous fish and juvenile rearing habitat for several anadromous species. Three runs of Chinook, two runs of steelhead, and individual runs of Coho salmon occur in the area. Several of these runs are either listed or proposed for listing under the Endangered Species Act.

Cleanup Status

The remedial investigation began in 2001 and is ongoing. A significant amount of data has already been collected, including detailed sediment grain size information; a sediment trend analysis that identified likely areas of erosion and deposition; a sediment profile image study; multiple rounds of bathymetry; fish tissue from 12 fish species plus crayfish; and some surface sediment chemistry. A major sediment and surface water sampling program will be completed in the fall of 2004. At least one more round of sampling will be required to fill data gaps, refine cleanup boundaries, and support the selection of remedial strategies. EPA has already identified three "Early Action Sites" where contaminants in sediments pose an immediate and substantial risk. Early cleanup activities will be implemented at these sites before the full site investigation is completed.

NOAA's Work on the Remedy

NOAA has been working closely with EPA, Oregon DEQ and our co-trustee agencies since the site was named a Superfund site. NOAA has provided comments on dozens of technical documents, including work plans, data reports, and risk assessment plans. NOAA has also developed a watershed database and mapping project that allows the project team to display, analyze, sort and summarize data from numerous sources. The project includes sediment chemistry data, sediment bioassay test results, bathymetry, aerial photography, habitat types, outfall locations, and land use information. The project has been used by the team to help identify candidate sites for early actions, and to help design the field sampling plan for 2004.

Natural Resource Trustee

NOAA has two interdependent roles as a natural resource trustee. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability act of 1980, as amended (CERCLA), and the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) make parties releasing hazardous substances and oil into the environment liable not only for the cost of cleaning up these releases but also for compensation for injury to natural resources caused by these releases. NOAA works closely with EPA to ensure that the remedial investigation is protective of NOAA trustee resources. Under CERCLA and OPA, NOAA, and other natural resource trustees, are charged with establishing that an injury to natural resources has occurred and that the injury resulted from the release of the hazardous substance or oil, quantifying the effects of the release, and restoring and compensating for the injuries. NOAA can negotiate additional measures as part of the government remedial settlement to accelerate recovery of injured resources to baseline and ensure that resources will be protected and restored. NOAA can also conduct a natural resource damage assessment and file a legal claim against responsible parties, independent of the EPA process, to seek compensation for resources and services equivalent to those lost or injured from the onset of the injury until return to baseline. For more information regarding damage assessment see NOAA's Damage Assessment and Restoration Program website. NOAA focuses on habitat restoration based settlements, and recoveries must be used to restore, replace, or acquire resources equivalent to those lost or injured. At Portland Harbor, restoration projects might include opening up habitat that is currently inaccessible to fish, contouring steep shorelines to create more beach habitat, or planting native plants to create a vegetated riparian zone along the river. NOAA is one of nine natural resource trustees at the Portland Harbor site.

The trustees have signed a Memorandum of Agreement and formed a trustee council. The trustees expect to rely to the extent practicable on the remedial investigation data collected for EPA, but may require additional studies to determine whether and to what extent natural resources have been injured. Planning for these studies is underway.