WATER

Q  U  A   L   I   T   Y
CONTROL AND MANAGEMENT
A COMPREHENSIVE POLLUTION CONTROL PROGRAM DEVELOPED
BY THE FEDERAL WATER POLLUTION CONTROL ADMINISTRATION

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                                                               OOOR67117
                          SUMMARY OF:

                          WATER QUALTY  CONTROL AND MANAGEMENT
         DEPARTMENT OF THE  INTERIOR
         FEDERAL WATER POLLUTION  CONTROL ADMINISTRATION
         NORTHWEST REGION,  PORTLAND, OREGON
ANUARY 1967
LIBRARY
Oept. of the Interior EWBG&
Eufcmi, N. J. 08817.

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JAMES M. QUIGLEY, Commissioner
Federal Water Pollution Control Administration
U. S. Department of the Interior
   Each summer the Willamette River becomes polluted. This splendid river,
whose watershed supports two-thirds of Oregon's population  and provides
an equal proportion of its industrial output, suffers recurrently from mas-
sive outpourings of untreated industrial wastes. The effects of this pollution
have  been severe. The Willamette has largely been rejected as a source of
water supply, and communities along its banks have had to develop other,
and more costly, sources. Recreation  has been curtailed, with many  parks
posted against swimming and the whole river below the city of Eugene ex-
ceeding Pacific Northwest Pollution Control Council bacterial objectives for
water-contact recreation. Fish production has declined, as the natural habitat
for trout has shrunk, and as passage conditions and spawning areas for that
large portion of the Pacific  salmon run that is based upon the Willamette
have  deteriorated with the persistence of  pollution.
   These conditions have existed  for  more than three decades.  Gradual
progress has been made in pollution abatement as a result of  institution of
waste treatment and summer flow augmentation from Federal storage res-
ervoirs; but at the same time the magnitude of pollution  sources has ad-
vanced. Industrial expansion, population growth, and urbanisation have all
acted to increase wastes and to offset much of the progress that has occurred.
   In  1961 the Water Supply and Pollution Control Division of the Public
Health Service began a comprehensive study of water quality in the Columbia
River Basin. The study, continued under the Federal Water Pollution Con-
trol Administration, has included considerable emphasis on the Willamette
Basin, since it contains the  clearest and most significant instances of  water
pollution found in the Columbia Basin. This is a summary of the Willamette
River Basin report which contains a detailed analysis of the nature and extent
of pollution, its cause, what may be done to abate it and prevent its recur-
rence, and what it will cost to control it.
   The course of action recommended  in that report is based  upon the de-
cision of  the people of Oregon—a decision manifested  by  the  repeated
pronouncements of its public  officials  and by legislative enactments  going
back to the Act of 1938 creating a state agency with responsibility for control
of water pollution—-that the waters of the Willamette system are to  be fit
habitats for salmonid fish, suitable  sources of recreation, and usable  water
supplies. These are demanding goals, in terms of water quality, but no  lesser
goals  have ever been publicly advanced. Unfortunately the public and private
actions needed to fulfill these goals have not always been forthcoming. This
report sets forth a plan for such actions.  Whether this plan will achieve its
purpose is also a decision which rests largely with  the people of Oregon.

