| | Stronger Together Fires are devastating communities across the West. Our hearts go out to people and communities experiencing the most profound losses from wildfires. Here are a few resources if you are looking for a way to help. | | | | | | | | | | New Lawsuit Against Trump Administration Our latest lawsuit challenges the Trump administration’s gift to the fossil fuel industry. The Trump administration's so-called Clean Water Act 401 rules would force states and tribes to accept damaging and unwanted pipelines and other fossil fuel developments. We’re honored to join the Suquamish Tribe, Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, Orutsararmiut Native Council, and Sierra Club, represented by Earthjustice, to challenge a rule that guts clean water protections. | | | | | | | | Petrochemical Refinery Pulls the Plug In a big victory for community members in Longview, WA, a proposed petrochemical refinery abandoned a project that would have threatened people’s health, safety, and our climate. Another fossil fuel project defeated on the Columbia River. | | | | | | | | ACT: Stop Massive Fracked Gas Refinery The Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) recently released by the Washington Dept. of Ecology (Ecology) confirms that the world’s largest fracked gas-to-methanol would be a major greenhouse gas emitter, and it would lock us into decades of harmful pollution. We are calling on Ecology to do the right thing and deny this dangerous proposal. | | | | | | | | The Fracked Gas Road to Nowhere A Columbia Riverkeeper investigation uncovered that staff for Oregon’s Energy Facility Siting Council quietly approved the start of phased construction on Perennial Wind Chaser Station—a gas-fired power plant near Umatilla, OR. This approval is directly contrary to the terms of Perennial’s site certificate and appears designed to help the facility avoid the Council’s recently increased climate pollution fees. | | | | | | | | Demanding Oregon Take a Second Look at Oil-by-Rail Last June, the Oregon Dept. of Environmental Quality (DEQ) rushed to approve an air pollution permit for Global Partners’ oil train terminal in Clatskanie, OR, over objections from 1,200 Columbia Riverkeeper members and supporters. But we’re not giving up—on August 28, we filed a legal petition urging DEQ to reconsider its decision to allow up to two oil trains per day to travel through Portland, Vancouver, and Columbia County communities. | | | | | | | | Events & Engagement - Tomorrow, September 17, 1 p.m - 5 p.m.: Virtual Public Hearing for Kalama Methanol Refinery. Learn more and register. If you miss it, you can also register for and attend the public hearings on September 22 at 10 a.m. or 6 p.m.
- Virtual Book Release Party for One River, A Thousand Voices with Washington state poet Laureate Claudia Castro Luna. Wednesday, September 23, 6 p.m. - 7 p.m.
- Get Ready for #GiveMore24! on September 24th! This 24-hour day of giving, powered by Community Foundation of Southwest Washington, amplifies the work of our local nonprofits by tapping the generosity of our greater community. Support Columbia Riverkeeper’s campaign and protect clean water and healthy salmon!
- “Hanford: A Future Worth Fighting For” debuts in the Eugene Environmental Film Festival, taking place October 2 - October 11.
- SAVE THE DATE: October 22 for Columbia Riverkeeper’s Video Release—Heroes: The Untold Stories of Grit and Passion—and Success.
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Webinar Recap: Dirk Dunning, a retired chemical engineer and a nuclear specialist from the Oregon Dept. of Energy and Amrutham Babu, outreach manager for Hanford Challenge take a harrowing look at one of the most high-risk facilities at the Hanford Nuclear Site: the Waste Encapsulation and Storage Facility (WESF). Watch: Why Scientists Fear a Chernobyl-like Catastrophe at Hanford. | | | | Take Action: Stand in Solidarity with Tribal Nations! Join Yakama Nation in opposing Rye Development's Goldendale pumped storage development, proposed near John Day Dam in Washington state. Sign our petition and read our Q & A about all of the controversial development, including its impacts to cultural resources, wildlife, and clean water. Stop Massive Climate Polluter! Comments due October 2, 2020. Join us opposing the world’s largest proposed fracked-gas-to-methanol refinery and support a robust climate analysis for this proposed mega-polluter in Washington. Clean up Bradford Island! The popular fishing area contains some of the most toxic resident fish in the Pacific Northwest. Join Yakama Nation, Oregon, and Washington to demand that the EPA clean up Bradford Island and add it to the Superfund list. Hold a New Climate Polluter Accountable! Join us in urging the Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council to reject Perennial’s premature construction plan. Stand Up for Hanford Cleanup. Comments due September 30, 2020. Join us in supporting the Washington Dept. of Ecology for adding the Waste Encapsulation and Storage Facility to Hanford’s site-wide permit, requiring the U.S. Dept. of Energy to create a legally enforceable closure plan. | | | | Newsstand: Highlighting Columbia Riverkeeper in the News and Intersectional Issues We Care About - Ninth Circuit compels EPA to issue a temperature TMDL for the Columbia and Lower Snake Rivers after state inaction, American Bar Association, September, 2020
- DEQ fines companies for illegal disposal of 2.5 million pounds of radioactive waste near Columbia River Gorge OPB, September, 2, 2020
- Washington Ecology finds new climate impacts from Kalama methanol plant OPB, September, 2, 2020
- Conservation groups say state regulators are allowing power plant developers to avoid carbon fees, The Oregonian, August 31, 2020
- Oregon joins multi-state lawsuit against Trump administration changes to NEPA, OPB, August 28, 2020
- What’s in a Tradition?, Native Daily Network, August 26, 2020
- Groups challenge permit for $2B methanol plant in Washington, The San Francisco Chronicle, August 26, 2020
- Columbia Riverkeeper asks judge to reject federal permits for Kalama methanol plant, The Columbian, August 25, 2020
- Hot Dams on the Columbia, KBOO, August 24, 2020
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