Word came from the Oregon Health Authority today that it intends to grant a variance to the City of Portland from an absurd EPA requirement to additionally treat Bull Run water for Cryptosporidium. Finally, a sweet victory for COMMON SENSE!
This protozoa has never threatened Bull Run water because the primary sources (humans and domestic animals) are prohibited from entry into the Bull Run Management Unit. We thank Senator Merkley (who helped the EPA understand the unique nature of the protected Bull Run), the OHA, the Portland City Council, the Water Bureau and those activists, organizations, and businesses who fought so long and hard to halt the unnecessary expenditure of at least $90 million (plus annual operating costs). Thank you so much!
Now we need to submit comments to the OHA and encourage the agency to set more reasonable and less costly monitoring conditions with establishment of the variance. The only EPA-approved protocol for testing for Crypto is terribly flawed (according to water experts) and the agency's draft conditions rely far too heavily on that method. Stay posted for details on comments and plan to attend a hearing in Portland on December 14th.
Even then, our work is not done. We now call for a commitment from the Portland Water Bureau and the Portland City Council to focus and correct the second part of the flawed EPA rule (dealing with our historic reservoirs) as New York City is doing. As of today, we've accomplished what no other city has. Let's keep up the good work!
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Friday, October 21, 2011
PolitiFact more “politi” than “fact” today
When (in January 2011) the President ordered the EPA to open its ears, and take public comments regarding its regulatory practices, Portland had an opportunity to shine a new spotlight on EPA’s LT2 regulation and the unnecessary expenditures it forces upon our city. Our City Hall submitted, via lazy online form, a handful of disjointed, poorly crafted paragraphs in which only 3 sentences even mentioned LT2. Compare that with New York City’s response to this opportunity – they submitted over 100 pages, on letterhead, with scientific data detailing the flaws of LT2 and its blunt application across all water systems – and you see in New York a city that defines action.
When (in July 2011) New York City’s meaningful, relentless efforts to extract LT2 reform (and save billions of dollars) manifested an official EPA agreement to review and reform LT2 madness, Portland had an opportunity to freeze all spending on every LT2 related project (Powell Butte tanks, Kelley Butte Tanks, Mt. Tabor disconnect). But they didn’t. Instead, our City Hall allows our Water Bureau to move forward with these projects under the claim that they were “in the long-range plan anyway”. We’ll apparently need them in 50 years; never mind we can’t afford to upkeep them for the next 50 years until we need them; never mind that we already have more storage than we can use even without these new tanks; and never mind that the “long-range plan” from which these source was written 20 years ago, based-on what have become obviously incorrect consumption projections, and that the very Consultant who wrote this “long-range plan” now hopes we’ll stick to it no-matter-what because he’ll make billions on the construction of said projects.
Those citizens that read everything related to this issue know that PolitiFact just plain doesn’t get it, that Portland’s City Hall has NOT contributed meaningfully to this fight since 2009, and that there are more than enough examples of this kind of inept action (i.e. inaction) to make even the most polite Portlanders hot under the collar.
When (in July 2011) New York City’s meaningful, relentless efforts to extract LT2 reform (and save billions of dollars) manifested an official EPA agreement to review and reform LT2 madness, Portland had an opportunity to freeze all spending on every LT2 related project (Powell Butte tanks, Kelley Butte Tanks, Mt. Tabor disconnect). But they didn’t. Instead, our City Hall allows our Water Bureau to move forward with these projects under the claim that they were “in the long-range plan anyway”. We’ll apparently need them in 50 years; never mind we can’t afford to upkeep them for the next 50 years until we need them; never mind that we already have more storage than we can use even without these new tanks; and never mind that the “long-range plan” from which these source was written 20 years ago, based-on what have become obviously incorrect consumption projections, and that the very Consultant who wrote this “long-range plan” now hopes we’ll stick to it no-matter-what because he’ll make billions on the construction of said projects.
Those citizens that read everything related to this issue know that PolitiFact just plain doesn’t get it, that Portland’s City Hall has NOT contributed meaningfully to this fight since 2009, and that there are more than enough examples of this kind of inept action (i.e. inaction) to make even the most polite Portlanders hot under the collar.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Let's get going!
Yesterday our coalition sent an appeal to Senator Jeff Merkley. Read the letter here.
Jeff has been an effective advocate for Bull Run for the past few years, having secured an important agreement with Lisa Jackson of the EPA. (The federal agency will not oppose a state variance that will allow Portland rate-payers to avoid unnecessary and wasteful construction and treatment of our Bull Run source water. That request for a variance is under consideration by the Oregon Drinking Water Program right now.)
Jeff was interviewed on OPB's Think Out Loud show today. (See Press Room.) There he stated that, given the new response from Lisa Jackson to a request sent by Senator Schumer-NY, he's ready to jump in to stop the unnecessary covering/treating of our in-town reservoirs, too, if given the clear support of the Portland City Council.
What are we waiting for? Let's get going!
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