Save our water! Bull Run is the cleanest water source in the nation, and they want to spend $400 million dollars to blend that with nasty river water and store it underground with all kinds of specialized lighting to clean it...after they make it dirty! All this so Mayor Hales' donors can have lucrative contracts, and all we get is less clean drinking water, more water bureau debt, and a 44% rate increase on our water bill. Cronyism! Stand up fight back! Demand a waiver, and if we don't get one, Occupy Mt. Tabor to protect our water supply!!

EPA Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule (LT2)

The goal of EPA LT2 is to reduce disease caused by Cryptosporidium, Giardia, and viruses. It was the response to what happened in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1993 when sewage accidentally mixed into their drinking water.

None of these risks apply to Portland's water, which has never been filtered.

LT2 introduces signficant health risks from radon, chloroform, bromoform, dibromochloromethane, bromodichloromethane, n-Nitrosodimethylamine, nitrite and nitrate, methane, salmonella, and mercury.

Portland Water Bureau and their consultants at CH2M Hill, MWH, and HDR (Charlie Hales' former empoloyer) have other plans besides LT2 which introduce even greater risks including privatization of our water, blending with toxic river water, and filtration with yet more toxic chemicals. The impact from unregulated industry is still felt today from the nearly 20 years of logging in the watershed that resulted in erosion every winter when we are forced to use inferior well water. Radon from the wells has been increasing in recent years up to 92.5 times the EPA action level. And that's just as far as we know because PWB did not include radon in their 2013 report. There's no point in testing for contaminants when they're not willing to give us the bad news that will result in angry constituents and the loss of their lucrative contracts. These people don't seem to care about our health. Maybe it's because they are so wealthy they can afford to drink (and even bathe in) unlimited amounts of Nestle's bottled spring water.

And let's not trivialize the cost. We're talking about nearly $500 MILLION just for the initial construction -- paid for by increased water bills (or your landlord raising your rent if water is included) that have already more than doubled since 2001.

How is this over when the EPA is still reviewing the rule for Portland and NYC? Waivers are still likely. Why has 80% of our city council given up on seeking help from our federal delegates? Why does their report have zero mention of the health risks involved in underground reservoirs? Why does the Oregon Health Authority not support a waiver? And why does Senator Merkley just pass the buck back to Portland city council when he is on the EPA Oversight Committee and could be working with NY Senator Schumer? Randy Leonard's 2011 claim that their hands are tied by Senator Boxer is disputed by the fact that Schumer has already been successful in getting an extension, plus the EPA's final decision won't be until 2016.

AND here's an important excerpt from Friends of the Reservoirs: Mayor Hales, Nick Fish, Dan Saltzman, and Steve Novick signed a statement on Monday June 3, 2013 stating in essence that the City would no longer be fighting the EPA on open reservoir projects. The statement also said that the City has been fighting the LT2 rule since its inception. The truth is that Portland Water Bureau (PWB) has been working in support of the onerous regulation since it was first conceived, seeing it as the only sure way to force controversial, unnecessary engineering projects. The PWB was the ONLY utility in the entire nation that was seated at the official EPA LT2 negotiation table (led by EPA's engineer Stig Regli) crafting the flawed, so-called "public health" LT2 "one-size-fits" all regulation. While Portland's involvement was kept hidden from the public, City Council (including Saltzman) approved the consultant contract (31056) that sent a revolving-door consultant, former PWB manager Joe Glicker then with the engineering firm MWH global to D.C. to assist in the rule development. Glicker is now a CEO with CH2MHill and has been continuously on retainer with the Water Bureau as a consultant since 1994. Both engineering firms have received contracts (most if not all brought as "emergencies" though no emergency existed) resulting from the promulgation of the negotiated LT2 rule.

And here is the city's inadequate response to EPA LT2 where they conflate the legitimate need of infrastructure repairs with the NOT legitimate need for underground reservoirs: www.portlandoregon.gov/water/article/45075…

#1 - There is no plan for Portland to use water from any river other than the Bull Run. Groundwater is used about 5% of the time when the Bull Run water is too turbid to use or summer supply augmentation is necessary.

#2 - The UV treatment plant won't get built because the city DID get a waiver from the state for treatment for cryptosporidium. Bull Run will still be one of the last unfiltered water supplies in a major US metro area.

