The pipelines will cross underneath Yaquina Bay and connect with a wastewater treatment plant in South Beach.

According to state parks’ coastal land use coordinator Steve Williams, the department will review the proposal in accordance with the permit standards for placement of pipelines, or conduits under the Ocean Shore administrative rules (OAR 736-020-0040) and the Oregon Removal-Fill Law (ORS 196.825). The department is accepting written comments during the initial public comment period, now through June 17.

The public will have additional opportunities to comment during a public hearing process requested by the City of Newport. The state agency will announce the time and place of the hearings 30 days in advance. At least one hearing will be held in Newport.

Newport officials propose to bury 1.3 miles of pipes under the beach in a trench excavated into bedrock and encased in concrete. The exception will be in the vicinity of Yaquina Bay State Recreation Site, where the pipes will be trenched into beach sand only. Further information on the permit request is available from Williams at (541) 867-3340 or by mail at OPRD, 5580 South Coast Highway, Newport 97365. Source: 5/28/99 Newport News Times.

But the new discoveries, made last year and this winter, raise the chances that small pollution plumes from unknown sources could threaten the central portion of Portland's well field. That's just as a huge solvent plume from Cascade Corp. and Boeing Co. plants is being cleaned up in the eastern section.

The little-used production wells are gaining importance with population growth and with new plans to shift more of the Bull Run water toward saving wild fish. A water plan released last week says the city plans to use well water more routinely.

If there are new plumes, that would mean costly cleanup, treatment or restrictions on using some of the production wells. The city is paying a consultant $145,000 through June to gauge the pollution and try to find its source. "We're obviously concerned, that's why we're tracking it and investigating further," said Jeff Leighton, the Water Bureau's ground water specialist.

Portland supplies water to 840,000 people, including residents in surrounding cities such as Gresham, Tigard and Tualatin. Its wells run within a mile of the Columbia between Interstate 205 and Blue Lake, tapping five aquifers separated by layers of silt and clay.

When the city first began to use the wells in the mid-1980s, the assumption was that the sediment layers and water filtering in from the Columbia River would keep the well field safe from pollution. The productive Blue Lake aquifer, home to five city wells, contains mostly Columbia River water. But it turns out the other four aquifers tapped by the city mainly draw water from the south rather than from the river.

Water passes under solvent users. That water passes under land used by a host of potential industrial solvent users, past and present, from metal finishers to machine shops to assorted manufacturers. Up until the 1970s, conventional wisdom was that solvents would simply evaporate if poured on the ground, Leighton said. The city's running assumption is still that its deeper aquifers remain insulated from pollution because of thick sediment walls separating them from the next aquifer up. But this winter, officials were surprised to find small amounts of TCE, or trichloroethylene, in a monitoring well that plunges into the second-deepest aquifer along 158th Avenue.

The pollution may be coming from the next aquifer up via a leak in the well shaft; the city discovered pollution higher up in the same monitoring well. But the city's consultant hasn't been able to find a leak. Another possibility: The solvent, which is heavier than water, has reached the deeper aquifer through an abandoned well or by sinking through the sediment layer.

Drinking water standards. Contamination in the deep-aquifer monitoring well could reach a production well downstream in as little as five years. But TCE concentrations detected in a sequence of tests, ranging from nothing to 4 parts per billion, don't exceed the federal government's safe drinking water standard. That standard is 5 parts per billion, about equal to five aspirin dissolved in a 25-meter swimming pool.

The TCE levels detected in the next aquifer up at both 158th and 148th avenues ranged from nothing to 34 parts per billion, well above the federal standard. But that contamination appears to be at least 20 years away from city wells because it would need to penetrate a thick sediment barrier first, Leighton said.

The new pollution findings are the first in the central section. The wells in that section have been among the first tapped when the city decides to use wells. Before cleanup began two years ago, the Boeing-Cascade plume contained solvent concentrations of up to 100 parts per billion, and even 1,000 parts per billion in some spots. The city now has more than 50 active monitoring wells. Leighton said he's sure there are no other plumes as big as Boeing-Cascade's.

City looks for sources. The city doesn't consider Boeing or Cascade a potential source of the pollution detected at 148th and 158th avenues. Ground water in the area generally moves north and the new problems are west of the companies' plume, Leighton said.

Instead, consultants are concentrating on about 20 current and former industrial sites along the two streets. If the city can pin down who's responsible, it can try to make them determine the extent of the problem and clean it up. Shallow borings at 148th Avenue industrial sites have found no solvent pollution so far.