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N
I

                                                                                                   The Federal Water Pollution  Control Act  (33
                                                                                                  U S. C. 466 et seq.) contains among its provisions a
                                                                                                  direction to the Secretary of the Interior to develop
                                                                                                  comprehensive programs for controlling  pollution
                                                                                                  of interstate waters and their tributaries. This docu-
                                                                                                  ment is an interpretive summary of a report present-
                                                                                                  ing such a program for Oregon's  Willamette River.
                                                                                                   The major report, Water Quality Control and Man-
                                                                                                  agement.  Willamette River Basin, presents  the re-
                                                                                                  sults of a painstaking study of the water quality of
                                                                                                  the Willamette River system, the  uses of the river
                                                                                                  system, the factors that  affect water quality,  the
                                                                                                  probable  nature of the economic development of
                                                                                                  the watershed and its impact on water quality,  and
                                                                                                  the nature of measures that must be taken both to
                                                                                                  abate pollution in the river system  and to prevent
                                                                                                  recurrence  of pollution. While the report was pre-
                                                                                                  pared by  the  Federal Water Pollution  Control  Ad-
                                                                                                  ministration, which bore the major responsibility for
                                                                                                  developing the study, a number of Federal and Ore-
                                                                                                  gon State and local agencies provided important
                                                                                                  assistance in collecting and analyzing data. In
                                                                                                  particular, the Oregon  State Sanitary Authority ac-
                                                                                                  cepted a very large role  in  developing both infor-
                                                                                                  mation and  concepts.
                                                                                                   This summary report is focused on the presenta-
                                                                                                  tion of the  principal findings of the study as they
                                                                                                  relate to requirements for action to control pollu-
                                                                                                  tion. It emphasizes  that pollution  does exist in  the
                                                                                                  Willamette River system, that pulp and paper mills
                                                                                                  that have  been subject to less stringent waste con-
                                                                                                  trol  requirements than  municipalities  and  other
                                                                                                  sources of waste are the major causes of pollution,
                                                                                                  that pollution abatement will  require immediate im-
                                                                                                  provements in the level of waste reduction achieved
                                                                                                  in the  Willamette River system, and that the con-
                                                                                                  tinuing control of pollution will impose demands for
                                                                                                  action  well into the future upon the  people  and
                                                                                                  industries  of  the Willamette River  Basin, as well
                                                                                                  as upon the State and Federal agencies that serve
                                                                                                  them

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      IMMEDIATE  POLLUTION  ABATEMENT
      IThe  primary  need for abatement of  existing water pollution m the Willamette River Basin should be  met by installation and
    • operation of  waste reduction facilities for pulping  and papermaking that provide efficiencies equal to those of  conventional
  secondary waste treatment  essential removal of floating and settleable solids and reduction of at  least 85% of biochemical oxygen
  demand Such facilities should be made available within  the next five years at the plants operated  by Publishers Paper Company at
  Oregon City and Newberg,  Crown Zellerbach Corporation at West Linn and  Lebanon, and  Boise  Cascade  Corporation at Salem

2      Effective secondary treatment should be installed within the next five years by those communities which do not provide or are
    • not presently constructing such plants; and waste treatment facilities of communities operating plants that  are  outmoded or
  overloaded should be brought up to generally accepted  standards for secondary treatment of waste. Communities that require
  secondary treatment are Albany, Cottage Grove, Harnsburg, Junction  City, Monroe, and Oakridge.  In the category of communities
  operating inadequate plants are Dallas, Mount Angel, McMmnville, Sweet Home, and the Fanno Creek Sanitary District.

3      The  State of  Oregon should proceed to adopt  standards, as required by the Federal Water Pollution Control  Act, for that por-
    • tion of the Willamette River that is interstate water in that it  is subject to tidal influences. Oregon  standards for  the major portion
  of the river that is mtrastate should  be compatible with  the interstate standards, in the interest of  protecting water uses and devel-
  oping  a firm and consistent pollution control program Standards should clearly recognize the importance of the river system as a
  spawning area for anadromous salmonid fish and  support  the expansion of recreational and water supply capabilities of the basin's
  waters.
      LONG TERM POLLUTION  CONTROL
 "I    The State of Oregon should encourage and provide assistance m development of institutional arrangements that bring appro-
  *-•  pnate communities, industries,  and metropolitan areas  together for  the  purpose of  planning and financing pollution control
 measures within  the framework provided by drainage areas

 £\   Reallocation of functions of the Federal reservoir system in the  Willamette River Basin, to be considered in 1970 upon com-
      pletion of a joint State of Oregon-Federal  agencies  study of water and related land resources of the basin, should recognize
 the overlapping benefits to water quality, fishery, and recreation  that me obtainable with maintenance of summer base flows of at
 least 7.500 cubic feet°per second through Portland  harbor, 260 cubic feet per seronrl IP the lower Tualatin River,  and 100 cubic feet
 per second in the South Santiam River below Lebanon

3      The State of Oregon should establish limits for waste loads  m intensively  used watersheds  Such limits should  reflect charac-
   •  teristics of  wastes, minimum streamflow probabilities  and quality of waste control techniques available within the watershed.

