Columbia River Basin Toxics Reduction Working Group | Region 10 | US EPA

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Columbia River Basin Toxics Reduction Working Group

Columbia River Information


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

Presentations

Local Navigation

URL: http://yosemite.epa.gov/R10/ECOCOMM.NSF/Columbia/trwg

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