The Portland harbor that was once home to many tribal nations became a prime destination for shipping vessels during the industrialization period. This led to a rise in greenhouse gas emissions, polluting the air, soil and water around the Portland harbor — making the space along the river very hazardous. Eventually, it was designated as a federally recognized superfund site.
This will be a hot topic this Saturday, April 20 at the 3rd District Candidate Forum, hosted by the Portland Harbor Community Coalition (PHCC) in conjunction with a University of Portland social work class, Social Work 456: Environmental Organizing and several other community organizations. The forum is open to all students, and Portland locals and will run from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Buckley Center Auditorium.
Six out of the 10 candidates running to replace Earl Blumenauer, who has been the incumbent representative for Oregon's 3rd Congressional District since 1996, will participate. Elections will be held for the primary on May 21. Attendance has been confirmed by the following candidates: Michael Jonas (D), Nolan Bylenga (D), Rachel Lydia Rand (D), Ricardo Barajas (D), Gary L. Dye (R) and Susheela Jayapal (D).
Map of Oregon's 3rd Congressional District. Photo courtesy of Portland Harbor Community Coalition.
The focus of the forum will be environmental issues.
According to SW 456 student Lily Merizon, students in the class have spent this semester reaching out to candidates, formulating questions and organizing the event.
“It's been a really cool experience,” Merizon said. “It's super unique to have an event on campus that involves an upcoming election and allows students to be at the forefront of the planning.”
SW 456 professor Lizz Schallert is expecting hundreds of people in the audience and urges all UP students and Portland locals to attend, seeing this as a way for them to voice their concerns and hear directly from the candidates.
“There's a real desire that I hear from students around more transparency, and there just haven't been a lot of open forum discussions,” Schallert said. ”I would be interested in having more of this on campus so students can make informed decisions and safe choices.”
Schallert’s emphasis on transparency pertains to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund site along the Willamette river, a 10-mile stretch which includes UP’s River Campus. Superfund sites are designated areas throughout the U.S. where hazardous waste contamination has occurred. These sites are labeled as such to grant the EPA the authority to oversee and fund the cleanup efforts in these areas.
When UP purchased the land now known as the Franz River Campus, they committed to cleaning up the harbor. Cleanup began in 2009, spending five years assessing the area, taking soil samples, removing contaminated soil and investing over a $1 million towards clean up efforts. By 2014, UP met EPA cleanup standards and was approved for the addition of new occupational and recreational facilities.
Despite UP’s cleaning efforts, there is still much work to be done, according to Executive Director of PHCC Cassie Cohen. This will serve as the primary topic discussed at the candidate forum.
“When candidates see a massive turnout of a diverse group of students and community coming together it's going to send them a pretty important message that they need to take this seriously,” Cohen said.
PHCC Campaign Manager Sterling Stokes feels that students can be a powerful force in this election. Hosting the forum at UP in the hopes that younger demographics are able to voice their concerns during this major election season.
“There's not always focus on younger populations when it comes to policy and politics,” Stokes said. “I think it's really important that youth are engaged and aware of these issues, especially because the point of a democracy is to best represent the people.”
To learn more about the candidate forum, visit the PHCC website. To RSVP to the candidate forum, click here.
Netty Jurriaans is the Community Engagement Editor for The Beacon. She can be reached at jurriaan25@up.edu.