4      Data gathering and monitoring activities of the Oregon  Stato Sanitary Authority and  of the Federal Water Pollution Control
   •  Administration should  be coordinated  and  expanded to maintain intimate knowledge of waste loadings  treatment plant  effi-
 ciencies, streamflows, and  reservoir operations, in  order  that  such information may bo utili/ed  in mathematical  simulations  of the
 river  system as planning tools and instruments  of day to day  w.itrr  qu.ihty  management

5      Programs of Federal resource management agencies oper.itmc] m the Willamette River  Basin should be periodically reviewed
   •  by  the Federal Water Pollution Control Administration for possible  imports on water quality, with the Federal Water Pollution
 Control  Administration and the  several agencies  jointly developing  and  monitoring  effects  of  procedures  to avoid  adverse
jmpacts. and coordinating such  programs with Oregon State and  local watershed organizations' pollution control  plans.

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I.  POLLUTION  PROBLEMS
  One  of  the  most serious  conditions of
water pollution in the Pacific Northwest oc-
curs in  the lower reaches of Oregon's Wil-
lamette River. Marked pollution also exists
in  two  major Willamette tributaries,  the
South Santiam River and the Tualatin River.
In  each case pollution's effects  on water
uses are severe and persistent,  recurring
with varying  intensity each summer
  Of the three instances of water pollution,
the most  significant, in terms of  volume
of  water affected  and restriction of water
uses, is that  of the lower Willamette River.
During  a portion of each summer dissolved
oxygen concentrations fall  below the level
which can support indigenous species of
game fish  in  Portland harbor—the reach of
the river that extends from a point below the
confluence with the Clackamas River to the
mouth.  The same  area  also exhibits year-
round growths of shmelike bacteria (Sphae-
rotilus), bottom sludges, and floating sludge
rafts. The conditions are due in large meas-
ure to the discharge of untreated wastes of
pulp and paper mills operated by Crown
Zellerbach Corporation at West Linn and by
Publishers Paper Company at Oregon City
and Newberg.
  Pollution of the South Santiam  River is
similar  to that of the lower Willamette in its
manifestation and  its  causes. Waste dis-
charges of the small Crown Zellerbach pulp
mill  at  Lebanon  cause slime  growths,
sludges, and  dissolved oxygen deficiencies
during the period of low summer  flow The
Lebanon mill treats its wastes by  removing

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the major portion of strong pulping wastes
Treatment is, however, inadequate to sustain
desired water quality.
   Pollution of the Tualatin River  is  caused
by the heavy degree of development that is
imposed  on  the  limited resources  of the
watershed. The normal low summer stream-
flows are further reduced by irrigation with-
drawals, and the wastes of a number of com-
munities and industries are discharged into
the river. The Tualatin Basin supports a prin-
cipal suburban area of the  city of Portland;
and the  density of population results  in a
level of waste production that periodically
exceeds the assimilative capabilities of the
stream, even after treatment removes more
than  90  percent  of oxygen-consuming
wastes. Urban and agricultural  runoff con-
tribute additional  nutrients and organic
wastes, adding to intense algal activity which
compounds the problem.


II. POLLUTION DAMAGES
   Extremely high water quality is required
by uses that are made of the waters of the
Willamette River system. Municipal  and in-
dustrial water supply, production of salm-
onid fish (salmon  and  trout), and recreation
constitute prime  uses of  the Willamette's
waters; and each can be  curtailed, made
more costly, or eliminated entirely by the ex-
istence of pollution. All of these  uses are
presently restricted in  some measure by
pollution.  Bacterial contamination  limits the
sources for domestic, municipal,  and food
processing water  supplies. Numbers of
available recreation areas have been con-
stricted by the presence of excessive bac-
terial concentrations. Interference with sport
fishing has resulted from  pollution-caused
limitation of fish environments,  and by the
nuisance to both fishing  and boating im-
posed  by Sphaeroti/us. Fish  production is
impeded by dissolved  oxygen deficiencies
and by sometimes high temperatures.

   It is the damage to the fishery that is most
costly. Water supplies  can be treated prior
to use, and alternative  recreational sources
are available—though both substitutions in-
volve increases  in user costs. There is no
alternative source  of salmon and trout.
Where production  of either  is curtailed, it
represents  a diminution of  an  intensively
used total supply. Since all  migratory salmon
utilizing the Willamette system must  pass
through the polluted lower reaches of the
Willamette  twice during their  life cycle, the
condition of Portland harbor represents a
critical limitation on  the productive capacity
of the entire river system

