prevent wetland destruction!

Soil health analyses submitted by Portland Golf Club (PGC) to the Army Corps of Engineers in March 2021 are important but insufficient as they do not address an area of real concern.  

PLEASE SEE THE TEST RESULTS IN THE *documents & communications* SECTION, along with the accompanying email from the PGC to the ACOE.  

Golf courses tend to be intensive users of pesticides. PGC first opened in 1914, and as such, it is probable that the club historically used pesticides that are no longer legal to use.  Many of these pesticides are persistent, meaning that they or their metabolites are resistant to environmental degradation.  These pesticides present a potential environmental risk, as they will have increased bioavailability due to disturbance and relocation to Wetland A in permeable storage bags.  It would seem, given PGC’s current plan to place the bags proximate to Fanno Creek, that the sediments should be analyzed for pesticide residues.  Quantification of the pesticide residues would help in determining the potential risk to the environment whether a change in that plan is necessary. 

Additionally, a review of PGC’s pesticide application records (both recent and distant) would help in determining what classes of pesticides should be assayed for.  Regardless of the records, due to common golf course maintenance practices, long-lived organochlorine pesticides such as DDT/DDE, heptachlor, aldrin, methoxychlor and dieldrin would seem to be among the prime candidates for assay.  Also, endosulfan, a cyclodiene chlorinated hydrocarbon, and organophosphorus insecticides (such as parathion and chlorpyrifos) are potential candidates as well.  Many of these pesticides are toxic to fish and other wildlife in relatively small amounts. Our community deserves a more comprehensive analysis of the irrigation ponds’ soil than simply assaying for physical characteristics and heavy metal content.

Another grave concern is the lack of information regarding the testing protocols used by PGC to obtain the samples they have collected. An inquiry should be made into whether multiple samples were collected and, if so, whether the data from numerous samples was aggregated. The agencies reviewing PGC’s permit applications should also know from what depth(s) the analyzed samples were collected and if these samples represent all the layers of sediment that PGC proposes to dredge and dump in a wetland within the Fanno Creek watershed and adjacent to a popular walking trail.