columbia river | Rosemere Neighborhood Association

Wind Power: Wind Farms and The BPA – January 6, 2009

April 6, 2009 Author: admin

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Bonneville Dam

On the last day of June, 2008, a surge of wind power caused a spike in the Northwest power grid, making the Bonneville Power Administration realize it could not handle such surges without spilling water that could be potentially dangerous to Columbia River salmon.

The BPA was “caught off guard” when an unexpected increase in wind power overloaded the regional grid. The Bonneville dam compensated by spilling water, keeping it from the hydropower generators. Generally, water is spilled to help juvenile salmon make their way downriver; however, excessive nitrogen, created when water plunging from the dams into the river becomes saturated with air (which is composed of 78% nitrogen), can be harmful to salmon. In this instance the BPA claimed the spill was not heavy enough to damage fish. [Read More...]

Update on Kalama Energy Plant – January 5, 2009

April 6, 2009 Author: admin

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This is a 2544-ton-per-day coal gasification plant on the Wabash River in Indiana. (Photo: Department of Energy)

Our efforts to block the coal fired power plant in Kalama have been successful. In their meeting held on September 9, 2008, the State of Washington Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council announced that The Pacific Mountain Energy Center in Kalama is being redesigned as the Kalama Energy Project. The newly renamed project will eliminate all the gasification facilities originally planned for the site and run exclusively on natural gas. [Read More...]

Clams and Crayfish Used to Study Waterborne Contaminants – January 6, 2009

April 6, 2009 Author: admin

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Asian clams collected at Frenchman's Bar, Vancouver

Recent water quality monitoring efforts in the Columbia River have relied upon the analysis of clam tissue to determine the levels of dangerous toxins that have been absorbed by aquatic organisms. In Vancouver, high levels of PCBs, a cancer-causing agent, have been identified in clam tissues taken from samples in front of Alcoa at the Port of Vancouver, and downstream toward the mouth of the flushing channel to Vancouver Lake. [Read More...]

John Karpinski Letter to the Editor – December 20, 2008

April 5, 2009 Author: admin

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Alcoa Power Plant, Vancouver, WA

This editorial was published by the Columbian newspaper.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Rosemere’s effort deserves credit, too

The Dec. 17 editorial, “Cleanup under way,” lauds the current cleanup of the Columbia River shoreline from Alcoa’s extreme pollution. This is indeed a victory. The Columbian, Gov. Chris Gregoire, and DOE Director Jay Manning, all deserve praise for their fine work. [Read More...]

Media Release: Groups praise cleanup action at Alcoa’s Vancouver site, but say more is needed – November 24, 2008

April 5, 2009 Author: admin

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For More Information, Call:

Dvija Michael Bertish
Rosemere Neighborhood Association

Lauren Goldberg
Conservation Director,
Columbia Riverkeeper
541-965-0985
lauren@columbiariverkeeper.org

November 24, 2008

Groups praise cleanup action at Alcoa’s Vancouver site, but say more is needed

VANCOUVER, WA — The Rosemere Neighborhood Association (RNA) and Columbia Riverkeeper (CRK) today called on the Washington Department of Ecology to require prompt cleanup of all toxic contamination caused by the Alcoa site in Vancouver. The Alcoa-Evergreen site is located on the banks of the Columbia River, inside Vancouver city limits, at the Port of Vancouver. The site is approximately 5000 feet from the mouth of the flushing channel to Vancouver Lake. As a former aluminum smelter site, the Alcoa property contributed significant quantities of toxic PCB contamination to the Columbia River. Toxic pollution from Alcoa continues to this day including TCE, PAHs and PCBs that are actively leaching into the Columbia just east of public recreation areas where local residents have direct contact with the river and also harvest shellfish. [Read More...]

PRESS RELEASE: ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS CHALLENGE PROPOSED CLIMATE-POLLUTING, COAL-FUELED POWER PLANT IN KALAMA, WA – October 3, 2007

April 5, 2009 Author: admin

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Posted 12:15 PM, October 3, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 2, 2007

Contacts:
Brett VandenHeuvel, Columbia Riverkeeper. 503 224-3240. bv@columbiariverkeeper.org
Dvija Michael Bertish, Rosemere Neighborhood Association.

Environmental Groups Challenge Proposed Climate Polluting, Coal Fueled, Power Plant in Kalama, WA.

Seeking to stop a power plant that would spew millions of tons of toxic greenhouse gasses and other contaminants into Washington State skies, Columbia Riverkeeper, Willapa Audubon Society, and Rosemere Neighborhood Association have been granted the legal status to intervene in the permitting process for Energy Northwest’s proposed 680-megawatt coal-fueled Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) power plant in Kalama. A total of six environmental groups will intervene in objection to the proposed coal-fueled power plant, along with the State Attorney General’s Office and the Washington State Department of Ecology. [Read More...]

ROSEMERE NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER – SEPTEMBER 2007

April 5, 2009 Author: admin

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2007 NEWSLETTER

SEPTEMBER 2007 NEWSLETTER

PROPOSED COAL-BURNING POWER PLANT

On September 20, 2007, representatives of Columbia Riverkeeper, Willapa Audubon Society, and the Rosemere Neighborhood Association, along with a number of other concerned citizens, attended a public hearing held by Washington’s Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council to voice their opinions about Energy Northwest’s proposed Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) power plant in Kalama, WA. The council took comments from the public on Energy Northwest’s greenhouse gas “sequestration plan” (view the plan at http://http:www.esfec.wa.gov/pmec.shtml). [Read More...]

Speak Out Against the Proposed Coal Power Plant – September 18, 2007

April 5, 2009 Author: admin

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Please join Columbia Riverkeeper, Willapa Hills Audubon Society, and the Rosemere Neighborhood Association to:

Say no to more water and air pollution and increased global warming!

The Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council is holding a public hearing:
September 20, 2007, 6:30 P.M.
Kalama Community Building, 126 North Second Street, Kalama, Washington

Please attend. The Council will take comments on Energy Northwest’s greenhouse gas “sequestration plan” for the proposed Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) power plant in Kalama, which would be a major new industrial polluter on the Columbia River. [Read More...]

Coal Plant To Be Built in Kalama? – December 16, 2006

April 5, 2009 Author: admin

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Energy Northwest — a group of 20 public utilities in Washington — is planning to build a coal or petroleum coke plant in Kalama, Washington. This $1 billion, 600-megawatt facility will increase our air and water pollution, threaten habitat for endangered salmon and add to our global warming problem — the plant will produce more than 4 million tons of carbon dioxide per year … that’s like adding 700,000 cars to our highways.

Columbia River may cause dead zones off Oregon and Washington coasts and contribute to problems with Vancouver Lake – December 11, 2006

April 4, 2009 Author: admin

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Posted 11:30 AM PST, December 11, 2006

Over the past several months RNA has been studying and networking to find information about the growing dead zones off the Oregon and Washington coasts. There may be a direct connection to understanding the adverse impacts to Vancouver Lake. This research was conducted in partnership with Columbia Riverkeeper.

There may be a direct correlation between the causes of the dead zones off the coasts and the problems suffered by the lake. [Read More...]