Statement by Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc. and The Marine Group, as members of the Pre-RD Group, on Announcement of Portland Harbor
Pre-Remedial Design Investigation and Baseline Sampling Work
Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc. and The Marine Group, as members of the Pre-RD Group, are very pleased to have reached agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on a plan for pre-remedial design investigation and baseline sampling work at the Portland Harbor Superfund Site (Site). This work will expedite the cost-effective clean-up of the Site in a way that is protective of public health and the environment, while ensuring that this waterway that is so vital to Oregon's economy continues to be a working harbor.
We are also pleased that this sampling plan has been endorsed by a broad group of the Portland business community which has agreed to help fund its implementation. We look forward to moving expeditiously to implement this plan and collect the additional data called for in EPA's January 2017 Record of Decision (ROD).
A Schnitzer spokesperson added: "As a company that began operations in Portland over a hundred years ago and that continues to have an operating facility on the Harbor, we have a long-standing commitment to Portland Harbor and the Portland community. We believe that it is important to collect the additional data called for in this agreement on an expedited basis in order to move forward with a cost-effective cleanup of the Portland Harbor Superfund Site."
The Marine Group of San Diego added that the company is glad to have reached agreement on the work with EPA and thus be able to assist EPA with the needed sampling effort.
Background
The Pre-Remedial Design Investigation and Baseline Sampling Work is a robust plan involving a $14 million investment to collect data on current conditions at the Site. Because the data used to develop the ROD was over 12 years old, obtaining new data on current conditions is necessary in order to refine the remedy and move forward on remedy design and establish baseline conditions for long-term monitoring.
This data collection work is expected to proceed in parallel with other efforts to achieve early action on Site clean-up. In conjunction with such early action projects, this work is essential to achieving significant near-term progress on cleaning up Portland Harbor.
The fieldwork in the water is scheduled to begin in late January/early February 2018, with completion of all work and finalization of the data evaluation and reports in Fall 2019.
The Pre-RD Group was formed shortly after the ROD was issued in response to EPA Region 10's call for a group of PRPs to form and negotiate with the agency to perform and fund the additional pre-design investigation, data collection and baseline sampling contemplated by the ROD. The Pre-RD Group has worked closely with EPA to finalize the plan and related agreements over the past several months.
Sierra Club v. EPA 18cv3472 NDCA
Tiers 8&9
ED 002061 00114039-00001