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.2•-'2.6.-"' 91/ <br /> 'k • <br /> ®X1fS <br /> permeate <br /> channel <br /> E Amazon: A new report makes no <br /> conclusions about health threat. <br /> By HARRY ESTEVE <br /> The Register-Guard <br /> Mud and water samples taken from the Amazon chan- <br /> nel were found to be laced with heavy metals and toxic <br /> chemicals,including pesticides and wood preservatives,a <br /> new federal report says. <br /> The report, issued this week by the U.S. Geological <br /> Survey, draws no conclusions about the threat the pollu- <br /> tion poses to human health or to the wildlife that uses the <br /> waterway as an inner city refuge. <br /> But some of the pollutants exceed federal standards <br /> for cancer risks from prolonged exposure either through <br /> drinking the water or eating fish from the channel, ac- <br /> cording to the report. <br /> Elevated concentrations of pollution were found <br /> along the entire length of the drainage canal, from the <br /> upper reaches in residential-heavy south Eugene to the <br /> lower,commercialized stretches west of town before Am- <br /> azon empties into Fern Ridge Reservoir. <br /> The findings confirm longstanding concerns about the <br /> channel, city and state environmental officials said Fri- <br /> day. But the study also suggests that the Amazon has a <br /> particularly bad pollution problem compared with other <br /> areas. <br /> "We don't have a lot of information on urbanized or <br /> industrialized streams, but I think you'll find (Amazon <br /> • pollution) is higher than we'd typically find even in indus- <br /> trial areas," said Bob Baumgartner, environmental ana- <br /> lyst for the state Department of Environmental Quality. <br /> The study compared the Amazon channel to Johnson <br /> Creek,which runs through Portland,and to Portland Har- <br /> bor on the Willamette River.In both cases,pollution con- <br /> centrations were higher in the Amazon. <br /> Results of the study point to a need for action, said <br /> Deborah Evans, water quality specialist for the city of <br /> Eugene,although it is unclear what course will be best. <br /> • "I don't think we're at the point right now of going in <br /> and doing a massive cleanup," Evans said. "It's more a <br /> question of how do we prevent these chemicals from <br /> getting into the system." <br /> Evans, who is in charge of the city's storm water <br /> management program, said most of the pollution is <br /> washed into the channel by rainfall, which carries lawn <br /> care products, moss killer, car oil and dozens of other <br /> Turn to CHANNEL,Page 4A <br />