Harbor pollution costs climb

Discovery of solvent in soil, water adds to Willamette woes

By Ben Jacklet

The Portland Tribune, Mar 12, 2004, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Three of the biggest employers in Northwest Portland are facing potentially costly cleanups as the Portland Harbor Superfund investigation grinds its way forward.

Siltronic, a German company that employs more than 1,000 people at its silicon wafer plant at 7200 N.W. Front Ave., is the latest company to be targeted by environmental officials. The firm has been ordered by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to begin investigating the trichloroethylene, or TCE, that has been discovered in the soil and groundwater around the facility.

The TCE probe adds another twist to the early stages of a complex attempt to clean up the lower Willamette River. The harbor was named as a Superfund site in December 2000 after scientists found petroleum waste, DDT, polychlorinated biphenyls and other toxins in the river.

Siltronic and two other Portland powerhouses, Gunderson Inc. and the NW Natural gas utility company, are among the 70 area companies that could end up on the hook for an estimated $200 million-plus in restoration costs.

The Environmental Protection Agency is overseeing the harbor cleanup, with assistance from DEQ. One of DEQ’s tasks is to prevent contaminants such as TCE from further polluting the river.

TCE is an industrial solvent that is associated with several forms of cancer. It was measured at 575 milligrams per liter in a groundwater sample taken from an area that formerly held a TCE underground storage tank on the Siltronic property, according to Matt McClincy, DEQ project manager.

The solvent was discovered during a joint investigation by Siltronic and NW Natural, which owns a 37-acre site contaminated with tar and cyanide next to the Siltronic plant. The two companies were looking into who was responsible for what when consultants found the TCE in March 2002.

Faulty storage and spills

Siltronic’s environmental manager, Tom McCue, said the company used TCE during the 1980s and held it in underground storage tanks that apparently leaked.

The contaminated groundwater was not used for drinking, but the river nearby is popular among recreational fishermen.

It’s hard to predict what the Siltronic cleanup will entail, but it may end up being similar to one planned just upstream, at the Gunderson property.

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