Blog post by Miles Johnson, Riverkeeper’s Clean Water Attorney—
The Columbia River’s public beaches are where you swim, launch a boat, cast a fishing line, and enjoy the river’s beauty with friends and family. Worrying about toxic debris should be the last thing on your mind. Yet toxic contamination is threatening one such public beach.
You can help! See details below on how you can take action.
Marine Park provides a sandy beach along the Columbia, and a public boat launch, in the midst of Vancouver’s heavily-developed waterfront. In 2010, sand and soil samples from the beach contained dangerously high levels of lead. In 2012, public complaints about rusty metal and garbage in the beach prompted the City of Vancouver to excavate some 50 tons of soil and debris. The lab results show a beach contaminated with lead and other toxic substances.
How did this toxic trash get to our public beach?
It turns out the waste has been there a long time. In the 1940s, Kaiser Shipyards built large military vessels in Vancouver. The industrial and domestic wastes from shipbuilding operations were dumped along the riverbank and covered with dredge spoils. Erosion and human disturbance gradually uncovered the once-buried debris.
What is being done?
The City of Vancouver removed some contamination, but much more remains buried. The City’s latest plans call for leaving the remaining debris, placing a fabric over the beach, and covering the fabric with rocks and soil (the cap). According to the City, this plan will keep the toxic debris from resurfacing. Design details are sketchy, to say the least, but the cap would apparently cover a large portion of the public beach and extend below the waterline, exposing it to wear and tear by the river. And, the cap would likely be a temporary solution; in a few years or decades, people could re-discover the toxic debris.
TAKE ACTION
This winter Riverkeeper met with the Washington Department of Ecology and explained why the Vancouver Marine Park cleanup should ensure the beach is safe for public use for generations to come. Now Ecology needs to hear from you! Contact the Washington Department of Ecology and share your thoughts: Scott Rose at (360) 407–6347 or sros461@ecy.wa.gov.
