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| Possible Environmental Impacts Part 2: |
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| A river divides them: A series
Will outfall construction harm the Molalla River? |
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By Russell Bassett
The Department of Environmental Quality is not the only agency that OKed portions of the city’s plan to discharge effluent, sewage treated at the wastewater plant, into the Molalla River during wintertime flows.
The Army Corps of Engineers signed off on the construction of the outfall structure. Per its standard operating procedures, the Corps had the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Marine Fisheries Service — otherwise known as NOAA Fisheries — take a look at the construction to see if it would harm the two federally-listed threatened anadromous fish species that use the Molalla River to spawn: steelhead and salmon. And while NOAA Fisheries had some reservations about the discharge, on May 23, 2005, it signed off on the outfall construction.
“No big red flags stood out in my mind,” said Jim Turner, NOAA Fisheries Oregon State Habitat Office fisheries biologist, who oversaw NOAA’s review of the city’s construction plan.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife also agreed to the construction, issuing a Fish Salvage Permit earlier this year.
“The only thing we looked at was the actual placement of the outfall structure, (and) if (the city of Molalla) isolates their work site properly and effectively removes all fish from the work area, they would not harm fish by the action of placing the outfall,” said Todd Alsbury, ODFW Northwest Region district fish biologist, who reviewed the city’s construction plan.
Opponents of the city’s plan argue that those agencies didn’t review the entire plan, and/or issued reservations to the plan that were ignored by the city.
“If people say ODFW says it’s okay, then it’s okay, and I would say that to if I hadn’t (researched) this thing, but (ODFW) only (reviewed) one small speck of it.
“ODFW is charged with managing this fishery, but they were not allowed to comment. It’s not part of their job,” Friends of the Molalla River member Tom Derry said, adding, “NOAA is not qualified to find the impact of chemicals on fish. That agency depends on DEQ” to say what the impacts will be.
Derry also pointed out that NOAA’s consultation for the Army Corps of Engineers voiced reticence with the plan.
“The Molalla River is listed on the DEQ water quality impaired streams for temperature and bacteria,” reads the consultation. “The BA (Biological Assessment) indicated that the temperature, bacteria, chemical contamination, streambank and stream channel indicators that may be effected by this proposed action are at risk or are not properly functioning. ... The proposed action will affect water quality in the long term during discharge from the sewage treatment facilities. ... The discharge of treated sewage will increase chemical and thermal pollutants. ... The discharge of sewage is expected to result in an increase in total nitrogen, phosphorous, BOD (Biological Oxygen Demand) and chlorine. Discharging treated effluent will affect UWR (Upper Willamette River) spring-run Chinook and UWR steelhead juvenile and adults during the late fall and winter months. The chemical and temperature constituents at expected low levels and concentrations would not be lethal, but are likely to affect behavior and physiology, particularly for juvenile salmoinds that are more sensitive to chronic effects of chemicals. ... The effects would be loss of available habitat use due to avoidance of the effluent plume. ... The proposed action will result in a loss of riparian vegetation and disruption of riparian areas.”
The report goes on to say that the city of Molalla can lessen these detrimental effects if it makes certain mitigation; however, Derry believes the city is not doing enough to undo the construction damage.
“ODFW asked for mitigation for the construction and they were ignored,” said Derry, whose is the Native Fish Society’s Molalla River steward. “The city ignored them. Not logs, nothing to compensate for the damage they do when they run that pipe into the river. NOAA (also) asked for mitigation for possible impacts of chemicals on this fishery, and the city has done no mitigation.”
To comply with its permits, the city does have some assuagement built into its wastewater plan.
“There is a likelihood that they are going to isolate quite a few fish,” Alsbury said. “(They have to) divert (the river) around the work site, divert to the right side of the channel and salvage fish, using nets or an electro fisher to safely remove fish from the isolation area, so when they de-water it, the fish don’t die.”
The city also plans to install a “diffuser” at the outfall site, located roughly 200 meters directly north of Shady Dell, to help dilute the potential chemicals. In addition, the city’s plan calls for construction of a Daily Monitoring Station at the discharge point to de-chlorinate the effluent and ensure compliance with DEQ regulations.
The city also plans to upgrade its current filters and purchase new filters using Granulated Activated Carbon media to further de-chemical its effluent, according to Otis Phillips, Molalla’s wastewater treatment plant operator.
“I wouldn’t put nothing out in the river if I knew it was going to hurt the fish,” said Phillips, a Molalla native who annually fishes the Molalla River Chinook run. “That’s our number one job is to protect public health and number two is protect the environment. ... You don’t want to put nothing into that (river) that would hurt any type of species. The dilution factor on the Molalla, plus the quality of water we would be putting out, no not at all. It wouldn’t hurt the fish at all.”
Alsbury, who has also fished the Molalla, noted that it is DEQ’s responsibility to ensure water quality, but he added that he does have some concerns with the city’s plan.
“It sounds like (city officials) have some issues related to development there they need to address. Are they planning for growth?” he asked. “As far as specifics of treatment, I can’t really speak for that. The Department of Environmental Quality does that. If they don’t meet DEQ standards, that would be a concern. My concerns would be the potential impacts to water temperature, to oxygen levels and levels of PH. I don’t know what the changes may be in the river like that. That’s where I start to get lost with this project. How much impact will it have when it is being diluted like that?”
Recently, new concerns have been brought forward concerning the city’s installation of the outfall pipe.
The city of Molalla has obtained an easement to construct in an irrigation channel that splits off from the main stem of the Molalla River above Feyrer Park.
In order to get to the construction site, crews crossed that same stream 200-feet down from the site, even though their permit does not allow for the crossing.
“I stood in those ruts from the construction equipment, and they come up to my knees,” Friends member Fran Taylor said. “It was a repeated crossing, and it tore (the irrigation channel) up.”
The Oregon Department of State Lands is yet another agency that the city of Molalla received a permit from to install the outfall pipe, and Jevra Brown, ODSL natural resource officer, confirmed that the city violated its permit in crossing the irrigation channel.
“That crossing was not part of our permit, and that area of the banks needs to be restored and stabilized so that sediment does not go into the creek,” she said, noting that the project manager has agreed to stabilize the irrigation channel’s banks with hay, silk fence and erosion control fabric, and reseed with native plants.
Friends members believe this most recent violation is par for the city’s course.
“My feelings on mitigation is that once you do something — like when you break something and repair it by gluing it together — it is never the same. You can never restore it to its original quality,” Fran Taylor said.
“They had to know that was a violation,” added Friends member Bill Taylor. “You just don’t drive heavy equipment through a creek like that.”
Based on its current permit, the city has until Aug. 30 to complete installation of the outfall pipe. It plans to begin discharging into the Molalla River in November.
(In Wednesday’s Pioneer, Part 3: an in-depth look at ammonia, chlorine, temperature, endocrine disrupters and other factors that might harm the environment if the city discharges effluent into the Molalla River) |
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