For nearly half a century, environmental advocates have hoped to restore Ross Island, the long‑industrialized man-made archipelago on the Willamette River just south of downtown Portland that has become the source of toxic bacteria blooms, a repository for derelict boats and a lingering symbol of an urban waterway in decline.
Three miles downriver, the Portland Harbor Superfund site has waited more than two decades for a comprehensive cleanup, mired in studies, legal negotiations and escalating costs.
Now, a newly resurrected potential solution has reopened questions about the future of both.
A group of parties potentially liable for the Superfund cleanup, private investors who want to buy Ross Island and environmentalists are floating an idea to place contaminated sediment from the Portland Harbor in the massive Ross Island lagoon carved by decades of gravel mining.
They believe the plan could speed cleanup of the 10-mile-long harbor, reduce emissions and save millions in transportation costs while simultaneously setting Ross Island on a path toward eventual public ownership as a nature refuge.
It’s unclear if the idea will move forward – a formal proposal has yet to be made to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other regulators.
Complicating matters is the number of parties involved, along with the layered oversight of multiple state and federal agencies that separately govern restoration of Ross Island and cleanup of the harbor. The region’s tribes also play a role, holding treaty rights to fish in the river.
But the plan has generated significant local interest, with a coalition this week launching a petition drive asking Portland residents to press Mayor Keith Wilson and the Portland City Council to examine the option.
The petition follows the coalition’s letter to Gov. Tina Kotek earlier this year, asking her to lead a coordinated analysis of the Superfund-Ross Island proposal – including safeguarding existing cleanup obligations and ensuring public and tribal input.
Signing the letter are longtime regional advocates for river and habitat recovery and public health: the Human Access Project, Willamette Riverkeeper, Urban Greenspaces Institute, Verde, Bird Alliance of Oregon, Neighbors for Clean Air, Northwest Environmental Defense Center, Columbia Riverkeeper and the Portland Harbor Community Coalition.
“We view this moment as an opportunity to imagine a creative public ownership and stewardship model whereby Ross Island can be held in perpetuity to ensure environmental protection and Tribal and community benefits,” the coalition’s leaders wrote.
Last month, the City Club of Portland also threw its support behind the idea.
In its report, the City Club research committee found the proposal represents “a rare opportunity to align public obligations: restoring a deeply damaged river island while responsibly disposing of contaminated sediment that must be removed from the Willamette River.”
Superfund costs balloon
The Portland Harbor – running from the Broadway Bridge north to near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers – was listed as a federal Superfund site in 2000 after decades of industrial use, including shipbuilding, metal manufacturing and fuel handling. It left the river sediment contaminated with toxic chemicals, including polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs.
Responsibility for removing the river mud is divided among more than 150 potentially responsible parties, including private companies and public entities such as the state, the Port of Portland, the city of Portland and the state’s largest utilities. That means taxpayers and utility customers are also on the hook to pay some of the cleanup costs.
In 2012, the EPA considered using Ross Island as a repository for the contaminated sediment as part of an initial screening of disposal options.
But the agency dropped the idea partly because a state-required reclamation plan had assumed the island would be restored before Superfund cleanup launched, the EPA said.
The EPA adopted a plan in 2017 to dredge and move 3 million cubic yards (5 million tons) of the Superfund sediment to local landfills, but it has yet to begin – with exactly who will pay and how much still to be determined.
About 7% of the sediment is hazardous and must go to the Chemical Waste Management landfill near Arlington, according to the EPA. But the rest is less contaminated and does not pose a significant risk to human health and the environment, so it would go to landfills in Wasco, Gilliam or Klickitat county.
The cleanup cost was originally estimated at $1.15 billion but the parties who must pay for it now estimate that figure has grown to at least $4 billion. About 65% of the cost would cover barges, trucks or trains to move the sediment about 100 miles northeast from the Willamette River to regional landfills.
Shipping the sediment would also burn a lot of diesel and other fossil fuels, said Mary Peveto, co-director of Portland-based nonprofit Neighbors for Clean Air, which is pushing for the Ross Island disposal.
“A local option for disposal could reduce emissions and cost significantly, while in no way compromising the cleanup of the harbor or other long ranging environmental concerns associated with disposal,” Peveto said.
Last summer, a small group of parties liable for the Superfund cleanup approached the EPA about the concept of using Ross Island as the sediment disposal site.
In November, global consulting firm Tetra Tech approached the EPA with the same idea, representing Heronpark LLC, a group of unidentified investors negotiating to buy Ross Island. Tetra Tech’s representatives also met last week with members of the environmental coalition.
Neither the polluting parties nor the investors have filed a formal written proposal with the EPA.
Tetra Tech, which is headquartered in Pasadena, California, provides engineering and environmental services on water, river restoration and contamination cleanup projects, including Superfund sites.
No one has yet heard from the investors at Heronpark LLC, which is registered in Pasadena at the same address as Tetra Tech and separately in Oregon.
Neither Tetra Tech nor Heronpark LLC replied to requests seeking comment.
