North Portland – Swan Island Neighbors

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