The Bridgeton Clean & Green Team have joined a city-wide community to put the pressure on individual businesses to clean up their act. Our draft letters to EcoLube and ORRCO are being shared with the other 58+ neighborhood organizations and NGOs. They will be presented later in Feb. or March. In the mean time, we are emailing comments to DEQ regarding Columbia Steel's air quality permit.

 
REQUEST: COLUMBIA STEEL CASTING - Please email your comments
Right now, we would like you to email a comment on the Proposed Air Quality Permit for Columbia Steel Casting. DEQ’s comment period ends next week, on Dec 18. 

Ironically, DEQ is currently testing their facility now, from Dec 8 - 18th but they can’t wait because their permit is based on a 5-year cycle. The new Cleaner Air Oregon regs. require testing for fine particulate matter and green house gasses (new categories). this will be the first full-fledged data collection, testing 18 separate sites within the Columbia Steel Casting Co. the data from these tests will be released mid-Feb. The links below go to DEQ NW Regional Air Quality Program for details on regulations.

Please take a few minutes to email your comment now:

WHAT: Send written comments by email
WHEN: Written comments are due by 5 p.m. on Friday December 18th, 2020
WHERE: Email to: NWRAQPermits@deq.state.or.us

Sample Email Text (feel free to edit and personalize):
Please postpone Columbia Steel’s Air Containment Discharge Renewal until the Cleaner Air Oregon Health Assessment is publicly released.  This would allow me to make an informed public comment. I understand that DEQ found that Columbia Steel is in the top three most dangerous industrial polluters to human health.
Sincerely, _______________ 
I am a (board) member of the Bridgeton Neighborhood Association

____________________________________________________

For More Information, see this Public Notice about Columbia Steel Castings’ proposed Air Quality Permit:
https://www.oregon.gov/deq/get-involved/documents/121820columbia.pdf

Join Bridgeton Neighbors (at a proper social distance) at our entry triangle
DIY Spring Triangle Spruce Up 

Saturday, April 11, 2020
10:00a, - 12:00 pm

BYOT - Bring Your Own Tools!

• Clean up - Pick up litter and debris
• Dead head flowers & bushes
• Weed removal
• Sweep
• Plant summer & fall bulbs

We'll keep our social distance and spruce up the triangle!

​Recycling curbside in Portland is pretty simple and hasn’t changed much since 2018 with more efforts around ‘recycling right’ and keeping unwanted materials out of the recycling due to changes with international markets. Check below for ways to recycle right*
 
*The BNA has instituted a Blue Bag Bottle Fundraiser that allows for bottle deposit money to add to our Neighborhood Clean Up fund. Get your bags and start “recycling for a cause” from Peg Molander. More details here: http://www.livebridgeton.com/bottle-drop-fundraiser
 
Metro Recycling Information Center is the best bet for up-to-date information. They have a Find a Recycler tool that offers many resources for disposal, recycling and reuse. They also have a new campaign called Recycle or Not that includes a game and Instagram option.
 
CURBSIDE RECYCLING BASICS

• Recycling pickup is every week. We recommend setting out the blue roll cart and yellow glass bin when they are at least half full.

·       Containers at the curb by 6 a.m. Empty containers should be removed from curb within 24 hours.
·       Don’t over pack your blue roll cart. Contents must fall out easily.
·       Weight limit is 135 lbs.

• Recycle properly. See the list of acceptable materials to put in your blue recycling roll cart. Ask Metro how to recycle items not accepted at the curb.

 
YES! Put these paper items together in your blue recycling roll cart:
Newspapers, magazines, catalogs, phone books, scrap paper, junk mail, cartons (milk, juice, soup), shredded paper (must be in paper bag), cardboard boxes. (Flatten small boxes for the blue roll cart. Flatten and bundle large boxes using twine or tape and place them next to the blue roll cart. Bundled cardboard must measure 36 in or less in any direction.)







YES! Put these plastic items together in your blue recycling roll cart:
Plastics recycling in the Portland Curbside Collection Service is based on size and shape not number. Put only these types of plastics in your blue recycling roll cart: bottles with neck smaller than base (6 oz or larger), tubs (6 oz or larger), plant pots (4 in or larger), or buckets (5 gal or smaller). Remember, no caps or lids.

​YES! You can recycle motor oil at the curb:
Put motor oil in a clear plastic bottle with a screw-on lid. Place next to roll cart or bin. Don't mix with other liquids.
 
 
NO! These common items cannot be recycled:
Plastic bags, diapers, propane cylinders, coffee cups/lids/pods, rigid plastics including "clamshells," plastic containers under 6 oz., prescription medicine bottles, latex gloves, disposable utensils, produce baskets, plastic lids and caps, plastic bottles that have come in contact with motor oil, pesticides and herbicide bottles, Tupperware, Rubbermaid, other reusable dishware, freezer and refrigerator boxes, hard copy books, light bulbs, drinking glasses, flower vases, ceramics, broken glass.
 
Redeemable*:
As of Jan. 1, 2018, more types of beverage containers carry a 10-cent deposit. These include bottles and cans for tea, coffee, fruit juice, coconut water, hard cider and kombucha, as well as beer, soft drinks and water containers. These are accepted at some grocery stores and all BottleDrop Centers. Not accepted at BottleDrop Centers: Wine, liquor, dairy or plant-based milk, infant formula and metal cans that require a can opener.
 
