Contaminated Columbia River island added to Superfund list

By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS
Associated Press

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has added a contaminated island on the Columbia River to the Superfund list of toxic waste sites. That starts the process for eventual cleanup of the uninhabited Bradford Island. It is part of the federal Bonneville Dam complex on the Columbia River, which divides Washington state and Oregon. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for years dumped toxic waste on the island and in the river. That contaminated fish caught and eaten by humans. Thursday’s decision by the Biden administration was praised by the governors of Washington and Oregon. The island is located 40 miles east of Portland, Oregon.