Companies with property in the Portland Harbor Superfund Site downstream from NW Natural include ExxonMobil, BP and Toyota.<\/p>\n Cassandra Profita\/OPB<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Four of the parties responsible for cleaning up the polluted Portland Harbor say new testing shows the Superfund cleanup plan should be scaled back.<\/p>\n But the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency disagrees.<\/p>\n Arkema Inc., Evraz Inc., Schnitzer Steel and The Marine Group have spent about $12 million testing the river\u2019s water, sediment and fish for contamination over the past two years in cooperation with the EPA.<\/p>\n The idea was to provide an updated look at the extent of pollution along the 11-mile Superfund site to guide the next phase of the cleanup process, in which hundreds of parties that share responsibility for cleaning up the area hash out their own individual clean-up plans.<\/p>\n The Willamette River\u2019s Portland Harbor Superfund site runs north from the Broadway Bridge to Columbia Slough. It\u2019s highly contaminated with dozens of pollutants from more than a century of industrial use. The EPA has spent decades developing <\/span>a $1 billion cleanup plan<\/a>.<\/p>\n As part of that plan, the four companies agreed to map the bottom of the river, collect hundreds of soil and water samples and test them for pollution, and track and test resident fish for contaminants.<\/p>\n These companies say their latest testing shows the river is much cleaner than it was in 2004 \u2014 the last time the area was comprehensively sampled. In <\/span>a report to the EPA<\/a>, the group argues its findings support significant changes to the federal clean-up plan and major reductions in the amount of acreage that will need active cleanup.<\/p>\n More than a hundred parties share responsibility for cleaning up the highly polluted 10-mile stretch of the Willamette River known as the Portland Harbor Superfund Site.<\/p>\n Cassandra Profita\/OPB\/EarthFix<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe site has recovered significantly,\u201d the report states. \u201cConcentrations of contaminants of concern have significantly decreased in site sediment, surface water and fish tissue, greatly reducing the risks associated with the site.\u201d<\/p>\n The EPA\u2019s plan includes removing contamination in the river through dredging or covering it up by capping it with clean soil. But the companies say their test results support reducing the amount of dredging required by 75% and increasing the area left to recover naturally \u2014 without any active clean-up work \u2014 from 84% in the EPA\u2019s existing plan to about 95%.<\/p>\n Documents show the new pollution testing found levels of the toxic industrial pollutants PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) have dropped by 52% across the Superfund site since 2004 while levels of PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) dropped 79%.<\/p>\n The EPA ordered, approved and supervised the testing, and the agency says the results are acceptable. However, in <\/span>a memo<\/a> <\/span>and <\/span>comments<\/a> <\/span>responding to the group\u2019s report, the EPA made it clear that it does not support the group\u2019s conclusions about scaling back its cleanup plan.<\/p>\n \u201cIn general, the EPA does not agree that the data collected or the Pre-RD Group\u2019s analysis support many of the conclusions presented,\u201d Davis Zhen wrote in a Sept. 13 letter. \u201cHowever, these new data sets \u2026 will form the key underlying support for decision-making as remedial design work proceeds.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Companies](\"https:\/\/images5.opb.org\/c_limit%2Ch_1000%2Cq_90%2Cw_640\/img_0276_1525047548760.jpg\")
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