The Department of Environmental Quality has opened a formal comment period on the proposed Purchaser Agreement of the former McCormick Baxter Creosote Co. site to Portland Botanical Gardens. The comment period ends January 30 at 5 pm. Emails can be sent to Sarah.miller@deq.oregon.gov.
Barbara Quinn
The project looks very good a first glance, but the main reason tribes and some Superfund activists object to the plan is because it proposes to ship in plants from 10,000 miles away when a native riverfront greenway is desperately needed on the urban Willamette River. Since industrial landowners have stalled the North Reach River Plan for years, there is no official greenway setback defined for the North Reach.
Photo by Tom Karwaki.
The 50 ft. wide strip of native plantings being offered is not even a bare minimum for a river the size of the Willamette. Further, instead of shading the river, or acting as a buffer, or providing habitat for river-dependent animals, or the other positive qualities a greenway can offer, it appears from the plan that people and paths may be allowed over every bit of it.
When McCormick Baxter became its own Superfund site due to intense pollution years ago, the owner skipped out, declared bankruptcy and taxpayers had to pick up the tab for $70 million to clean the land. Because of that, DEQ intends the site to have a significant public benefit. Willamette Riverkeeper had expressed interest in the property, as had the Bird Alliance, both of whom would have been thoughtful about restoration and river health. But due to some fluke in the legal process the original landowner who skipped out, gets to keeps the title and can choose the next buyer, so he opted not to work with them.
The best thing those who have come to support the project can say is that it is better than large buildings. That is true, but after the public spent $70 million to remove dangerous chemicals from the land, that seems like a pretty low threshold of approval.
It would be wonderful to see a use of the site that aids in badly needed restoration and healing of our lower Willamette River as well as offering education about our own region’s fabulous native plants and riverside habitat. That would be a true public benefit and help to stem the tide of the lower river’s disappearing fish, animals and water quality.
It would be great to see a functional greenway setback and a way for people to learn why it’s important. That would be a more authentic public benefit.