  Dissolved oxygen requirements for pas-
sage of salmon are not  nearly so high as for
spawning, which requires near saturation of
dissolved oxygen, or rearing which requires
a concentration of seven milligrams per liter
Salmon passage may  be readily  accom-
plished with a  dissolved  oxygen con-
centration  of five  milligrams  per liter.
Unfortunately,  summer dissolved  oxygen
concentrations in Portland  harbor often fall
below three milligrams per liter While  no
upstream migration of salmon presently oc-
curs during the summer, untimely low flows
and consequent oxygen deficiency some-
times result in an "oxygen block" that pre-
vents the latter stages of the spring migra-
tion upstream, or delays the start of the fall
migration. In either situation,  the spawning
population is reduced by predation and other
causes, with an  adverse effect on produc-
tion. Effect  of the summer dissolved oxygen
deficiency  is more serious in the case of
downstream migration of juvenile fish. The
downstream migration goes  on throughout
the year; and a high mortality is believed to
                              '•*$
                                rfJ
                                 11
                                                                                          Characteristically muddied by  the su'ljt  flows
                                                                                          and surface runoff caused by heavy winter
                                                                                          rains,  the  entering  waters of the Willamette
                                                                                          contrast sharply  with the receiving Columbia

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occur among downstream migrants as a re-
sult of pollution in the Portland harbor.

III.  DIFFICULTIES  OF
ABATEMENT
  While the State of Oregon has recognized
the fish production,  water supply, and rec-
reational uses of the Willamette  River sys-
tem in its classification of streams, and has
adopted a  program  of pollution  abatement
designed to protect those functions of the
watershed, its program has not been ade-
quate to restore  necessary  quality to  the
river. The Oregon pollution control program
has been most effective in reducing bacterial
concentrations, by encouraging the commu-
nities of the basin to  develop waste treat-
ment. It has not dealt successfully  with
problems of summer oxygen  depletion,
sludges, and slime growths  Pollution reme-
dies have met with limited success because
of two weaknesses  lack of control of  pulp
                                                                             mill waste discharges, and lack of depend-
                                                                             able summer streamflow
                                                                               There are seven pulp mills in the Willam-
                                                                             ette  system  Six  discharge  their wastes
                                                                             directly into the  Willamette River, and one
                                                                             discharges wastes into the South Santiam
                                                                             River With two exceptions, these mills use
                                                                             the sulfite pulping process and do not re-
                                                                             cover cooking chemicals by condensing and
                                                                             burning wastes,  as do plants utilizing  the
                                                                             more modern sulfate, or  kraft,  process
    50,000

    30,000



   -. I 0,000
  Q_
  o
       too
ISO   I6O   140   120   (00    80    60   40
         RIVER  MilES  (FROM MOUTH)
                       10
                     » 9-
                                                                    8-|
                                                                 CD
                                                                 5
                                                                 o
                                                                    6-
                                                                 O
                                                                    5-
                                                                    3-
                                                                         180   ISO   140   !20  100  80    60   4O
                                                                                 RtYER HUES  (FROM  MOUTH)
                                                                      20
   The bacteriological qualit\ of most  reaches  of the Willamette
   filter is unsatisfactory  for u-at e r - con t (if t recreation   .Vote,
   however, that  concentrations haie been  louered  since 196'2 through
   the completion of  secondary  uaste treatment facilities  along the
   main  stem.
                     The deterioration  oj dissolved oxygen concentrations  of the
                     Willamette that  occurs in the  slow-moving loirer  river is indi-
                     cated by  this profile   The depression becomes critical when,  as
                     in  the  summer of  1965,  / I o y.'  is  reduced

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 Since something  over half of the wood in-
 puts  in  pulping  are,  by the nature of the
 process, discarded   as  waste,  enormous
 quantities of organic  waste materials are
 generated in the production of pulp. Of some
 6.2 million population equivalents of oxygen-
 demanding wastes produced in  the Willam-
 ette  River Basin, 70 percent—about 4.5
 million population equivalents—occurs from
 pulp  and paper production. And of the 4.9
 million population equivalents of  wastes that
 enter the Willamette  River system after ap-
 plication of waste control measures, over 90
 percent  is from pulping and  papermakmg.
  The State of Oregon has  required a high
 level of waste treatment for municipalities of
 the basin; and, for the most part, they have
 responded  to the  State's demands. Of 91
 communities in the Willamette River water-
 shed, 74 provide secondary waste treatment
 or  its equivalent, seven do not collect
 wastes,  only one does not treat  its wastes,
 and nine—including the largest city, Portland
—have primary treatment  Food  processing
 plants, as a group, provide  a high level of
 waste reduction, in large  part through use
of joint municipal-industrial treatment facili-
ties. Miscellaneous manufacturing plants do
 not match the waste treatment performance
of municipalities  or  food processors, but
neither do they constitute significant waste
sources.
  In distinction to other waste  producers,
the pulp and paper industry,  the major
source of wastes,  has largely resisted the
State of Oregon's efforts  to  enforce effec-
tive pollution abatement procedures.  Only
three of the seven mills achieve  a reduction
of their wastes discharges. The huge Weyer-
  2000n
UJ