Oregon's Department of Environmental Quality is helping the city track potential polluters. Bruce Gilles, a project manager handling the state's oversight of the Boeing-Cascade plume, said the latest findings are less of a concern. "We're still in the site-assessment mode," Gilles said. "But the levels we've seen at this point aren't screaming high."

The wells have been used as backup only 10 times since 1984, either to bolster summer supplies or to substitute for Bull Run water when heavy storms push sediment in the water above federal standards. The last use was for five days in December. During a drought in summer 1992, the state wouldn't allow the city to use the wells because of fears that heavy pumping would draw the Boeing-Cascade plume deeper into the aquifers.

Pumping may draw pollution. The state has largely dropped those restrictions. But Tom O'Keefe, a citizen watchdog on the well fields, said the latest discovery increases concerns that pumping the wells does draw new pollution in. "Every time they turn the wells on it seems like new contamination is being found," O'Keefe said. "It seems like it's always going to be a problem."

Leighton agreed that pumping may exacerbate pollution. That's why the city is installing more monitoring wells to identify trouble spots and adjust pumping accordingly. The deepest aquifer tapped by the city holds 10 wells. No pollution has been discovered in that aquifer and pumping from it isn't likely to increase pollution in aquifers above it, Leighton said.

The Water Bureau's latest projection says abundant rain and snow mean the city should have plenty of water this summer. But the pressure on the Bull Run reservoirs isn't dropping. For the first time, the city plans to release about 5 percent of the available water supply over six weeks this summer into the Bull Run River to lower water temperatures and help wild fish, said Janet Senior, a Water Bureau senior planner. The test releases will help determine how much water is needed to help fish in the future. Source: 5/25/99 Oregonian, by Scott Learn.

In La Pine, along a stretch of U.S. 97, forest land opens to a small commercial strip that caters to people who visit Central Oregon to hike, fish, ski, hunt and camp. Yet few motorists who pass through the community's growing business district are aware of what lies to the west -- thousands of homes scattered throughout the forest, most of them lining rutted dirt roads and served only by wells and septic systems.

Nearly 15,000 people now reside in a rural area stretching from the Sunriver resort south of Bend to the Klamath County line. Of more than 13,000 half-acre and one-acre lots, 7,341 remain undeveloped, which could potentially triple the rural population of south Deschutes County. Under the voluntary program being developed for La Pine by the intergovernmental Regional Problem Solving Project for South Deschutes County, owners of vacant rural land could trade their rights to build on their land for a credit. Source: 5/25/99 Oregonian, by the Associated Press.

Also see: 5/23/99 - Link to Register Guard Article: What to do when growth is out of control?

They question whether tax breaks to attract businesses and jobs are worth the expense generated by the schools, roads and sewer lines that must be built to accommodate an ever-expanding population.

"The question is not, 'How many people can we tolerate to stuff into our state?' but rather, 'What is Oregon's optimal population?' " Kerr said. "We need to have a statewide conversation where we decide on the kind of Oregon we want." Kerr's group favors several measures to improve the quality of life by reducing population growth and consumption. The group supports limits on immigration, efforts to reduce pregnancies, tax structures that favor families with one or two children and cutting subsidies to developers.

Kerr said an influx of immigrants, domestic and foreign, is a major threat to Oregon's livability. Newcomers increase demand for housing and services. The result is sprawl, congestion and pollution. "I don't think we can afford any more Americans, whether we breed 'em or import 'em," Kerr said. "They consume too much."

Most Oregonians oppose rapid growth and dislike the problems that come with it, said Eben Fodor, a Eugene planning consultant. But public opposition is unorganized, underfunded and unable to counter the clout of construction, real estate and big business interests, he said. "A majority of people want to see local government take action to slow down growth, and at this point, they are doing nothing about it," Fodor said. More people might be moved to act if they knew how much they were paying to subsidize new development, he said.

On average, a new single-family house requires an additional investment of more than $33,000 to cover the cost of providing schools, parks, water systems and fire stations and to generate and supply electrical power Fodor said, citing his 1998 report on the cost of growth in Oregon. The burden typically is borne by those who pay property taxes and utility bills, he said.   Source: 5/23/99 Oregonian, by Steve Mayes.

Citing fears of a lawsuit, the council members refused to make a developer of four homes across from Hinamon pay more for the road at Southeast 48th Avenue and Mitchell Street, though they said it's clear the street benefited developer Joe Van Haverbeke far more than Hinamon and her neighbors. But the council did agree to cough up about $8,000 to reimburse Hinamon and other neighbors for retaining walls they built after the new road went through. And they said the case shows how unfair the city's local improvement district system can be. "Two wrongs don't make a right here," Commissioner Jim Francesconi said. "To change the rules on a developer is just not the right thing to do."

