In our view, June 22: Restoring the Land

Humans — the great polluters — seem to be getting better at cleaning up environmental messes. The most recent local pollution repair is the Port of Vancouver's project to remove industrial solvent from groundwater in the Fruit Valley area.

The Port of Vancouver's project is one of two port-sponsored cleanup systems in the county. The other is operated by the Port of Ridgefield. Larry Paulson, Port of Vancouver executive director, said in a statement the port was "very proud to be accelerating this cleanup" and "eliminating a major environmental concern for our neighbors in Fruit Valley."

It's good to see this kind of environmental progress under way at the local port. The new system was activated June 9 and is called "air-stripping." The facility was built by Rotschy Inc. of Yacolt and is owned by the port. It consists of pumping contaminated groundwater from an aquifer under Fruit Valley and filtering it "through various tanks before air-stripping removes contaminants from the water," according to the port. Then, clean water — meeting or exceeding Department of Ecology drinking water standards — is discharged into the Columbia River.

Water is pumped from the aquifer at 2,500 gallons per minute. As cleanup accelerates, more retrieval wells will be dug, and pumping accelerated to 5,000 to 6,000 gallons per minute.

Fruit Valley residents do not use the aquifer for drinking water, but the solvent-contaminated water has been a concern since its discovery in 1997, when the city of Vancouver extended Mill Plain Boulevard into the port. Trichloroethylene and other solvents are suspected of causing cancer. Reporting on the new extraction action, The Columbian's Erik Robinson quoted port spokesman Nelson Holmberg, who said that cleanup will accelerate the first five to eight years, but "won't be complete for decades."

Patty Boyden, the port's environmental services director, said the contaminated area "is pretty widespread" and includes "a layer of fine soils," which slows cleanup. Solvent was discovered on the former Swan Manufacturing site, and a second source was located on Cadet Manufacturing property.

The port bought the Cadet property and took over cleanup, by 2007 removing and treating 14,000 cubic yards of soil.

Cost of cleanup had reached $13 million, the port reported in 2007. It anticipated spending another $21 million to complete the job. The state Department of Ecology is assisting the port, and "deserves kudos for helping make this happen," Boyden said. Ecology has provided $10 million in funding thus far. Annual port costs are $325,000.

In 1995, the Port of Ridgefield began removing wood-treating chemicals and equipment that had been left on the site after leasing 40 acres to Pacific Wood Treating Company from 1963 until 1993, when the company declared bankruptcy.

The port estimated cleanup of the site, adjacent to Lake River, would cost $48 million and require 8-10 years. Department of Ecology is involved here, as well, committing 65 percent of the funds required. The chemical plume threatened Carty Lake and Gee Creek, a salmon/steelhead stream, on the adjoining Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge.

The high-tech, super-heated steam-extraction system used to remove the chemicals pentachlorophenol, creosote, and copper-chromium-arsenate has been operated around the clock by port employees since 2004. The port will redevelop the site into a waterfront area.

Both ports merit high praise for their environmental stewardship. Their work will protect the health of the communities they serve, and restore land to productive use.