{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.merkley.senate.gov/news/in-the-news/columbia-river-cleanup-bill-passes-congress", "Columbia River Cleanup Bill Passes Congress", "2016-12-13", "2016", "2016-12", "Democrat", "House", "OR", "Jeff Merkley", "M001176", "www.merkley.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Columbia River Cleanup Bill Passes Congress \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nTuesday, December 13, 2016\r\n\r\n\t\n\r\n\r\n\r\n  \r\n    By:\u00a0\r\n    Courtney Flatt\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nCleaning up and monitoring toxics in the Columbia River Basin could now be a little easier. Congress recently passed a bill that would authorize the Environmental Protection Agency to start a voluntary grant program for environmental cleanup in the Columbia River\u00a0system.\r\nThe Columbia River Basin, which was named as a \u201clarge aquatic ecosystem\u201d in 2006, was the only system of that sort that didn\u2019t receive dedicated funding to reduce toxins. Others included Puget Sound, the Gulf of Mexico and the Great\u00a0Lakes.\r\nOregon Sen. Jeff Merkley praised the Columbia River Restoration Act in an emailed\u00a0statement.\r\n\u201cNobody wants to worry that the water they are drinking or fishing in or swimming in is tainted, but 8 million inhabitants of the Columbia River Basin have had their health, safety and environment endangered by toxins in the river. Now Congress is finally doing something about it,\u201d Merkley. said. \u201cThis bill will provide a much needed boost to the health and economy of our beloved Columbia\u00a0River.\u201d\r\nToxics in the river \u2014 like PCBs, mercury and pesticides \u2014 can build up in fish. That accumulation can then cause birth defects and other health issues for people who eat a lot of\u00a0fish.\r\nA number of programs could benefit from grant funding, including hazardous and pharmaceutical collections and better toxics\u00a0monitoring.\r\n\u201cThere is not any long-term monitoring done on most of the mainstem Columbia,\u201d said Debrah Marriott, executive director of the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership, which worked to get the bill\u00a0passed.\r\nShe said a lot of the pollution in the Columbia River Basin stems from undefined sources, like stormwater and agricultural runoff, known as nonpoint source pollution. Marriott said a lot of smaller projects are underway in the basin \u2014 this grant will help expand\u00a0them.\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s like most things \u2014 one or two is good, but when we start accumulating the impact of those, we\u2019ll really start to see some improvements,\u201d Marriott\u00a0said.\r\nThe act had broad support from tribal, environmental and industry\u00a0groups.\r\nKristin Meira is the executive director of Pacific Northwest Waterways Association, an industry group that supports navigation, energy and trade. She said the act benefits people, the environment, fish and the\u00a0economy.\r\n\u201cWhen you have contaminated materials in the river, it makes it very difficult to maintain berth areas and have cost-effective plans for dredging and other activities in the river,\u201d Meira\u00a0said.\r\nThe act all a part of larger water infrastructure legislation, which also includes a provision to return Kennewick Man to Northwest tribes for a proper burial. The president is expected to sign the act into\u00a0law.\r\n\r\n \r\n           \r\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.merkley.senate.gov/news/in-the-news/columbia-river-cleanup-bill-passes-congress"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.522514969110489, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}