Over a number of years, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality received complaints from North Portland residents about the odors emanating from the Swan Island industrial area. Neighbors for Clean Air organized an initial meeting in summer 2013. Oregon Solutions was asked by Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek to help convene an ongoing forum to improve communication between the residential and industrial neighbors of Swan Island.
The initial Oregon Solutions forum focused on a prospective process for improving two-way communication between residential and industrial neighbors on a range of issues. In December 2013, the team signed a Declaration of Cooperation outlining their agreement to participate in the forum, including the principles and scope of the effort.
In 2014, forum discussions resulted in the Oregon Legislature approving new toxics monitoring equipment for the Department of Environmental Quality. Monitoring use of the new equipment began in the North Portland area in 2015. The forum met for one year, then discontinued at the end of 2014.
If you are looking for information/materials about the status of this project from January 2014 and beyond, please visit the Oregon Consensus project page.
Additional Resources
Meeting Materials
- University of Portland ENV382 Class Project Presentation (PDF)
- University of Portland on Odor Report Totals from 1/29/13 to 4/15/13 (PDF)
- Air Quality Industrial Sources on Swan Island (PDF)
- DEQ Odor Complaints in North Portland from 2012 & 2013 (PDF)
- Graph- North Portland Odor Complaints, 2012-2013 (PDF)
- Portland Air Toxics Solutions, DEQ presentation April 2014 (PDF)
- Vigor Industries Presentation Hand Outs, April 2014 (PDF)
- Daimler Presentation, April 2014 (PDF)