 
BNA Fundraiser
The BNA has instituted a Blue Bag Bottle Fundraiser that allows for bottle deposit money to add to our Neighborhood Clean Up fund. Get your bags and start “recycling for a cause” from Tom Hickey (west end) or Bridget Bayer (east end). More details here: http://www.livebridgeton.com/bottle-drop-fundraiser
 

The BNA worked on starting a community-based conservation program using our beloved triangle entry to Bridgeton neighborhood as a model. During our annual Spring Clean Up, the BNA Green Team organized a landscape improvement project. Nine neighbors contributed sweat equity to remove invasive species, clean debris and weeds, and create a welcoming look. We distributed METRO print materials about the benefits of sustainable plants, gardening methods and conservationism in the Columbia River slough environment. 

Shortly after, BNA neighbors installed a boat delightfully painted to welcome people to our neighborhood. The native-only flowering plants were donated by neighbors. We didn’t plan on the fact that the boat, made of aluminum, would be so valuable to scrappers, and it disappeared not long after the plants took hold. Our generous neighbors rallied and not only found another boat, wood this time, but donated almost all the materials to secure it firmly in place the second time. The second round of improvements were partly purchased but did include some donated plants. Another neighbor group took advantage of the long Fall season to add more plants and spring bulbs to enhance the beauty of our triangle.

Neighbors learned about our work in person, on our website, LiveBridgeton.com, on social media and at two neighborhood-wide meetings. Participating volunteers received a ball cap that recognized them for their community service and environmental practices.
We thank East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District 2018-2019 SPACE Small Projects and Community Events grants for kick-starting this valuable project!

April 30, 2018
DEQ Air Quality Permit Coordinator,
The Bridgeton Neighborhood Association Green Team asks DEQ to deny the application by ORRCO for air quality and solid waste permits. We believe that health of our neighbors in the Bridgeton community and the natural environment surrounding us will be negatively impacted by the uncontrolled emissions and from ORRCO burning waste oil as fuel to run their processing plant. We also think that they are not carefully handling potential PCB’s that contaminate their collected waste fuel. 
DEQ has not been able to verify for certain what ORRCO emits. We want the oil refinery emissions to be monitored real-time, as they come out of the stacks and we want the full-spectrum results to be fully-disclosed and transparent. ORRCO should be required to install both a thermal oxidizer for the VOC gases and a Scrubber to contain all the Particulate Matter.
 
ORRCO’s system that allows for emissions self-reporting is not substantial enough for this dangerous type of industry. We think real-time monitoring technology has become readily available to verify exactly how much and exactly what hazardous agents are being emitted. There is evidence that refineries underestimate and underreport their true VOC emissions (like benzene, xylene and toluene which can cause headaches, dizziness and cancer) by 10-12 times. We want DEQ to stop allowing oil re-refiners to self-report their emissions and instead rely on quantifiable facts. 
 
DEQ should not grant a “used oil burning“ exemption to these oil refiners. It’s been misapplied. The original intent was for small space heaters in sheds as an “incidental process,” it should not apply to larger scale oil refining operations. By definition, it is not used oil by the time it hits their boilers because it’s already been processed into fuel. On one hand, DEQ calls it ‘used oil’ but on the other hand DEQ calls it “fuel” (i.e. on the proposed permit) However the two products are not the same thing and are not interchangeable. This mis-applied exemption causes the whole problem! We want DEQ do stop allowing this loophole as part of the ORRCO permit. 
 
Sincerely,
 
BNA Green Team Members
Bridget Bayer
Laura Miller
Ann Howell
Jon Peterson

​March 18, 2019
 
Dear Committee on Energy and Environment,
 
We live in the Bridgeton neighborhood, a small but powerful community perched on the Northern edge of the city of Portland. We are the neighbors who live on the I-5 corridor and are directly affected by dirty diesel.
We strongly urge you to support the strongest possible Clean Energy Jobs bill, HB 2007 that will be introduced in the 2019 Oregon Legislative session.
We must put a declining cap on all greenhouse gases to ensure Oregon meets it Green House Gas (GHG) goals: to reduce all GHG emissions by 45% by 2035 against 1990 levels and to zero by 2050.
We need to make sure polluters pay and hold them accountable for their contributions to the climate crisis. A market-based approach will both ensure GHG reductions and level the playing field for clean energy.
We need to invest in climate solutions that will ensure a just and equitable transition to a clean energy economy.
In addition to achieving these three vital aims of climate legislation we also urge you to do all you can to make sure this legislation is as effective as it needs to be by:

• Advocating for an aggressive cap that ensures steep reductions in GHGs.
• Advocating for a maximum of 25% free allowances for regulated entities, and
• Advocating for a maximum of 4% offsets with at least half of that providing direct environmental benefit to Oregon.

We have an urgent need for action. Worldwide GHG emissions are now at an all-time high. And C02 emissions in U.S. rose a startling 3.4% in 2018. 
Oregon has often taken the lead in addressing major environmental problems by passing legislation like the Bottle Bill and Statewide Comprehensive Land Use Planning.  We need to once again be a leader in tackling the climate crisis. Please do all that you can to help us cap and reduce greenhouse gases.  We have the ingenuity, knowhow and workforce; you are a motivator of political will. Please make it happen, and soon.
Sincerely, 
Bridgeton Neighborhood Association Board of Directors
cc. Representative Tina Kotek & Senator Lew Frederick