Northwest History. State History. Box 110. Organized Labor.

• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1936
• Subjects: Willamette; Columbia Fishermen's Protective Union; Averill; Tommy Luke; William Woodward; Northwest; Pacific > History > 20th Century; United States > State History > Organized Labor > Northwest; Pacific; Bouquet; Luke; Morrison; Ross Island; Storvik; Woodward
• Online Access: http://content.libraries.wsu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/clipping/id/100819

River Looks Bad To Two Parties. Fishermen File Suit; Others Smell Willamette Pollution of the Willamette and Columbia rivers came in for offi- ;iai unfavorable attention yester- iay from two widely separated groups, just when the river itself vas receiving the most favorable ittention in its history from the United States navy. Action No. 1 was a suit filed in Multnomah county circuit court by he Columbia Fishermen's Protec- ;ive union against the city of Port- and and numerous industrial plants, seeking to enjoin them from lefiling the rivers. Action No. 2 was an official inspection trip by the 14 members )f the committee studying Port- and's complicated sewage disposal problem. Co-defendants Named Co-defendants with the city in .he fishermen's suit are the Port- and Gas & Coke company, Inman- Poulsen Lumber company, Eastern & Western Lumber company, Port- and Lumber Mills, Portland Wool- :n Mills, Inc., Miller Products company, John Weber, leather nanufacturer; Western Transpor- :ation company, and the B. F. Johnson Lumber company. The city, through its sewer sys- ;em, and the industrial defendants, Jirough their operations, are ac- :used of dumping into the rivers substances deadly to fish life. In addition to the enjoinment, ;he plaintiffs ask damages of $3000 for destruction of equipment by the pollution imputed to the defend- Committee Seems Divided The suit was filed for the union by Carl S. and Vernon Forsberg, individual commercial fishermen, and E. A. Storvik, executive secretary. The cruise of the sewage disposal committee seemed, as the | committeemen disembarked from I the patrol boat F. W. Mulkey, to have resulted in a variety of opinions as to the urgency of the situation. , "I'm not at all excited," said P. L. Cover, after the cruise had revealed a dozen partially exposed pipes from two to ten feet in diameter, dumping untreated sewage into the Willamette river. Commissioner Bean, who headed the party, remarked: "That river certainly is black. I didn't realize how dirty it is.", River Getting Worse "Yes, and it keeps getting worse for the next couple of months," added Ed F. Averill. A bit of comic relief and touch I of fragrance on the malodorous expedition was a large bouquet of gladiolus, lupins and marigold sent to "Commissioner Bean and his party" by Tommy Luke. Leaving from the foot of Stark! street, the boat nosed upstream on the west bank and passed three partially exposed sewers, all empty-' ing into log booms, between the Morrison and Ross Island bridges. I William F. Woodward said conditions were "inexcusable" in places, on the east side, but mostly because' of the debris along the banks. "There is almost criminal negligence of city officials to permit this," he said. The pollution situation would be "largely remedied" if the sewers emptied below the water level and into the main current of the river, he said, adding he saw no condition of the river which would be a i "His definition Af a 'menace' is different from that of' many I others," remarked Commissioner The committM will meet again tonight for further consideration of the sewage question.