The state Department of Ecology, currently updating a contingency plan for responding to an oil spill on the Middle Columbia River, is accepting comments from the public on a recently released draft.
The ecology department also will participate in a joint workshop with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and other agencies today in The Dalles, Ore. The meeting begins at 9 a.m. in the ZR lecture hall at Columbia Gorge Community College, 400 E. Scenic Drive in The Dalles.
The state is accepting comments on the draft spill plan through May 15. Comments can be sent by email to grps@ecy.wa.gov, or by mail to Spill Prevention, Preparedness, and Response (MCR-GRP), P.O. Box 47600, Olympia, WA 98504.
The plan is available online at www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/spills/preparedness/GRP/ColumbiaRiver/MidColumbiaRiver.htm.
The newly updated Middle Columbia River plan covers 198 miles of river, roughly between Bonneville Dam and the Hanford site near the Tri-Cities. It’s one of eight geographic response plans the state hopes to complete before June 30.
