By Sarah Taylor
If you wander down 107th Street in the town of Linnton, you can now enjoy a view of the river that was unavailable to the public before this fall. You will also notice a large fenced hill, where the historic plywood cooperative once stood. Recently DEQ and other agencies met to share details about what’s in the hill and how it came to be. For a more complete understanding, refer to the presentation film and slides on the LNA website: https://linntonna.org/
“Are there contaminants in the hill?” “How did they get there?” ”Can they get out?” These are the overarching questions. To answer the main question, there are a number of contaminants in the hill. DEQ states that they were always there and that the PCB levels in the hill are slightly above what is allowed. Local residents, familiar with the mill, do not recall the mill site having the PCB’s that were found there. Some contaminants came from dredging soil from the salmon resting area on the south side of the hill and using it as fill dirt. The on-site soil was tested randomly and the worst two areas of PCBs are buried in a “PCB Jail”–on a cement slab from the old mill and covered with rocks, clean dirt, and plants. RestorCap, the California corporation responsible for the renovation of the mill site, explained that is intended to keep the chemicals in place so that they don’t reach the river or air even in the event of an earthquake. RestorCap will conduct monitoring of the site for ten years. The contaminant of greatest concern for all the river industrial sites are PCBs. This was a popular chemical in the 60’s and 70’s and was found in many household and industrial products. It has been shown to cause cancer and can stay in body fat and be released to the unborn fetus. It remains in some fish and is, therefore, dangerous if eaten. It can evaporate into the air and be inhaled and it breaks down very slowly. An active creek runs through the site and into the river, picking up whatever is in the soil as it goes. PCBs are against the law now but their legacy lingers, all around the world and in the Linnton stretch of the river.
And so, “yes,” this area is contaminated but it also provides a river view, a place for some wildlife and is hopefully a launching place for a healthier stretch of river for wildlife and people. The beaches are currently accessible by kayak only. The full report on the mill restoration project is available in a video and PowerPoint. As the larger river cleanup moves forward, the issue of how clean is “clean” will be significant. Can large polluting corporations simply cover contaminants and not remove them? How safe is “safe” and is the Portland Harbor being treated differently than other river communities? There are still many unanswered questions, not just for this site but for the whole harbor clean-up.