Sites in Oregon

Overview of Site Assessments

Superfund Sites

Carpenter Lane
Gresham, Multnomah County
Carpenter Lane is an area where residential homes and nurseries are located side-by-side. Residents have complained of pesticide drift from the nurseries. EHAP assisted the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), the lead public health agency, at this site.

Harbor Oil
Portland, Multnomah County
EHAP has been asked by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) to evaluate the public health significance of exposure to contaminants found at the Harbor Oil Recycling Facility.

Portland Harbor
Portland, Multnomah County
The Portland Harbor Superfund site is currently considered the portion of the Willamette River that spans from the southern tip of Sauvie Island to the Fremont Bridge. It was proposed for the National Priorities List in late July 2000 and listed in December 2000. This section is the most industrialized segment of the river and also supports heavy marine traffic. EHAP has been asked by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry to evaluate the public health significance of exposure to the contaminants of concern, which include PCBs, dioxins, heavy metals, and other hazardous substances. EHAP also investigated the public health significance of physical hazards at the upland site known as Willamette Cove.

Taylor Lumber
Sheridan, Yamhill County
Taylor Lumber and Treating, on the western edge of Sheridan, was listed as a Superfund site on June 14, 2001. EHAP was asked by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) to evaluate the public health significance of past contamination from wood treating chemicals used in lumber treating and product processes at a former wood treating facility.

Teledyne Wah Chang
Albany, Linn County
EHAP has been asked by Wah Chang Labor Union Representatives to evaluate whether there is an increase in cancer incidence among workers at the plant.

Formosa Mine
Riddle, Douglas County
In 2007, the Formosa Mine was added to the Federal Superfund program's National Priority List (NPL). As a cooperative agreement partner of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, EHAP is mandated to complete a health assessment at sites which are on the NPL within one year of being listed.

Hazardous Waste Sites

Aplastic Anemia Investigation
Oregon/Washington Border

In response to a citizen inquiry, the Oregon Public Health Division and the Washington Department of Health led a multi-agency investigation to assess rates of aplastic anemia and certain cancers in Columbia County, Oregon and Cowlitz County, Washington. This report also reviews the possible role of exposure to benzene from specific sources as a cause of disease in these counties. EHAP was not directly involved in this investigation.

J. H. Baxter Plant
Eugene, Lane County
EHAP has been asked by the Lane Regional Air Pollution Authority (LRAPA) to evaluate whether there are health risks from exposure to emissions from the woodtreating plant.

In 2004, EHAP was asked by neighborhood community members to evaluate local rates of acute myelagenous leukemia (AML) and brain cancer in three Eugene neighborhoods. Residents were concerned that the rates of these two types of cancers were high and that they were possibly caused by contaminants from nearby industries.

Bonanza Mine
Sutherlin, Douglas County
EHAP has been asked by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to evaluate the public health significance of exposure to mercury and arsenic in the soil and mine tailings from a former mercury mine.

Burns Air Force Radar Station
Near the cities of Burns and Hines in Harney County
EHAP was asked by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to evaluate the public health significance of exposure to asbestos at the former Burns Air Force Radar Station near the cities of Burns and Hines in Harney County. The people that may be affected by the asbestos and physical hazards are mainly trespassers and maintenance workers at the site.

Former Vermiculite NW
Portland, Multnomah County
EHAP has been asked by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) to evaluate the public health significance of exposure to asbestos at this site, one of 28 major former processors nationwide of vermiculite from Libby, Montana.

North Morrow Perchlorate Area
North Morrow and Northwestern Umatilla Counties
EHAP has been asked by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) to address potential health concerns associated with drinking water contaminated with perchlorate. This site investigation was initiated after the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and the Environmental Protection Agency detected perchlorate contamination in several groundwater wells in the area.

North Ridge Estates
North of Klamath Falls
In the summer of 2002, over 49 tons of fragments asbestos-containing material (ACM) were removed from the surface of 30 lots in the North Ridge Estates subdivision three miles north of Klamath Falls. The ACM are remnants from the demolition of the Marine Recuperational Barracks, a complex of over 80 buildings constructed in 1944 to provide care for soldiers recovering from tropical diseases. DEQ contacted the DHS EHAP program to assess the health risks from exposure to ACM fragments.

Redmond Tallow
Deschutes County
In the winter of 2002, the Oregon Department of Human Services was advised by Deschutes County Environmental Health Department of groundwater contamination related to historical and current rendering plant activities at Redmond Tallow, a privately owned and operated business in central Oregon. In cooperation with county health personnel, ODHS evaluated the water testing data, recommended additional testing, and assessed the potential for human exposure to contaminated water on the site and in nearby private wells. The principal contaminant of concern is nitrate ion release into surface soil on the site.

Red Rock Road
Sutherlin, Douglas County
EHAP has been asked by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to evaluate the public health significance of exposure to mercury along a stretch of road that was built with mine tailings from a former mercury mine.

Salem-Keizer School District
Salem-Keizer, Marion County
EHAP has been asked by the Salem Keizer School District to evaluate the public health significance of exposure to mercury found in gym flooring in some schools throughout the district.

Supreme Perlite
Portland, Multnomah County
EHAP has been asked by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) to evaluate the public health significance of exposure to asbestos at this site, one of 28 major former processors nationwide of vermiculite from Libby, Montana.

View-Master Factory
Hall Boulevard, Beaverton, Oregon
The View-Master stereoscopic slide viewer has been a popular children's toy since the 1950s. For nearly half a century, View-Masters were made exclusively at a factory located on Hall Boulevard in Beaverton, Oregon. Throughout this period, an on-site supply well provided water for industrial purposes and for human consumption. In March 1998, chemical analysis of the View-Master factory supply well revealed the presence of the degreasing agent trichloroethylene (TCE) at concentrations as high as 1,670 micrograms per liter (µg/L).