NEDC Files Suit Against Ennis Paint

Ennis Paint, a Texas-based corporation, owns and operates a paint manufacturing and distribution facility in Salem. Ennis has long failed to comply with its responsibilities to properly manage the stormwater discharged from its facility into the Willamette River, as required by the Clean Water Act.

NEDC filed suit against Ennis Paint on February 24, 2010.

Stormwater Pollution from Roads

NEDC recently resolved a Clean Water Act enforcement action against the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT). Read local TV news coverage, and an Oregonian story.

NEDC's Staff Attorney, Andrew Hawley, also had an opinion piece published on the topic, and the formal notice was the subject of coverage as well.

Thanks to Chris Winter from the Crag Law Center for teaming up with us on this effort.

Additional background on this and many other stories in NEDC's latest newsletter.

Appeal of TransAlta Centralia Permit

NEDC has joined the Sierra Club and The National Parks Conservation Association in an appeal of an air pollution permit recently issued to TransAlta, the owner and operator of Washington state's only coal-fired power plant in Centralia. We are represented by Earthjustice in Seattle.

Through a closed-door mediation process, the Washington Department of Ecology reached an agreement with TransAlta establishing unconscionably low pollution reduction targets for NOx and mercury emissions, and is presently engaged in a pro forma process of public hearings, seeking public input on pollution control reduction measures which TransAlta communicated to its shareholders in the company's 2008 annual report have already been finalized.

Schnitzer Steel Enforcement Action

NEDC has resolved a Clean Water Act enforcement action against Schnitzer Steel. Oregonian and Portland Tribune stories discuss the settlement.

View a video clip of Schnitzer's discharge, and stay tuned for before and after images contrasting present discharge from the site with discharge after Schnitzer implements major infrastructural upgrades at the property.

Schnitzer Steel's Scrapyard in Portland Harbor.

Thanks to Alder Creek Kayak and Canoe for logistical support!

Protecting Water Quality From Urban Stormwater Pollution

As urban development and redevelopment continue to alter the natural landscape, opportunities to implement innovative green infrastructure and low-impact design principles have never been greater. NEDC is working to ensure that the next round of municipal separate storm sewer system pollution discharge permits for Oregon's largest municipalities require creative solutions to the urban stormwater problem, and are as protective of water quality as possible.

We submitted extensive comments on this subject to Oregon DEQ on behalf of a coalition of Oregon conservation groups, and we also included an article on this topic in our newsletter.

PGE's Boardman Coal-Fired Power Plant

In early 2008, NEDC joined several other conservation groups in sending formal notice of our intent to sue PGE for violations of the Clean Air Act. On September 30, 2008 we filed the complaint in federal court.

Are emissions from PGE Boardman harming the Columbia River Gorge? Read "The Costs of Coal" in our newsletter, and our fact sheets:

Local Economic Impacts of Air Pollution in the Columbia Gorge

The Environmental Effects of Nitrogen Pollution in the Pacific Northwest.

Visit our PGE Boardman page for further backround.

NEDC's Clean Water Act Enforcement Work Yields Results

Kosta's Scrap Metals, Inc. 8250 N. Albina, Portland, Oregon

This scrap yard was discharging heavily contaminated industrial stormwater straight to a local waterway everytime it rained, until NEDC got involved and required the operator to install pollution control technology.

Our environmental enforcement work was one of the topics discussed by Oregon's attorney general candidates during a conversation on Oregon Public Broadcasting's Think Out Loud, and was also referenced in an interview with DEQ's new director in the Portland Tribune.

Protecting the Rogue River

On October 3, 2008 NEDC joined the newly formed Rogue RiverKeeper and the Northwest Steelheaders by intervening in support of the state of Oregon in a challenge by Rogue River riparian property owners to the state's recent navigability determination concerning an 89-mile stretch of the stunningly beautiful Rogue River. Here is a helpful background factsheet developed by the Oregon Department of State Lands.

Thanks to Portland attorney Thane Tienson for representing us in this matter.

Columbia River Crossing

View the comprehensive comments we submitted on the Columbia River Crossing I-5 bridge proposal. Many thanks to the PEAC legal team, our coalition partners, and NEDC's law clerk Lizzy Zultoski for the many hours of work expended in this endeavor.

Grabhorn Landfill

The Grabhorn Landfill is the only unlined garbage dump in the Portland metropolitan area. Oregon DEQ's analysis shows that discharges of contaminated groundwater from the landfill to the nearby Tualatin River "represent a potential threat to the river's bird, mammal, and aquatic life populations."

Read the Willamette Week article "Grapes of Trash" and an editorial in the Oregonian to learn more.

In 2008, NEDC sued the landfill owner under the Clean Water Act to address unlawful discharges to the Tualatin River basin. Read a story in the local newspaper and a January 31st column in the Oregonian referencing NEDC as Oregon's "de facto environmental watchdog".

Chetco River

NEDC submitted extensive comments on an ill-conceived proposal by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to authorize all current and future gravel mining activity in Oregon's scenic Chetco River with a broad under-protective general programmatic permit.

NEDC also recently submitted extensive comments to Oregon DEQ on two proposals to increase gravel extraction activity in the Chetco River in 2009.

NEDC's Coastal Water Pollution Permit Commenting Guides

NEDC has developed two straightforward, easy-to-use guides to commenting on Oregon coastal water pollution permits. Our Sewage Treament Plant Citizen's Guide focuses on issues specific to coastal sewage treatment plant water pollution discharge permits, while our Construction Stormwater Run-Off Citizen's Guide addresses pollution related to coastal development.

Fish Passage Center Defunding

In early 2008, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reiterated its directive to BPA to fully restore funding for the Fish Passage Center, and found BPA's actions to defund the center "arbitrary, capricious and contrary to law". The court characterizes BPA's faulty reliance on Senator Craig's remarks as "slavish adherence to a sentence in a legislative committee report". The Center's history of sound science has prevailed over the personal political agenda of Idaho's senior senator Larry Craig, who single-handedly attempted to shut the Center down.

Visit our Fish Passage Center webpage to learn more and to see the court's order in NEDC vs. BPA.

NEDC vs. Owens Corning Lawsuit

On May 17th, 2006 federal Magistrate Judge John Jelderks denied Owens Corning’s motion to dismiss NEDC vs. Owens Corning, ruling in Plaintiffs’ favor on every issue.

Visit our Owens Corning webpage for more details.

Columbia Slough Industrial Stormwater Pollution

NEDC's efforts to clean up the Columbia Slough continue. Visit our Columbia Slough stormwater page to learn more.

Westwind 2008!

Photos courtesy of AndrewBurdickPhotography.com and HisAndHerPhotography.com

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