CCC Administrators Teck Resources, Upper Columbia River Clean Up

U.S. EPA to Conduct More Soil Cleanup This Summer/Fall within Town of Northport

EPA is performing additional soil cleanup work at 15 properties within Northport during summer/fall 2022. This includes 14 residential properties and a common use area at the corner of 3rd Street & Columbia. This cleanup work is being done to address threats to people’s health from potential exposure to lead in their soil. This 2022 soil cleanup work builds on previous cleanup work conducted in and around Northport in 2004, 2015, 2018 and 2020.

Contaminated topsoil will be removed – typically down to a depth of 6 or 12 inches – and clean soils will be installed to re-establish the original grades. EPA Region 10 is using an interim action level of 700 parts per million (ppm) of lead in the soil to guide the selection of properties for this year’s cleanup.

The soil cleanup work began during the week of August 15 and is expected to last 8 to 10 weeks. Click here for the EPA’s fact sheet describing this project.

Based on new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and EPA’s published Removal Management Level User’s Guide, EPA Region 10 has also adopted a lower lead removal action level in soil from 700 ppm (parts per million) to 400 ppm. Additional cleanup work may be performed in the future within Northport and Upper Columbia Valley to address properties with lower levels of lead contamination that exceed the new action cleanup level.

Lake Roosevelt Forum

CCC Administrators Uncategorized

Monitor Upper Columbia Air Quality

Published: Wednesday, 07 September 2022 20:33

The Colville Confederated Tribes (CCT) are seeking volunteers to host small PurpleAir monitors at locations near the Upper Columbia River (Lake Roosevelt). Click here to complete a quick questionnaire to see if you’re a good fit to be a host. Selected volunteers will join a citizen science cadre contributing to the health of you and your neighbors.

This is part of a two-year EPA Environmental Justice grant received by CCT. Said tribal consultant Whitney Fraser, “We envision 52 air monitoring stations being distributed as close to the river as possible.”

Data will be collected and shared real-time via the web and mapping technology. It’s a big win for residents affected by annual events like wildfires and dust storms. “At a glance,” said Fraser, “you can see whether air quality near where you live is of concern and whether to take precautions.”

Measuring the size and quantity of airborne particles, monitoring stations are the size of a camp stove. As the numbers increase, the risk to people increases as well. For those suffering from asthma and other respiratory ailments, this type of real-time information can allow people to take actions that limit their exposure to unhealthy air.

Working with the University of Washington, CCT is also trying to discern if it’s possible to identify a distinct “signature” from different readings. For instance, dust storms may have a distinctive ratio of particle size and quantity. Other examples would be wildfires, or industrial emissions from a smelter.

After the two-year grant period, Fraser hopes the network of monitors will remain active. The hard part according to Fraser is getting the volunteers and infrastructure in place. Once installed, they are fairly low-cost to maintain.

Please consider being a part of this important community-based air quality monitoring program.

Copyright © 2022 Lake Roosevelt Forum

CCC Administrators Teck Resources, Washington State Department of Ecology

Northport Waterfront Cleanup Project

PROJECT BACKGROUND

The Washington State Department of Ecology is directing and funding an investigation and cleanup of smelter-related metals contamination on Northport’s City Park and boat launch waterfront area. 

The project area includes all permanently and seasonally exposed areas of the Columbia River bank and shore directly next to the Northport Town Park and boat launch. From the river, this area is between Smelter Rock downstream to the Northport Highway 25 Bridge, and is associated with the historic Le Roi Smelter that was located at and around the park. The area remains polluted by smelter wastes that were dumped and dispersed along the shore.

Our goal is to assess options for protecting people and restoring the near-shore and shoreline environment next to the park. We look forward to working with local government, businesses, and residents during the investigation and cleanup process to understand your concerns and the community’s vision for the waterfront.

The draft Remedial Investigation was completed in October 2019. We will hold a comment period for it when the draft Feasibility Study Report that lays out cleanup options is also ready. We are planning to finish developing cleanup options by late 2020.

During the feasibility study work, we are planning to hold a public meeting to share the investigation results and start discussing options for cleanup. The purpose of having a public meeting prior to public comment on the reports is we’d like to incorporate the community’s Town Park shore improvement and development ideas into the cleanup options.