If the Ross Island proposal were to become reality, the investors who buy the island would profit from fees collected by receiving polluted sediment.
The parties that may be legally liable for Superfund cleanup would save millions by barging the sediment three miles upriver to fill the lagoon rather than sending it to landfills, according to the proposal backers.
Failed obligations
Environmental group leaders said the deal could be good for the 400-acre Ross Island, a magnet for more than 50 bird species.
From about 1926 to 2001, Ross Island Sand & Gravel mined the island extensively, leaving behind a massive manmade lagoon and significantly altered habitat. The 120-foot deep lagoon has been identified by health authorities and researchers as a major source of cyanobacteria – toxic algal blooms – in the Willamette as it flows through Portland.
Struggling industrialist Robert Pamplin Jr., whose father acquired Ross Island Sand & Gravel and much of Ross Island in 1976, still owns most of the island. Pamplin agreed to donate it to the city of Portland two decades ago but withdrew the offer after disagreements over environmental liability.
In 2007, Pamplin deeded just 45 acres of an undisturbed part of Ross Island to the city and retains ownership of the remaining 350 acres, including most of Ross Island, Hardtack Island, East Island and the lagoon.
Ross Island isn’t within the Portland Harbor Superfund site. The island has been subject to state‑mandated mining reclamation requirements since the 1970s. The Oregon Department of State Lands in February issued a $13.9 million penalty against Ross Island Sand & Gravel, citing Pamplin’s failure to meet reclamation obligations.
To date, the company has not paid the fine nor complied with an end-of-March deadline to submit financial security instruments and a complete dredging application, said department spokesperson Alyssa Rash.
(In 2019, Pamplin tried to offload the island to his corporation’s pension fund. In 2024, after a federal Labor Department investigation found pension law violations, Pamplin agreed as part of a legal settlement to undo the sale to the pension fund and take the island back, Willamette Week reported).
Mike Houck, executive director of the Urban Greenspaces Institute in Portland, said using the island lagoon for Superfund sediment could speed up restoration of mining damage and clear a path for public ownership.
When the lagoon is filled, the sediment would be capped to prevent contaminants from escaping and would be monitored forever, Houck said. A shallow water habitat would cover the area and the private investors would donate the island to a public entity, he said.
Houck said he remained skeptical of the idea but has since learned the process is commonly used in the U.S. Still, he said, the project must undergo a scientific evaluation to see if it would work as intended on Ross Island.
Similar projects have been done at the New Bedford Harbor Superfund site in Massachusetts, the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Superfund site in Bremerton, Washington, and in Boston harbor, Austin harbor and Newark Bay, for example.
If the proposal in Portland moves ahead, some of the transportation savings could be reinvested in restoring habitat on Ross Island, Houck said, via a trust or a community benefits agreement.
“We feel that the time has come to be right by Ross Island,” Houck said. “A lot of people see this solution as a way to get the Superfund done. I see the Superfund as a great way to get Ross Island restored and brought in public ownership.”
Public, science-based process
It’s unclear whether the investors share the same enthusiasm for turning over the island to the public since they have yet to make the details of their proposal public.
It’s also unknown whether companies and public agencies paying for the Superfund cleanup would be willing to share some of the money they save to restore Ross Island’s habitat.
The EPA would not be involved in island restoration because the island is not part of the Superfund site, said agency spokesperson Laura Knudsen.
The EPA also would not be required to hold a formal public process because it can change the disposal location for contaminated sediment without having to alter the Superfund cleanup plan, Knudsen said.
At least one key community group, the Portland Harbor Community Coalition that focuses on the river cleanup, said the Superfund-Ross Island proposal feels too rushed and needs tribal input before it’s widely considered.
The mayor’s office did not respond to a request for comment on the petition urging Wilson to examine the Ross Island-Superfund option.
Councilor Elana Pirtle-Guiney said the community must see a formal plan so it can react.
“There are real opportunities with a proposal like this, but there are also real risks, including the impacts of a potential earthquake on any caps” – the covers placed over contaminated sediment to isolate it from the river, Pirtle-Guiney said.
The Yakama Nation has concerns about taking contaminated sediments out of the river and then putting them back in the river, but will wait to see a written plan before taking a position, said Laura Klasner Shira, an environmental engineer for Yakama Nation Fisheries.
The Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde opposes the proposal – as it did in 2012 – because the Superfund sediment could re-contaminate Ross Island, said spokesperson Sara Thompson. But the tribes still want to be consulted if the proposal goes forward, she said.
The governor told the supporters last month that the state would continue to push for Ross Island’s restoration, no matter who the owner is. If a new plan emerges, Kotek said, it would go through existing state and federal regulatory processes.
EPA officials said they hope to complete a Superfund plan next year and launch the work in 2028. Removing and disposing of contaminated sediment would take about 13 years at any permitted site, including Ross Island, the agency has estimated.
It’s worth the wait for the island, Houck said.
“If something like this doesn’t happen, I am convinced that we may never see full restoration of Ross Island,” he said.
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