#3 - Portland's water rates aren't higher than Seattle's, or several other major US cities. Portland's water and sewer bills are combined and may seem high because you only get a bill every three months. It costs about 4X as much to flush your toilet as it does to fill it. A gallon of Bull Run water still costs the average residential customer less than half a penny. That's a pretty good bargain, if you ask me. Most people pay more on a monthly basis to Comcast for internet and cable service, and other basic utilities like gas and electric as well.

#4 - Much of Portland's in-town water storage and distribution system is aging and in need of repair. This is where the money is being spent. Not only are the open reservoirs prone to contamination from bird poop, people peeing in them, etc., they are also old and constructed of unreinforced concrete which is not likely to survive a major earthquake.

But don't let the facts get in your way. Go ahead, stand up and fight back!

:rolleyes:

@randyzpdx, #1 Here's a link from PortlandOregon.gov entitled "Regional Transmission and Storage Strategy Final Report" which clearly describes plans to blend other river water with Bull Run water, at the Powell Butte 2 blending station: http://www.portlandoregon.gov/water/article/91392

The document can be found on the Portland Water Bureau website, here: http://www.portlandoregon.gov/water/29883

Facts! Stand up fight back!

Oh man, here we go again with the 'clean water' lunatics.

Heh, there's a plastic bottle of commercial water in the last picture!!!!!!

@Babygorilla... I wondered if someone might notice that. Didn't catch it myself until after the post was up.

@ MBr - The planning document you reference is 13 years old and likely out of date and superseded by a newer planning document by now.

Regardless, your claim is still highly disingenuous. Yes, there are interties with other regional water systems using other sources of water, including the Clackamas and Willamette Rivers; however, there is no routine blending of this water with Bull Run water occurring, nor are there any plans to do so at current water use levels. Note also that the treated water from these other systems meets all federal and state drinking water standards, and is completely safe to drink.

The purpose of the interties is solely to have multiple regional water supplies available for use in the case of severe drought or other emergencies.

The day I start believing your BS is the day y'all get a life and stop twisting the truth; but I also understand that this is what happens when a group of self-righteous people with too much free time on their hands, a willful ignorance of the facts, and a distrust of government get together to 'stand up and fight back'.

@ babygorilla - The bottled water even has a halo! OMG, it's a miracle!

Don't admit to that Denis! It's a brilliant shot. Either its a metaphor for corporate interests sneakily invading our water delivery system or it reflects the absurdity of a "clean water" activist using a product that has untold negative impacts on the environment.

ITT: walls of text that no one will read and links that no one will click on.

just remember these two words every time you see those walls of text:

'Conspiracy Theory'

:-)

just remember these two words every time you see the words 'Conspiracy Theory':

'Collusion Analysis'

:-)

I wonder why CH2M Hill gave Charlie Hales for Mayor $2,600? (I wonder if they joked that CH2M could be an acronym for "Charlie Hales 2 Mayor"?)

Maybe this relationship shines some light on why Charlie Hales got upset with Commissioner Amanda Fritz about her fight to protect the reservoirs.
See: WWeek: "Assign of the Times - Mayor Charlie Hales shuffles the city bureaus—and commissioners have to deal." http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-2074… June 5th, 2013
Excerpt:
"Oddly, Fritz coveted the Water Bureau, but sources say she lost it when she fought Hales over the covering of the Washington Park reservoirs and the closing of those on Mount Tabor."

CH2M Hill is making big money consulting on both “build” track and alternative “variance” track, for the reservoirs. Conflict of interest??

Here's the full link from OR Sec. of State ORESTAR, Re: CH2M:
https://secure.sos.state.or.us/orestar/got…

"[...] the reservoir mandate is aimed at stopping water contamination issues Portland's open-air Bull Run watershed system doesn't suffer from."

--Denis Theriault, Portland Mercury

Fact.
Check.

Portland Water Bureau: Consultant Contracts:
EPA LT2, Bull Run Water Treatment Plants, and Buried Storage Tanks

The result is corporate benefit over Portland’s community interest, and it’s no accident. Many corporations were involved, but here’s the outline of Portland’s role:
http://www.friendsofreservoirs.org/Consult…

ha! that's my bottle of water. I was so thirsty. I felt terrible the whole time. what a good lesson to have my bottle appear in the Mercury... I forgot my reusable and had to hurry so I stopped at the market. doh!