Authorize Director of the Bureau of Environmental Services to enter into settlement with Oregon Department of Environmental Quality for environmental cleanup and natural resource damage claims regarding the Columbia Slough

The City of Portland ordains: Section 1. The Council finds: The Columbia Slough (Slough) is a significant cultural, ecological, and natural resource that includes approximately 31 miles of waterways from Fairview Lake to the Willamette River and includes various wetlands, lakes, and side channels. Sediments in the Slough have become contaminated by over 100 years of industrial and agricultural activities. Contamination has reached the Slough through outfalls, overland flow, and groundwater. The City operates a conveyance system that discharges to the Slough and owns property and rights of way that drain to the Slough. In 2005, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) issued a record of decision that serves as the cleanup plan for the Slough. Since 2005, the City has cooperated with DEQ under a series of intergovernmental agreements to implement the cleanup plan by identifying sources of contamination to the Slough, minimizing current releases to the Slough and monitoring conditions in the fish and sediments. To achieve certainty regarding the City’s obligations under the cleanup plan, the City and DEQ negotiated a draft agreement to settle State of Oregon (State) claims against the City for environmental cleanup and Natural Resource Damages. These claims are based on the City’s operation of its stormwater and sanitary conveyance systems. Pursuant to the proposed agreement, the City will pay $16,000,000 over three years to fund future in-water sediment cleanup projects that will be conducted by DEQ. The City will also pay $2,000,000 to fund habitat restoration projects approved by Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and implemented by the State and $1,500,000 to Oregon DEQ to fund personnel to identify and investigate potential upland sources of contamination to the Slough. Pursuant to the proposed agreement, the City will be obligated to design and construct 15 facilities to treat stormwater runoff from City rights of way, evaluate all City stormwater basins that drain to the Slough and perform $4,000,000 of alternative cleanup measures that benefit the watershed and incorporate community input and environmental justice. These obligations must be completed within 15 years of the effective date of the agreement. In exchange, the City will receive a clearly defined scope of work and a release from liability for any potential contribution to historical releases of hazardous substances and associated natural resource damages to the Slough. The City will also receive contribution protection from third-party claims for such releases. The proposed agreement was provided for public comment on November 1 to November 30, 2023. DEQ provided written responses to the comments received. DEQ and the City hosted a public hearing and several stakeholder-feedback meetings with fellow government agencies, local Tribes, community-based organizations, business associations and the Columbia Slough Watershed Council. To become effective, the State’s claims against the City and the proposed agreement to settle those claims must be entered by the Oregon Circuit Court for Multnomah County in the form of a Consent Judgment. The Office of the City Attorney recommends that the settlement, in the form presented in Exhibit A, be filed with the Court. NOW, THEREFORE the Council directs: The Director of the Bureau of Environmental Services or the Director’s designee is authorized to sign and file the proposed agreement in the Oregon Circuit Court in a form substantially similar to the agreement attached as Exhibit A. If needed, the Director or designee is authorized to modify the administrative terms of the agreement such as notice, payment instructions and timeline alterations as mutually agreed upon with the State or as required by the Court. The Bureau of Environmental Services or its successor is authorized to make payment to the State of Oregon as required in the Consent Judgment entered by the Court. Funds are available in the Sewer System Operating Fund, FY 2023-24 Budget, Bureau of Environmental Services, Cost Center ESST000021.