Contaminated Water Samples are not limited to Open Reservoirs – Remember May 27, 2012?

All drinking water needs managing, because microbes and objects invariably appear in systems of all makes and models.  Good water managers all over the country are testing multiple parts of their water system everyday because of this basic fact.  I hope this is not a surprise to the average Portlander, but the bacteria detect that happened this week at Washington Park is not an anomaly, not for us and not for any other system in the country.  It isn’t the only detect in our system water managers have dealt with recently (although, it is the only one they’ve reported to the media) and this detect does not warrant adding a lid to the Washington Park reservoirs.   Do you remember May 27, 2012?  Let me help you …

Most people are not aware that Mt. Tabor Park hosts at least one closed water tank in addition to the large open reservoirs you readily see.  This tank features the covered reservoir “technology” the Feds insist is safer for public health.  The Feds are not able to site even one scientific study that draws such a conclusion, rather they assert anecdotally that the intrusion problems they've documented for covered tanks should be worse for open storage tanks.  The anecdotal evidence, along with mounting scientific research, actually suggests the risks are at worst equal.

On May 27, 2012, (that is just 2 months ago) someone broke into the buried tank at Mt. Tabor and dumped in a host of junk including a sealed bottle of Hydrochloric Acid.  You never heard about this did you?  Well, this is a closed tank and reporting this incident would not bolster support for a massive new expenditure, so Water Bureau didn’t report it to the media. (Heck, they didn't even report it to the State's drinking water monitoring program for like a month.  Which is, I'm pretty sure, a violation of the 24 hour rule.)   After all, a covered storage tank can’t be seen as fallible, even if that would be the most realistic opinion to take.  Reservoir 7 was drained, cleaned, and brought back online without a word to the media just as is common practice with detects and intrusions. 

Remember those bright and shiny new buried tanks we’re spending millions and millions to build at Powell Butte, because they supposedly represent the “better” technology over the reservoirs we already own at Tabor?  I wonder how impervious those have actually been.  Oh, yes, with a look at drinking water reports at Oregon Health Authority you can see that their track record is about on par with any other part of the water system = detects happen, and they don’t get reported unless you are trying to convince the public of something else.

Watchdogs worth watching

A new group formed this Fall, and they plan to spotlight wasteful (to the point of illegal) spending by the utlity bureaus.  Interestingly, this group's research and commitment is largely an outgrowth of the movement to protect our water system from a wasteful and useless federal regulation called LT2.  The very well read citizens who have for years combed through Water Bureau documents related to water safety and LT2, have in the process earned an honorary degree in local Water Bureau politics and budgeting practices.  The best read citizens can shock you with what they've found. 

It is a group worth watching: www.waterreform.blogspot.com

Notice - Development at SE 52nd and SE Stark

In February of 2011, MTNA was notified by the new owners of the lot on the Northeast corner of SE 52nd and SE Stark that they plan to subdivide and build three new homes.  MTNA hosted a meeting for the developer and the neighbors of the lot to discuss.  Some surprises came out of this meeting, which took time to resolve.  Fast forward to the present (Fall 2011) and the developer has cleaned up their lot lines and filed for a Land Use Review.  Case File #LU 11-166252 LDP.

Neighbors to the lot submitted responses, largley worried for pedestrian safety and upset that so many large trees would be lost.  The MTNA Land Use Chair submitted a response which you can read here.  Given the structure of this confusing intersection, and the high level of school-aged pedestrian traffic it hosts, it is troubling to imagine 3 new driveways being added within 100' of this intersection.

PolitiFact more “politi” than “fact” today

When (in January 2011) the President ordered the EPA to open its ears, and take public comments regarding its regulatory practices, Portland had an opportunity to shine a new spotlight on EPA’s LT2 regulation and the unnecessary expenditures it forces upon our city. Our City Hall submitted, via lazy online form, a handful of disjointed, poorly crafted paragraphs in which only 3 sentences even mentioned LT2. Compare that with New York City’s response to this opportunity – they submitted over 100 pages, on letterhead, with scientific data detailing the flaws of LT2 and its blunt application across all water systems – and you see in New York a city that defines action.

When (in July 2011) New York City’s meaningful, relentless efforts to extract LT2 reform (and save billions of dollars) manifested an official EPA agreement to review and reform LT2 madness, Portland had an opportunity to freeze all spending on every LT2 related project (Powell Butte tanks, Kelley Butte Tanks, Mt. Tabor disconnect). But they didn’t. Instead, our City Hall allows our Water Bureau to move forward with these projects under the claim that they were “in the long-range plan anyway”. We’ll apparently need them in 50 years; never mind we can’t afford to upkeep them for the next 50 years until we need them; never mind that we already have more storage than we can use even without these new tanks; and never mind that the “long-range plan” from which these source was written 20 years ago, based-on what have become obviously incorrect consumption projections, and that the very Consultant who wrote this “long-range plan” now hopes we’ll stick to it no-matter-what because he’ll make billions on the construction of said projects.

Those citizens that read everything related to this issue know that PolitiFact just plain doesn’t get it, that Portland’s City Hall has NOT contributed meaningfully to this fight since 2009, and that there are more than enough examples of this kind of inept inaction to make even the most polite Portlanders hot under the collar.

Join Senator Schumer. Pretty please.

Early this summer, Mayor Blumberg of New York City blasted the EPA for failing to reform the reservoir mandate, known as LT2, even after an Executive Order directed EPA to evaluate the cost and burden of its regulations. The Wall Street Journal reported on this letter from Blumberg’s office to EPA in an article titled “City Lashes Out at EPA” (read it here).

On July 20, Senator Charles Schumer of New York ardently criticized the senselessness of LT2, its costs, and its public health value as he called on the EPA to urgently reform this piece of regulation. You can see the letter he sent the EPA, and the press release around that letter here.  A quote from Senator Schumer, about the mandate to cover reservoirs:

New Yorkers have seen their water bills rise year after year after year, and the last thing they should be forced to do is pay more for a hugely expensive, questionable project when more cost-effective alternatives exist. While we must ensure that our city’s water supply remains pure, there is more than one way to skin this cat, and the EPA’s rigidity here would impose an unnecessary burden on New York City rate payers without improving public health in a significant way.

The coalition of businesses, public health leaders, environmental advocates, and neighborhood associations that joined together this year to press local officials for a logical approach to LT2 compliance, has now written a letter to Senator Wyden calling on our Congressional delegation to join Senator Schumer in his efforts to secure reform to this unnecessary mandate... when this letter is public, I'll link to it.

Actions
Concerned citizens are encouraged to contact their Congressional delegations this week; press them to follow suit supporting Schumer's efforts at LT2 reform.  It could save us.

Senator Ron Wyden:
Portland phone: 503-326-7525
DC phone: 202-224-5244
DC Fax: 202-228-2717
Online form: http://wyden.senate.gov/contact/

Senator Jeff Merkley:
Portland Phone: 503-326-3386
Portland Fax: 503-326-2900
DC Phone: 202-224-3753
DC Fax: 202-228-3997
Online form: http://merkley.senate.gov/contact/

Representative Earl Blumenauer:
Portland Phone: 503-231-2300
Portland Fax: 503-230-5413
DC Phone: 202-225-4811
DC Fax: 202-225-8941
Online form: https://forms.house.gov/blumenauer/webforms/issue_subscribe.html