The Portland Harbor Natural Resource Trustee Council is excited to announce their first use of settlement funds to support on-the-ground restoration at Portland Harbor - the ultimate goal of the natural resource damage assessment and restoration process!
News
A new storymap created by NOAA and the Portland Harbor Natural Resource Trustee Council depicts a visual journey of restoration efforts in Portland Harbor in Oregon. The storymap highlights four restoration projects that provide broad, long-term ecosystem benefits concentrated within and around the area where the injuries to natural resources have taken place.
On November 2, 2023, the Justice Department lodged two proposed consent decrees in federal court among members of the Portland Harbor Natural Resource Trustee Council (Trustee Council) and over 20 potentially responsible parties (PRPs) at the Portland Harbor Superfund Site in Oregon.
The Trustee Council developed a video to help the public get a sense of what it feels like at the four restoration sites and see how much progress has been made. The video is available now via YouTube here: virtual tour.
The Trustee Council is beginning to plan for projects that will improve river access, visitor experience, and non-motorized boating on the Willamette River in and around the Portland Harbor area. Because public input is essential to this planning process, we are interested to hear what kinds of projects would improve experiences on and near the Willamette River in Portland, such as visiting beaches, fishing, paddling, wildlife viewing, and swimming.
In July 2021 members of the Portland Harbor Natural Resource Trustee Council signed the Portland General Electric Harborton Restoration Project Habitat Development Plan.
NOAA and partners conducted a comprehensive fish sampling effort in July 2021 to establish the relationship between contaminant concentrations and the growth of fish at the Portland Harbor Superfund site.
The Trustee Council has completed a Final Supplemental Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment that uses the criteria identified in the Programmatic Restoration Plan to evaluate and select the Restoration Bank Credit Alternative to implement restoration actions. The selected alternative is applicable to the current phase of restoration, but is subject to revision in the future. The Final Supplemental Restoration Plan also evaluates potential environmental impacts from the alternatives under the National Environmental Policy Act.
The Trustee Council has developed a Draft Supplemental Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment (Draft Supplemental Restoration Plan) that uses the criteria identified in the Programmatic Restoration Plan to evaluate and select one of three alternatives to implement restoration actions. The selected alternative is applicable to the current phase of restoration, but is subject to revision in the future. The Draft Supplemental Restoration Plan also evaluates potential environmental impacts from the alternatives under the National Environmental Policy Act.
In anticipation of future settlement funds becoming available for restoration, the Portland Harbor Natural Resource Trustee Council is accepting proposals for ecological restoration projects within the Portland Harbor Superfund Study Area and Broader Focus Area.