Portland Parks and Recreation is building a brand new $102 million indoor aquatics facility, leaving the community of Northern Portland without year-round pool access until Winter 2029 at the earliest.
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State Suggests Burying Willamette Cove’s Toxic Soil Along Beach Local residents who have championed turning former dry dock into parkland say the state’s plan is insufficient. Willamette Cove. (Justin Katigbak) Updated April 7 at 8:18 PM Environmental advocates and North Portlanders are livid at a decision by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to clean up a contaminated beach on the Willamette River by burying most of the hazardous waste onsite.
WW examined the controversy over Willamette Cove last year ( Buried Treasure, Dec. 9, 2020). On March 31, DEQ issued its final cleanup plan and mostly ignored pleas from advocates to haul the toxic waste away.
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Murmurs: Jail Inmates Sue County Following Outbreak In other news: State suggests burying toxic soil along beach. Willamette Cove. (Justin Katigbak) Updated 5:29 AM
JAIL INMATES SUE COUNTY FOLLOWING OUTBREAK: Fifteen current and former detainees of the Multnomah County Inverness Jail, all of whom say they ve tested positive for COVID-19, filed a class action lawsuit in U.S. District Court on April 5, accusing jail staff and Multnomah County Sheriff Mike Reese of negligence for failing to mitigate spread of the virus. The lawsuit follows an outbreak that led to nearly 200 positive cases among Inverness Jail inmates, and about 30 staffers or members of their households. The reason for the outbreak is not a mystery, the complaint says. Defendants failure to require, or enforce, social distancing, [personal
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Readers Respond to Debate Over the Cleanup of Willamette Cove “If that beautiful beach looking across at the hills had a wealthy neighborhood above it on the bluffs, this wouldn’t be an open question. It would be cleaned up.” Willamette Cove. (Justin Katigbak) Updated December 22, 2020
For decades, Willamette Cove, a 3,000-foot stretch of beach in North Portland, has been closed to the public due to toxic waste contamination. Now, the Metro-owned beach is due for a cleanup. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has recommended burying most of the hazardous waste onsite and fencing off portions of the area. That conflicts with the hopes of North Portlanders who want the waste hauled away and the beach turned into a public park. WW