CO
b
o
o
   I500-
   1000-
   LU  800
   CO  700-
   |  600-
      500-
      400-
      300-
      200-
      IOO-
L
                                   MUNICIPAL AND INDUSTRIAL WASTES
                                       WILLAMETTE RIVER BASIN
                                  Number
                                    of
                                  Plants
                                            Population
                                              Served
                                 Population  Equiva lents
                                 Untreated   Discharged
                                 Removal
                                Efficiency
                 PRESENT MUNICIPAL WASTE TREATMENT:
Secondary
Prirnaryl/
Lagoon
Other
Subtotal
Port land (pr i mary)
Basin Total
                                    66
                                     8
                                     8
                                     8
                                    90
                                     1
                                    91
                                             323,125
                                              36,350
                                               5,390
                                               1,000
                                             366,715
                                             370.000
                                             736,715
                                  1,026,720
                                   140,950
                                     5,410
                                       350
                                  1,174,930
                                   385.000
                                 1,559,930
                        229,550
                        96,880
                           940
                           350
                        328,450
                       328,450
                PRESENT INDUSTRIAL WASTE  TREATMENT:
Food products
Forest  products
Pulp and paper
M i see I I aneous
Basin Total
                                       13
                                       20
                                        9
                                        5
                                    49
                                   134,550
                                    22,950
                                 4,491,400,
                                    38.8503'
                                                       4,687,750
                         4,100^
                         9,690
                      1,074,060
                        29,0905/
                                             1,116,910
                   I/  Excluding Portland, which discharges to the  Columbia River.
                   2/  Primary effluent  to Columbia River.
                   3/  Refers only to summer period and  reflects  removal by lagoon
                       storage,  land application,  and barging.
                   It/  Excludes 720,000  PE untreated and 207,000  discharged wastes
                       treated by municipal plants.
                   5/  Includes Portland harbor.	
UJ
_J
cn
                              QL
                              o
                              o
                              eo
                              m
                                              Discharged to Stream

                                              Removed by temporary
                                              Lagooning 8 Barging
                                              Removed by Continuous
                                                 ment
                     H Treat,
                              **•!
                                %—\
                             ^Im-L
^ CD
UJ ?
o a:
=> Q-
LJ
                                                     *,„, Samcs
                                                              78
                                                              32
                                                              83
                                                              0
                                                              72
                                                             79
                                                              97
                                                              58
                                                              745/
                                                              7
                                    75

                                               Waste production  is concentrated in four areas.   With  the  exception of the palp and paper
                                               industry, which relies  partly on storage or transportation  of wastes,  a high  /Pie/ of waste
                                               reduction  is achieved by most  waste sources.

