Willamette Riverkeeper takes an aggressive stand to ensure that each and every NPDES (National Pollution Discharge Elimination System) permit that allows discharges of pollution into rivers in the Willamette River Basin is as good as technically possible. We believe that all such permits should do all they can to avoid harming water quality. This aim remains true whether the permit is being applied for in Eugene, Albany, Salem or Portland. We make no distinction between old industrial facilities or high tech facilities of the next generation. We want clean water, and we want permits that protect the public trust and the biological integrity of the Willamette River.
Our Natural Waters Program also looks at a range of other issues and activities that affect the Willamette River's health. From deformed fish in the area of the Willamette known as the Newberg Pool to dump sites that continue to contaminate the river regularly, this program tracks them all and works to ensure that the public trust is upheld by our state and federal agencies and by the polluters themselves.
Under this program, Willamette Riverkeeper:
- Reviews all permit applications and comments on them to ensure that the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality understands the need to issue protective permits;
- Utilizes volunteer participation to voice concerns about pollution discharge permits and other activies harmful to the river;
- Pushes for cleanup (and additional study where needed) of sites such as Newberg Pool, where there are known issues of contamination and where the skeletal structure of resident fish are regularly deformed.
- Tracks stormwater permits to ensure that stormwater does not negatively impact the river.
- Works to ensure that our municipal treatment plants and related sewer systems are technically up to date to prevent harmful overflows of sewage that can affect human and river health.
- Files lawsuits where needed to protect the river. While this kind of activity is but one tool in our conservation and restoration toolbox, we reserve the right to utilize it where other options have been exhausted. Lawsuits provide an opportunity to protect the public trust, and frequently allow the public to overturn poor decisions and correct dishonorable actions.
The Willamette River is a publicly owned resource. In order to use the river as a convenient waste removal system, one needs to play by the rules and mind the letter of the law. |
