Rivers, often the necessary condition of human settlement, shape the cities they flow through. People who live in cities shape and reshape the rivers according to their shifting priorities. Fundamental to regional food supply, religious practice, transportation, trade, recreation, and industrial development, urban rivers have been harnessed to satisfy many different kinds of human wants and needs. But such functions are often in conflict – and the priorities of some groups of people take precedent over the needs of others – making urban rivers contested sites.
This class offers insight into the complex environmental politics governing urban rivers with a comparative case study of two contaminated rivers in the Pacific Northwest: the Portland Harbor and the Lower Duwamish River Superfund Sites. Many U.S. cities, including Portland and Seattle, made rivers central to industrialization, imposing few regulations to control pollution and showing little regard for alternative, conflicting priorities such as a clean supply of water for drinking or fishing. In recent years, the federal government has attempted to address past contamination and restore other river functions by holding past polluters responsible via the designation of Superfund sites – sites contaminated by hazardous waste and deemed a priority for cleanup because of risks posed to human health and the environment. In this class, we will be examining the policies, planning and politics that influence river cleanup. Stay tuned for our reflections.
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AuthorsWe are Portland State students who care about the urban rivers of the Pacific Northwest. Archives
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