Oregon’s Waterways Need Help.
We’ve compiled a map of the Oregon facilities responsible for polluting our waters. Click here or keep scrolling to view it.
NEDC’s Stormwater Pollution Mapping Project is designed to provide an easy-to-use application for community members and advocates to assess industrial stormwater pollution in Oregon’s communities and local waterways. This application, available here, identifies industrial facilities across the state which, over the last five years, have reported multiple exceedances of stormwater pollutant benchmarks. The program will help NEDC identify at-risk waterways across the state, and provides Oregon communities with an essential resource in understanding local pollution sources. In turn, this will allow NEDC and local advocates to push for more effective stormwater treatment measures where they are needed the most.
Introduction: The stormwater pollution problem and NEDC’s history of advocacy
Stormwater pollution from industrial facilities threatens the health of Oregon’s aquatic ecosystems. Rainfall or snowmelt lands on these sites and comes into contact with industrial materials, where it can pick up the toxic pollutants. That polluted runoff is then often transported directly to nearby rivers. As our watersheds have been urbanized and impervious areas have increased, we have reduced the amount of vegetation that can naturally filter out these pollutants. As a result, when not managed properly stormwater runoff from industrial sites can carry dangerous amounts of toxic pollutants to the state’s waters, with severe impacts to the ecological health of these waters and to local communities.
For over 20 years, the Northwest Environmental Defense Center has led the fight to protect Oregon’s waters from industrial stormwater pollution. Through a series of lawsuits, we have secured a new stormwater permit for industrial facilities that complies with the Clean Water Act and can ensure this dangerous pollution is minimized to the greatest extent possible. Oregon’s “1200-Z” permit, covering almost 900 facilities across the state, requires aggressive action from industrial sites to reduce or eliminate pollutants from being discharged in stormwater. NEDC’s advocacy has led to a permit that puts Oregon at the forefront of stormwater regulation in the United States.
This, however, is not the end of the fight against industrial pollution in Oregon. With this more protective permit in place, NEDC has continued its role as an essential watchdog working to ensure the permit is properly implemented, and that Oregon’s waters receive the protections they deserve. NEDC students and staff review application materials for each new facility seeking covering under the 1200-Z permit, submitting comments identifying deficiencies in facilities’ pollution reduction plans. And, when necessary, NEDC brings Clean Water Act “citizen suits” against facilities that are violating the new permit. These lawsuits often conclude with settlement agreements requiring the facility to implement significant improvements in its pollution control measures.
View our Community Stormwater Pollution Map to see which facilities are polluting your local waterways.
Check out your waterway using EPA’s How’s My Waterway tool!
WATERWAYS OF CONCERN
Portland Metro Area: Willamette River and Columbia Slough
Medford: Bear Creek
Albany and Corvallis: Willamette River
Roseburg: South Umpqua River and Tributaries
Eugene/Springfield: Willamette and McKenzie Rivers