Georgia-Pacific Consumer Products and Cascade Pacific Pulp discharge pollution to the Willamette River

Pollution Update 7-23-15

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is accepting comments through 5 pm  Tuesday, July 28, on two proposed Clean Water Act permit modifications for Georgia-Pacific Consumer Products and Cascade Pacific Pulp, which both discharge pollution to the Willamette River via the same outfall near Halsey. The proposed modifications involve the relocation of the outfall approximately 1,300 feet downstream, and a decrease in the size of the “mixing zone” for the discharges. (A mixing zone is a specific area of a river or other waterway in which DEQ allows polluters to violate Oregon’s water quality standards for that waterway.) The current mixing zone extends 300 feet downstream from where pollution is discharged, while the proposed mixing zone would extend 40 feet downstream from the discharge point. Visit goo.gl/ott3SM for more information on commenting.