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Four Willamette Basin pulp mills  store their wastes  in holding ponds--like this one  at
\\est Linn--during the summer   Untreated wastes are discharged when streamflow rises.
haeuser Company plant at Springfield is one
of the most efficient mills in the industry in
terms of the  ratio of discharged wastes to
production: a kraft mill that condenses and
burns its strong  pulping wastes,  the  plant
also provides primary and secondary treat-
ment of residual  wastes, recycles process
waters to reduce wastes, and utilizes  sum-
mer spray  irrigation to dispose of a portion
of its waste stream  during periods of low
streamflow The Western Kraft Corporation
plant at Albany, another kraft mill, also pro-
vides primary treatment and some beneficial
recycling of process waters. The Crown Zel-
lerbach Corporation plant at Lebanon, a sul-
fite  mill, evaporates and  dries  or burns
strong  pulping liquors during the summer.
  No treatment is presently provided by sul-
fite pulp  mills at  Salem,  Newberg, Oregon
City, and West Linn  Until recently, the State
of Oregon  was willing to accept storage or
transport of a portion of the concentrated
wastes of these plants during the low flow
period as  a  substitute for treatment, a
marked departure from  its  stringent  policy
toward other waste sources. The State initi-
ated in 1965 the policy of requiring primary
treatment by these mills, in  order to reduce
the organic solids that result in sludges and
provide  attachments  and nutrients for
Sphaerotilus. Primary treatment, however,
effects little reduction m oxygen demand;
and strong wastes will continue to be dis-
charged to the river after primary treatment
facilities  have been  installed.
  The Willamette  is a large river,  and
through most of the year it has a flow suf-
ficient to absorb even the enormous  waste
discharges of pulp and paper production yet
maintain  acceptable dissolved oxygen lev-
els. In summer, however, streamflow  drops
sharply, and with it the assimilative capacity
of the river. A number of Federal reservoirs
have  been  constructed  in the upper basin
since World  War II. Releases from these, for
purposes other than water quality control,
have relieved the  burden upon summer as-
similative capacity by supplementing natural
streamtlow. Without  such releases severe
nuisance conditions,  and often  complete
oxygen  depletion, would  occur in  Portland
harbor  each  summer. Oregon's  pollution
control program is based to a large degree
upon the operation of these  reservoirs Al-
lowable waste discharges for pulp mills and
treatment requirements for  municipalities
have been predicated upon maintenance of
a navigation flow of 5,500 cubic feet per sec-
ond at Salem
  Unfortunately, flows for pollution control
are not  specifically provided in the author-
ization of these reservoirs. Pollution control
benefits have occurred incidentally to reser-
voir releases for navigation And in the oper-
ation  of the  reservoirs, power generating
schedules,  flood control needs, and reser-
voir recreation  have sometimes conflicted
with  pollution control requirements. Water
needed  in summer for water quality control
can,  in a dry  year, be held in reservoirs in
order to provide for  fall power-generation.

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IV.  POLLUTION  ABATEMENT
REQUIREMENTS
  Abatement of the pollution of the Willam-
ette River in  Portland  harbor  and of the
South Santiam River depends primarily up-
on reducing the strength of wastes from pulp
and  paper plants The paramount need for
effective pollution control  in the Willamette
River Basin is a major reduction of the con-
centrated wastes of sulfite pulping—either
through an evaporation and burning proced-
ure similar to that of kraft pulping or through
treatment that provides equivalent waste
reduction  Primary  treatment of wastes is
also essential  at the five pulp mills that do
not provide it
  This level of treatment of pulping wastes
is essential both for its direct impact in re-
ducing pollution  sources, and as a precon-
dition for securing flow releases from Fed-
eral storage reservoirs. By the terms of the
enabling legislation, allocation of storage in
Federal reservoirs for the purpose of aug-
menting  water quality may be made only
where  "adequate treatment or  other meth-
ods of controlling wastes" is provided; and
      Process
 Sulfi'a ,-b ' p> is
 Sul'asc p d I p 'n g
 Groundwood o u I p i n
 [bleached, refiner)
 Pass rfflak J sig
	1A1
Expectable
w/Treatment
  Ibs BOO
                   WASTE PER TON OF PRODUCT
50
10
15
 5
         Killamette
       Basin Mills, 1965
           Ibs BOO
         550(5 sulfite miiis)
          11 !2 suIfate mil's)

          20(2 groundKootj mills)
          14(6 paper miils)
the present  level of pulp mill waste  treat-
ment is inadequate. Reallocation of storage
in existing  Willamette Basin reservoirs  to
provide  dependable streamflows for  water
quality control  is being  considered by  an
interagency  task force studying water and
related land  resources  of  the  Willamette
River Basin. It is unlikely, however, that stor-
age for this  purpose  can be provided until
all pulp mills—and the several communities
that do not provide secondary treatment of
their wastes—meet the waste treatment re-
quirement.

V. CONTINUING POLLUTION
CONTROL
  Abatement of existing pollution  will  not
insure maintenance of the water quality de-
sired in the Willamette River system.  Pollu-
tion control  needs will continue to occur;
and a  long  term  program that anticipates
those needs offers opportunities for  major
economies in  resource utilization.  Such  a
program should avert the social costs of a
recurrence of pollution,  while foreseeing
and scheduling  pollution  control  require-
ments.
  Waste treatment will remain the major ele-
ment in pollution  control  in the Willamette
River Basin.  The area is expected to experi-
ence  population  and  industrial growth  at
rates exceeding that  of the rest of  Oregon
or of the United States as a whole. Provid-
ing treatment for wastes resulting from such
expansion, as well as replacing  existing
waste treatment facilities as they  become
8

