Portland Harbor Superfund Site

Site Summary

The Portland Harbor Superfund Site in Portland, Oregon, is the result of more than a century of industrial use along the Willamette River.

Water and sediments along Portland Harbor are contaminated with many hazardous substances, including heavy metals, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), dioxin, and pesticides. These compounds have been found to be harmful to human health and the environment. Because of the contamination, some types of fish found in Portland Harbor, such as bass, carp and catfish currently pose a health risk to those who eat them.

Portland Harbor was added to EPA's National Priorities List in December 2000. The current study area extends from the Columbia Slough to the Broadway Bridge.

EPA and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality are working with potentially responsible parties to clean up contaminated sediment and control sources of additional contamination.

Who pays for the investigation and cleanup?

Current Status

The Final Human Health Risk Assessment for Portland Harbor Superfund Site is available for review (PDF) (141 pp, 1.2MB). The general conclusions from the assessment are:

eating resident fish such as catfish, bass, and carp from Portland Harbor is a health risk especially for recreational and subsistence fishers, and infants that are breast fed by mothers who eat resident fish;
PCBs are the primary contaminant associated with most of the risk from eating Portland Harbor fish; and
the health risks are great enough for cleanup to be needed under the Superfund law.

We are working with the Lower Willamette Group to finalize the draft ecological risk assessment, remedial investigation and the feasibility study which evaluates cleanup alternatives for Portland Harbor. We will use the final remedial investigation and feasibility study to develop a proposed cleanup plan by 2014. When released there will be a series of public information sessions to discuss the proposed plan and the opportunity for formal public comments. Until then, we will continue to meet with the community to provide updates, answer questions, and listen to concerns.

Stay informed:

Notice of Assessment and Stipulated Penalties Letter to Lower Willamette Group (PDF) (3 pp, 243K) - April 10, 2013
Final Human Health Risk Assessment (PDF) (141 pp, 1.2MB) - March 28, 2013

Note: To review appendices please contact Alanna Conley (conley.alanna@epa.gov) via email or at 503-326-6831 for a CD of the full report. You can also visit Multnomah County Central Library's Government Documents section.

Proposed Confined Disposal Facility Questions and Answers (PDF) (19 pp, 100K) - January 13, 2013
EPA comments on the RI/FS Draft Baseline Ecological Risk Assessment (PDF) (44 pp, 937K) - December 21, 2012
EPA comments on the March 2012 Draft Study Feasibility Study (PDF) (24 pp, 1MB) - December 18, 2012
Portland Harbor Baseline Human Health Risk Assessment (BHHRA) Dispute Decision (PDF) (10 pp, 924K) - December 6, 2012
Portland Harbor BHHRA Dispute Decision Memo - Partial Resolution (PDF) (2 pp, 94K) - October 25, 2012

"Early Action" cleanup areas

Early Action cleanup areas are parts of a Superfund site that may become a threat to people or the environment before the long-term cleanup is completed. The following areas within the Portland Harbor Superfund Site have already begun or completed cleanup activities:

Arkema - A former pesticide manufacturing facility contaminated with high levels of DDT and other chemicals.
Gasco-Siltronic - A former manufactured gas plant contaminated with tar deposits from past manufacturing.
River Mile 11E - An area located btween the Fremont and Broadway Bridges on the east side of the Willamette River.
Terminal 4 - A former industrial site contaminated with pesticides, PCBs, metals, and PAHs.
Triangle Park - A 35-acre former industrial site with soil and groundwater contamination.
U.S. Moorings Early Action Area - A former industrial site contaminated with metals, solvents, and petroleum by-products from historical boat maintenance activities.