The $107,000 street was built without the consent of Hinamon and other longtime residents. The reason is that Van Haverbeke and the neighbor who sold the lot to him owned a majority of the land along what once was a dead-end gravel street, making it automatically qualify for a new through street. Three other neighbors who had no say in the project owe slightly less than $30,000 total. That scenario -- longtime residents getting big bills for streets spurred by new development -- has played out elsewhere in Portland and across the state. Issue will appear again It promises to pop up more as pressure grows to build on Portland's 146 miles of unimproved streets. To help curb urban sprawl, the city wants to make way for 70,704 new homes by 2017, and planners say building on unimproved streets is key to meeting that goal.

The city is studying changes to the local improvement district system and is scheduled to report back to the council in about a year. Administrator Matt Brown, who is heading that review, said the committee is considering several methods that would significantly shift costs to developers.

But Brown recommended Wednesday that those methods not be used in the Southeast 48th case, saying they haven't been studied thoroughly. Van Haverbeke could sue, council members said, and knocking down the tab for Hinamon and her neighbors could prompt calls for relief from other residents with big road bills.

Several speakers urged the council to make Van Haverbeke pay more, noting that he is asking $1 million total for his four homes. Van Haverbeke paid roughly $60,000 for the new street, both his share and the share of the neighbor he purchased the lot from.

Van Haverbeke said boosting his bill would be unfair. He pursued the improvement district only at the city's insistence and only after the Woodstock Neighborhood Association protested an earlier plan to build a scaled-down road. Protests and bureaucratic snags boosted his costs and dragged out construction for seven years, he said. "I really believe the city should stick to its deals," he said. Mayor Vera Katz and Commissioner Erik Sten encouraged Van Haverbeke to match the city's $8,000 to give the neighbors more of a break. Van Haverbeke said after the hearing that he would consider it.

Hinamon, whose bill is almost as much as her annual salary, said afterward that she was hoping the city would do more. She carries pictures in her purse of her home before the road went through, showing a tidy gravel road with a lush lot across the way. "It's better than nothing, but I wish they had come up with a little more," she said. "It's too bad they just didn't leave it a gravel road." Source: 5/20/99, Oregonian, by Scott Learn.

Further, the park isn't a private venture. It is owned by the city and has been funded thus far with $2.4 million in public funds. The park's off-the-beaten-track location makes it an unusual marketing challenge, acknowledges Bob Friedman, a member of a new city-appointed committee that's charged with coming up with a plan for selling parcels in the park. "It's going to make our job a little more unique, finding the right matches," Friedman said.

But public works director Ken Lanfear, who has overseen construction of the park's infrastructure, says the project is crucial to Florence. To keep young folks from leaving the community, and to offer local residents more than just low-wage service-sector work, the community needs an industrial base, he said. "We've lost our logging and fishing," Lanfear said. "We do need another source of jobs."

Remote rural towns face big obstacles creating successful industrial parks. Oakridge has struggled for years to attract tenants to its park. And Cottage Grove is years behind schedule on getting the first building constructed at its park. The Florence park has been in the works for a long time. The city completed the infrastructure, roads, power, water and sewer lines - about six months ago, using loans and grants from a range of government sources, including Lane County's road fund and the Oregon Economic Development Department.

The city held off marketing the parcels until now because Florence's sewage treatment plant is over capacity and has periodically released raw and partly treated effluent into the Siuslaw River, Lanfear said. The city didn't want to attract industry that might generate more sewage, he said. Earlier this year, the city began building a new plant.

So far, the city has sold two of the park's 54 lots: one on Feb. 17 to the Central Lincoln Public Utility District for $140,000; and the other on March 31 to Herbert and Carol Haight for a sheet-metal business, for $60,216, according to deeds filed with Lane County. Source: 5/18/99 Register Guard.

The city is negotiating with other buyers, Lanfear said. The city is asking for $76,000 to $80,000 per acre, he said. With the sale proceeds, the city will pay back loans, and then use any remaining money to upgrade its airport, which sits next to the park, Lanfear said. Lanfear said the park lots, if all of them sell, will fetch about $4 million. He said he's particularly keen to attract high-tech companies, perhaps operations with a link to the aviation industry. Source: 5/18/99, Register Guard, by Christian Wihtol.

Wilbur Terniyek, a local consultant in environmental restoration, will be the featured speaker. He will be discussing "The Importance and Inter-connectedness of Estuaries and Wetlands", and will be providing information about the wetland communities around Florence. The Siuslaw Middle School Stream Team will also be giving a presentation about their research and restoration projects. This dedicated group of seventh graders, led by teacher Jim Grano, have spent the year actively learning about the watershed.