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  Weyerhaeuser Company's pulp ana paper  plant  at Springfield provides a high degree  of
  waste reduction   Concentrated pulping  liquors are  condensed and burned for recovery  of
  cooking chemicals  (smokestacks  at rear).   Fibers and other  solids are  settled out in the
  two small  ponds near the center of the picture   Residual wastes  are held up to five days
  in the large  lagoon, where aerators  beat added oxygen into  the waters  to facilitate waste
  decomposition.                                                      jucttiiuce waste
 obsolete, will represent a continuing respon-
 sibility. Analysis of projected waste produc-
 tion and distribution  indicates that for the
 most part secondary waste treatment will—
 with a slight increase in  average treatment
 efficiency—adequately protect water quality.
 In the Tualatin River Basin,  however,  the
 magnitude  of anticipated waste loads, even
 if recommended storage for quality control
 is provided, suggests that  advanced waste
treatment must be provided by municipali-
ties and industries by the early 1970's. Simi-
larly,  pulp  and paper mills,  because they
represent such significant  waste  sources,
may be expected to provide something simi-
lar to conventional secondary waste treat-
ment, in  addition  to primary treatment and
reduction of concentrated pulping  liquors.
   Flow regulation for quality control is
a  needed supplement to waste treatment.
Storage should  be provided at a variety of
sites, in order to meet the streamflow needs
of tributaries as well as those of Portland
harbor; and  drafts  on  storage should be
scheduled  in  a manner that makes most
efficient  use of water and  of storage  ca-
pacity.
   In addition to needs that relate to physical
facilities, effective, economic pollution con-
trol  requires  a  number  of institutional and
procedural practices to effectuate continu-
ing surveillance and control of water quality
in the Willamette River system. The immedi-
ate need in this regard is the expansion and
implementation of  Oregon's  stream stand-
ards for the Willamette River system in a
 manner that  clearly defines water quality
 required to serve  appropriate functions of
 the river, stream  reach  by stream  reach.
 Such standards are required by Federal  law
 for that portion of the river which is defined
 to be  interstate water,  by reason of  its  ex-
 posure to tidal influence. Standards for  the
 major part of the river system which is wholly
 intrastate should  obviously  be compatible
 with the interstate standard.
   Adjudication  of  water  rights to permit
 establishment (by  the  Oregon Water Re-
 sources Board) of  inviolable base flows m
 critical reaches of certain streams will  be
 necessary if drafts on  storage are to be a
 dependable controlling factor.  Systematic
 monitoring and reporting  of water quality,
 streamflow, and effluent characteristics
 must be provided, both to provide a continu-
 ing overview of water quality conditions and
 to  permit use of predictive  mathematical
 techniques  that facilitate  decision-making
 for water quality protection. Federal agency
 programs should be  reviewed periodically
 by the Federal Water Pollution Control Ad-
 ministration for incorporation of procedures
 to safeguard water quality against possible
 adverse impacts.  Reservoir  scheduling
 should be available to provide streamflows,
 as  needs are  indicated by monitoring and
 surveillance of the river system, in order to
 make optimal  use of water and storage ca-
 pacity of the multi-purpose reservoir system.
 Measures to  increase efficiency of waste
treatment plant operation by providing in-
centives and  training to  plant operators,
methods to control waste discharges of ves-
sels and houseboats,  to  control  erosion
from land management practices, and to pre-

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 vent toxic materials from entering  surface
 waters should be devised  and used at the
 earliest date
   Research  and development needs also
 exist. These can be approached through ex-
 isting national programs of pollution control
 research, since the pollution problems of the
 basin are not unique to the area. In the Wil-
 lamette Basin, research requirements center
 largely upon  methods  to control urban and
 forest land drainage and stormwater over-
 flows.
   In the area of social and institutional prac-
 tices, it would be desirable to develop mech-
 anisms for pollution-control institutions that
 are based upon the circumstances of water-
 sheds The Clean Waters Restoration Act of
 1966  offers considerable Federal incentive
 opportunities for development of such insti-
 tutions,  recognizing the efficiencies to be
 derived in scheduling and cooperative
 financing of waste collection  and treatment
 facilities and in  orderly development and
 implementation of pollution control plans.