CONTAMINATION

The information in the draft Remedial Investigation Report will help Ecology understand where contamination exists and develop options for cleaning it up.

However, based on past investigations in this area, we know several metals are present in smelter wastes in this area:

Metal levels known to be present do not pose an immediate, acute human health risk. However, long-term exposure may increase the risk of certain health problems. You can take simple actions to protect yourself and your family from exposure.

RELATED CLEANUP SITES

CCC Administrators Teck Resources, Upper Columbia River Clean Up

Human Health Risk Assessment Webinar

Dear CCC members and friends,

We have the opportunity, as one of the communities most affected by Teck smelter discharges into the air and water, to provide comments on the EPA’s Human Health Risk Assessment. This document estimates the nature and probability of adverse health effects in humans who may be exposed to chemicals in contaminated environmental media, now or in the future. It will be used to help determine the need for cleanup or other remedial measures to reduce contaminant exposure and protect public health.

As you read through this document, you might consider the effectiveness of past removal actions and whether they were sufficient, whether there are any exposure media (e.g., water, beaches) that have not been fully considered, if you are comfortable with the conclusions about the safety of beaches and fish consumption, and which lead benchmarks should be used for clean-up.

To help prepare you for making comments, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will be holding two identical webinars, on June 10 and July 15, both starting at 5:30 pm to give as many people as possible a chance to learn more about the HHRA directly from the EPA. If you wish to attend the webinars, please preregister at:

www.eventbrite.com/e/epa-upper-columbia-river-webinars-tickets-105584696670

The draft Human Health Risk Assessment is available on EPA’s website:

www.epa.gov/columbiariver/upper-columbia-river-remedial-investigation-feasibility-study

Comments must be received by July 24th. If you have questions about the assessment and cannot attend a webinar please contact Robert Tan at: (206) 553-2580. Also, feel free to email me if needed; best address is smithm69@msu.edu.

Best to all and stay safe and well,

Mindy Smith, CCC secretary  

The Northport Project Washington State Department of Ecology

Northport Waterfront Investigation

WA State Department of Ecology is directing and funding an investigation and cleanup of smelter-related metals contamination on Northport’s City Park and boat launch waterfront area. The project area includes all permanently and seasonally exposed areas of the Columbia River bank and shore directly next to the Northport City Park and boat launch. From the river, this area is between Smelter Rock downstream to the Northport Highway 25 Bridge, and is associated with the historic Le Roi Smelter that was located at and around the City Park. The area remains polluted by smelter wastes that were dumped and dispersed along the shore. Our goal is to assess options for protecting people and restoring the environment next to the City Park. We look forward to working with local government, businesses, and residents during the investigation and cleanup process to understand your concerns and the community’s vision for the waterfront.

First round of beach sampling complete

We held a comment period March 13 – April 11, 2019, for the Remedial Investigation (RI) Work Plan and related State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) documents. Learn more about the investigation in the notice that was mailed to local residents and businesses.We responded to comments from two people and thank them for their input. 

Next steps

The draft RI Report will take several months to prepare following the initial field work and be publicly available later this year. We will hold a comment period for it when the draft Feasibility Study Report that lays out cleanup options is also ready.

Prior to that, we are planning to hold a public meeting to share the investigation results and start discussing options for cleanup. The purpose of having a public meeting prior to public comment on the reports is we’d like to incorporate the community’s City Park shore improvement and development ideas into the cleanup options.

Contamination

The information gathered during the investigation will help Ecology understand where contamination exists and develop options for cleaning it up. However, based on past investigations in this area, we know several metals are present in smelter wastes in this area:

Metal levels known to be present do not pose an immediate, acute human health risk. However, long-term exposure may increase the risk of certain health problems. You can take simple actions to protect yourself and your family from exposure.

Related Information

  • Dirt Alert program  – Industrial air emissions and pesticides used in farming have polluted large areas of soil with arsenic and lead. Our Dirt Alert program provides information on how you can protect yourself and your family.

Related Clean-Up Sites

Additional Resources