Columbia River Basin Toxics Reduction Working Group
Columbia River Information
On this page:
Formation of Columbia River Toxics Reduction Working Group
To better characterize the risk to human health and ecosystems in the Columbia River Basin, EPA, other federal agencies, States, tribes, and non-profit partners established a working group. The goal of the working group is to prevent and reduce toxic concentrations and loads in the Columbia River, including reducing toxics in the fish that people eat.
The working group consists of a steering committee and several subgroups working on specific issues related to the toxics reduction effort (e.g., identification of contaminants of concern). The main objectives of the working group are to: identify additional monitoring needs; identify sources of toxics; and initiate toxic reduction actions.
Group Activities
The working group has been meeting since 2005 to share information, coordinate activities, and develop strategies to identify and then reduce toxics. The working group recognized that considerable efforts to characterize the toxics problem and initiate clean up efforts are already underway (e.g., Hanford, Portland Harbor, Lake Roosevelt, and the Estuary Partnership) and that it was important for the group to not duplicate past or ongoing efforts. The meetings have provided a forum for scientists from different organizations to share their work, coordinate efforts and increase collaboration.
State of the River Report
The State of the River Report highlights many important efforts to reduce toxics already underway in the Basin, including: erosion control in the Yakima Basin to reduce pesticide runoff; Pesticide Stewardship Partnerships to reduce pesticide use in the Hood River and Walla Walla Basins; PCB cleanup at Bonneville Dam; legacy pesticide collections and pharmaceutical take-back programs; and cleanup of the Portland Harbor, Hanford, and Lake Roosevelt contamination sites. Read more...
Meeting Notes
- Meeting Summary - June 2, 2009 (PDF) - (4pp., 28KB)
- Meeting Summary - February 18, 2009 (PDF) (4 pp. 43K)
- Meeting Summary - September 30, 2008 (PDF) (10 pp. 82K)
- Meeting Summary - June 10, 2008 (PDF) (2 pp. 49K)
- Meeting Summary - February 7, 2008 (PDF) (2 pp. 27K)
- Meeting Summary Tacoma, WA - October 30, 2007 (PDF) (2 pp. 35K)
- Meeting Summary Lacey, WA - July 17, 2007 (PDF) (4 pp. 35K)
- Meeting Summary Lacey, WA - April 9, 2007 (54K, 3pp, PDF)
- Meeting Summary Portland, OR - December 6, 2006 (35K, 3pp, PDF)
- Meeting Summary Richland, WA - September 21, 2006 (32K, 2pp, PDF)
- Meeting Summary Toppenish, WA - June 22, 2006 (78K, 7pp, PDF)
- Meeting Summary Lacey, WA - March 30, 2006 (229K, 6pp, PDF)
- Meeting Summary Portland, OR - December 6, 2005 (56K, 2pp, PDF)
Presentations
- Yakama Nation Regional Air Quality presentation (PDF) (23 pp. 1.93MB)
- EPA Toxic Contaminant Data presentation (PDF) (8 pp. 161K)
- Pacific Northwest Aquatic Monitoring Partnership (PNAMP) Presentation (PDF) (14 pp. 311K)
- Bradford Island CERCLA site Sediment Removal (PDF) (24 pp. 2.8MB)
- Columbia RiverKeeper Presentation (PDF) (7 pp. 1.1MB)
- Remedial Investigation Work Plan for Hanford Site Releases to the Columbia River (PDF) (22 pp. 1.8MB)
- Columbia River: State of the River Report for Toxics (PDF) (24 pp. 1.6MB)
- Mercury in the Snake River Basin (PDF) (24 pp. 1MB)
- Contaminants and Fish-Eating Osprey Nesting Along the Lower Columbia River, 1997/1998 and 2004 (PDF) (17 pp. 1.1MB)
- Monitoring Toxic Contaminants in Washington Washington’s Freshwater Fish (PDF) (26 pp. 1.4MB)
- Pollution in People: A Study of Toxic Chemicals in Oregonians (PDF) (17 pp. 170K)
- DEQ 2007 Mercury Reduction Strategy (PDF) (16 pp. 348K)
- Sources, Transport, and Fate of Mercury in the Atmosphere (PDF) (13 pp. 733K) October 30, 2007
- Possible Indicators for the Columbia River Basin (PDF) (17 pp. 738K) October 30, 2007
- Mercury contamination in the Columbia River Basin—Sources and Pathway Pathways (PDF) (58 pp. 1.8MB) October 30, 2007
- Contaminants and Potential Effects on the Reproductive Physiology of White Sturgeon from the Columbia River (PDF) (17 pp. 530K) by Oregon Department of Environmental Quality on July 17, 2007.
- Willamette Basin Mercury TMDL by Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (1.8mb, 30pp, .pdf)
- Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study (RI/FS) Update Upper Columbia River Site by EPA, Region 10 (1.8mb, 32pp, .pdf)
- Human and Ecosystem Health Hurricane Katrina / Columbia River (1.3mb, 27pp, PDF)
- Toxics Monitoring Program Design Alternatives (7.4mb, 12pp, PDF)
- Agency Responses to Identifying Toxics of Concern (3.2mb, 23pp, PDF)