 VI. COST OF POLLUTION
 ABATEMENT AND CONTROL
   Costs of pollution abatement and sus-
 tained pollution control will  not be small.
 Estimates of the cost of measures required
 to end existing  pollution and  to provide  a
 level of  waste treatment that  meets the re-
 quirements  of the  Oregon State Sanitary
 Authority and the  "adequate treatment"
 standard required for allocation  of storage
 in Federal reservoirs indicate that about $40
 million must be invested in waste collection
 and treatment facilities over  the next five
10

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        ASSUMED  SCHEDULE  OF REQUI RED  WASTE  TREATMENT  INVESTMENTS
40-
       Investment  to
       provide ade-
       quate treat-
       ment  leve I s
               Expans i on and
               replacement,
               including ca-
               pac i ty  for 25
               year  growth
               irt*
               to
       sfcata exfsl-
          1966-70
1971-75
1976-80
1981-85
years.  Roughly a third  of  the  amount—an
estimated $14 million—will be required from
pulp and paper mills, for installation of treat-
ment for removal of settleable solids  and
reduction in strength of pulping  liquors. An-
other $12 million is attributed to the comple-
tion  of an interceptor sewer  by the  city of
Portland, in  order to end the discharge of a
portion  of its untreated wastes to the  Wil-
lamette River. About $14  million  must be
spent to provide secondary waste treatment
to municipal and industrial wastes from  sev-
eral sources, and to  increase the standard of
efficiency in the several  municipal treatment
systems that are overloaded or  otherwise
inadequate.

  Waste treatment  construction  costs will
persist after adequate treatment is available.
Expansion  of waste production  and obso-
lescence of treatment facilities will, as  time
passes,  result  in continuing pressures on
treatment capabilities   Calculations of in-
vestment requirements have been projected.
These are based on the  application of exist-
ing technology, 1965 price  levels, deprecia-
tion  schedules based  on  twenty-five  year
treatment plant life,  and regional allocations
of projected population  and  industrial out-
put.  The cost projections  indicate that an
additional $65 million will have to be spent-
including $8.5  million for  advanced waste
treatment in the  Tualatin  River Basin and
$19.0 million for additional treatment of pulp
and  paper wastes—to maintain  an effective
level of waste  treatment through the  year
1985. Because  of the assumed twenty-five
year operating life of such facilities, the ma-
jor portion of waste treatment  investments
through  the year 2010  is assumed to be
designed into the cost projection.
                                                                                                                          11

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   In sum, then, the communities and indus-
tries of the Willamette River Basin can antici-
pate the need to expend about $105 million
(1965 dollars) for waste treatment during the
two decades between 1965 and 1985. About
forty  percent of this amount must be spent
over the next five years if abatement of exist-
ing pollution is to be achieved at the earliest
date.  Because  prevailing practice dictates
that treatment plant and sewer capacity be
designed to accommodate anticipated  ex-
pansion  of waste  loads,  the  incidence of
costs may be expected to decline markedly
once  adequate  waste treatment capabilities
have  been installed, then to climb again in
the 1980's as facilities that were built during
the late 1950's  and early 1960's  have to be
replaced.
   While pulp and  paper mills will have to
bear almost a third of the total anticipated
cost of waste treatment, the other two-thirds
will be spread unevenly among the  mdivid-
aul communities and industries of the basin.
In many cases these costs may be expected
to constitute a considerable burden. Antici-
pation of such  costs  should assist  munici-
palities to meet them  in an orderly fashion;
and Federal grants for treatment plant con-
struction will be a major aid in meeting waste
treatment requirements  of communities —
and, indirectly, of  those  industries which
utilize cooperative municipal-industrial treat-
ment  works. Watershed  pollution  control
arrangements could serve a function in eas-
ing financial burdens  of communities, both
by providing expertise  in scheduling con-
struction requirements and by spreading the
incidence of costs
  Other  cost elements,  too,  must be  in-
curred in meeting pollution-control require-
ments. Reservoir storage capacity having a
value  in excess of $20 million will be pro-
vided by the Federal government, if alloca-
tion  of  storage  to  provide  recommended
base streamflows is granted. It is estimated
that roughly a million dollars will be required
to completely adjudicate existing water
rights in order to provide dependable base
streamflows for  legitimate water uses,  in-
cluding  water quality control.  Funds must
also be invested  in monitoring equipment to
provide a knowledge of the day-to-day qual-
ity, and  influences on  quality, of the river
system.

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