Post by south on Mar 25, 2021 18:18:27 GMT
Senator Thatcher,
First I want to thank you for all the information and your time. To be honest I still question my public safety concerns and lack of accountability by polluters.
Here is a little background why we all should be concerned. In the 90's when I was the conductor on the Boardman coal train. I testified during a PUC hearing that PGE was applying hazardous waste from the aluminum plants on their coal pile. I had pictures of tanker trucks spraying the waste. The plant operators also told me they were being ordered to turn off the scrubbers at night. I didn't say anything about the scrubbers for fear the operators would lose their jobs. PGE stopped the burning of hazardous waste and the incident was never reported to the news. I have since learned I should have said something about the scrubbers because this is likely the cause of the widespread mercury in all our fisheries.
When I became involved in the CDAO I found out through DEQ records request that the International Port of Coos Bay had not done the required follow-up testing at a proposed super-fund cleanup area where people were digging shellfish. ODFW sent myself and my Grandson to this area to dig bay clams. They also told me Coos Bay was the cleanest bay in Oregon. Not nice. Not testing for 10 years is inexcusable.
Clammers ask state to refer Port of Coos Bay to the EPA.
I have asked ODFW Director multiple times to post signs or create boundaries in unsafe shellfish harvest areas. We want signs at sewer plant discharge mixing zones where people are digging and eating shellfish. How can these areas be safe when DEQ only requires once a month testing? Class B sewer plants do not remove surfactants, pharmaceuticals, fire retardants, micro plastics and other nasty crud. The ODA does not allow oyster growers to use these areas but ODFW does.
This nondisclosure practice does not promote tourism and when people find out they have been duped, they never come back to dig clams. Go back and look at the picture in the world newspaper story. How could it be safe digging shellfish near a rotting ship with biocide paint dissolving? ODFW does not understand what the golden rule means. I feel the state should be obligated to provide known safety information to the tourist. The tourist dollars are paying ODFW bills. Is the cost for a few signs to much to ask for?
Back to the Columbia.
The current health no consumption warnings extend from Bonneville Dam upstream for one mile. In the spring some fish move beyond this 1 mile area. How can any fish be considered safe?
The Columbia River PCBs in the 1996-1998 document are widespread. Looking at the data, these are the same PCBs used as coolant in transformers. Where are they coming from? It has been 25 years and still no answer how these chemicals are entering the system. PCBs are oil based and float when release. They are so persistent they end up in the beach sand along our coastal beaches.
Sorry for the long rant, I don't want the information to be lost when I go to my grave.
Thank for you time, xxxxx xxxxxx Director CDAO
Coos Bay, Oregon
First I want to thank you for all the information and your time. To be honest I still question my public safety concerns and lack of accountability by polluters.
Here is a little background why we all should be concerned. In the 90's when I was the conductor on the Boardman coal train. I testified during a PUC hearing that PGE was applying hazardous waste from the aluminum plants on their coal pile. I had pictures of tanker trucks spraying the waste. The plant operators also told me they were being ordered to turn off the scrubbers at night. I didn't say anything about the scrubbers for fear the operators would lose their jobs. PGE stopped the burning of hazardous waste and the incident was never reported to the news. I have since learned I should have said something about the scrubbers because this is likely the cause of the widespread mercury in all our fisheries.
When I became involved in the CDAO I found out through DEQ records request that the International Port of Coos Bay had not done the required follow-up testing at a proposed super-fund cleanup area where people were digging shellfish. ODFW sent myself and my Grandson to this area to dig bay clams. They also told me Coos Bay was the cleanest bay in Oregon. Not nice. Not testing for 10 years is inexcusable.
Clammers ask state to refer Port of Coos Bay to the EPA.
I have asked ODFW Director multiple times to post signs or create boundaries in unsafe shellfish harvest areas. We want signs at sewer plant discharge mixing zones where people are digging and eating shellfish. How can these areas be safe when DEQ only requires once a month testing? Class B sewer plants do not remove surfactants, pharmaceuticals, fire retardants, micro plastics and other nasty crud. The ODA does not allow oyster growers to use these areas but ODFW does.
This nondisclosure practice does not promote tourism and when people find out they have been duped, they never come back to dig clams. Go back and look at the picture in the world newspaper story. How could it be safe digging shellfish near a rotting ship with biocide paint dissolving? ODFW does not understand what the golden rule means. I feel the state should be obligated to provide known safety information to the tourist. The tourist dollars are paying ODFW bills. Is the cost for a few signs to much to ask for?
Back to the Columbia.
The current health no consumption warnings extend from Bonneville Dam upstream for one mile. In the spring some fish move beyond this 1 mile area. How can any fish be considered safe?
The Columbia River PCBs in the 1996-1998 document are widespread. Looking at the data, these are the same PCBs used as coolant in transformers. Where are they coming from? It has been 25 years and still no answer how these chemicals are entering the system. PCBs are oil based and float when release. They are so persistent they end up in the beach sand along our coastal beaches.
Sorry for the long rant, I don't want the information to be lost when I go to my grave.
Thank for you time, xxxxx xxxxxx Director CDAO
Coos Bay, Oregon