The Siuslaw Watershed Council, formed in the Spring of 1996, is a community group made up of volunteers who believe that by working together, local people can play a big part in watershed protection and restoration in the Siuslaw basin. Group membership is diverse, and includes local landowners, people from the timber industry, members of the agriculture and commercial fishing community, and representatives from public resource management agencies. Area educators, local government, tribal representatives, and concerned citizens are also part of the Council.

The Council provides a framework for local involvement by bringing people together to discuss issues and develop projects that help protect watershed health and restore native salmon populations. Cooperative projects taht have been developed by the Council include on-the-ground water quality and salmon restoration and research projects, and educational opportunities, such as landowner workshops.

This meeting is open to the public, and those who are interested in learning about the Council are encouraged to attend. Council membership is open to anyone who wants to participate. General meetings are held the last Wednesday of every month. For more information, contact the coordinator, Maria Lavey, at the Mapleton Council office, 268-3044. Source: 5/18/99 News Release - Siuslaw Watershed Council.

The Northwest Environmental Defense Center (NEDC) told EPA Administrator Carol Browner in a March 22 notice of intent to sue that the agencyafailed its Clean Water Act (CWA) obligations by allowing the Oregon Department of Quality to issue a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for a Hillsboro, OR municipal separate storm sewer system that contains no compliance schedule for total maximum daily loads(TMDLs). Oregon is among the 42 states authorized by the EPA to run the federal NPDES program.

TMDLs, which states are required to develop under CWA Section 303(d), set the maximum amount of pollution water bodies can receive from all sources and still meet water quality standards. Environmentalists have filed morethan 30 lawsuits around the country claiming that states and EPA have failed to meet the program's requirements. Environmentalists' influence on the program has played a significant role in the EPA's efforts to strengthen it. Later this year the Agency is expected to propose new TMDL regulations and guidance.

The NPDES permit in question for the Unified Sewerage Agency requires the agency to implement best management practices to control storm water pollution. An Oregon regulator says the state believes the permit is adequate to ensure water quality. But NEDC alleges that the permit is unlawful because it does not include a compliance schedule to meet TMDLs in the Tualatin River Basin for phosphorus and ammonia-nitrogen. Furthermore, according to the NEDC notice, more than 3,000 violations of these TMDL pollution caps have already occurred because any rainfall produces runoff.

In light of these alleged violations, which NEDC estimates at $85 million, the group says it will seek:

• civil penalties; a revocation of all the wastewater treatment plant permits;
• design and construction of open swale drainage systems rather than street gutters with storage drains;
• revision of storm water drainage plans to maximize on-site or near-site storm water retention;
• and retrofitting of existing urban drainage system, including street drainage, to prohibit untreated discharges of storm water runoff

 

In one case, Schrader said 18 people were the target of an $18 million lawsuit after they testified about a proposed subdivision at a Banks City Council meeting. Although they won, they ended up being saddled with $2,000 in legal fees, Schrader said.

Under the bill, those who participate in public proceedings – such as land-use hearings – would be granted immunity in most cases. Those who knowingly make false statements that are not material to the issue under consideration wouldn't be protected. From Associated Press reports. Source: 5/13/99 - The Register Guard, Excerpt from Roundup - Legislature ‘99.

Also see: Link to: Letters re: SLAPP Suits and News From Outside - January

The five days since the leak was stopped have given clams adequate time to purge any contamination, according to state food safety officials. Source: 5/12/99, The Register Guard.

Also see: Link to Sewage Spills

The contractor hit an old line assumed to be empty at 11:45 a.m. Thursday, said Ken Lanfear, head of the Florence Public Works Department. But the old line had a tie-in to a newer functioning line, and 125,000 gallons of raw sewage bubbled up and out into the river before the leak was stopped at 4 p.m.

The city processes between 800,000 and 900,000 gallons of raw sewage daily, Lanfear said. The accident "wasn't the contractor's fault; it wasn't the city's fault," said Lanfear. "It's just something that happened."

Mike Govro, of the food safety division of the state Department of Agriculture, said he expected that clamming along the river could resume in five to seven days. Shellfish are filter feeders, sucking in water and filtering out tiny organisms to eat. It takes a while for bacteria that the shellfish take in to be purged from their systems. The city will test the water daily, Lanfear said. "Every time the tide changes, about a billion gallons goes past" the point of the spill, he said. Source: 5/8/99, The Register Guard.

Also see: Link to Sewage Spills