by Darcie Meihoff
People who want to protect Forest Park are once again rallying together to oppose the City of Portland’s and PGE’s plan to raze acres of Forest Park to expand power lines, which is known as the Harborton Project.
On Wednesday, Oct. 14, opposition organizers including the Forest Park Conservancy (FPC), Bird Alliance of Oregon, Sierra Club, 350PDX, and others, are planning public activities to encourage Portland City Council to protect Forest Park and stand behind their original decision opposing the project. Organizers are holding a rally outside Portland City Hall, at 8:45 a.m. and are asking participants to wear green to demonstrate their support for Forest Park.
Forest Park supporters are also requesting public testimony at the Hearings Office, which is reviewing PGE’s application and deciding whether to approve or deny it. Interested participants can sign up to attend the Zoom meeting on Wednesday, October, 14 at 1:30 p.m., or submit testimony via email prior to the meeting by sending it to HearingsOfficeClerks@portlandoregon.gov (reference case number LU 26-051203 CU EN GW and Hearings Office Case Number 4260012). Additional details and information can be found on FPC’s web site, here.
The Harborton Project was originally rejected by City Council in a unanimous vote last year. The fact that it is now moving forward has taken Forest Park supporters, and the public by surprise. The city signed an agreement with PGE behind closed doors following a mediation process, binding city staff to support a new PGE application.
Environmental groups say if the new deal is approved that PGE plans to cut over 370 trees, disrupt two streams and fill two wetlands in Forest Park, while opening the door to future expansion and development in violation of the city’s own Forest Park Natural Resources Management Plan.
Darcie Meihoff is a past board president of the Forest Park Conservancy.
Here we go again. It's "clearcut" that PGE is trying to get its foot in the door by submitting only the first phase of a multi-phase project in Forest Park.
It's also "clearcut" that the City hearing officer, and later the council when the hearing officer's decision is appealed, should apply commonly accepted national environmental standards to this application.
It's "clearcut" that, under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), a project applicant generally cannot submit an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for only the first phase of a proposed multi-phase project. Reviewing only the first phase of an interconnected multi-phase proposal is known as "segmentation," which is explicitly prohibited under NEPA regulations.
That's what PGE is trying to do. They could not get away with it if, for example, they were trying to build this project on Forest Service land.
Addressing only the first phase of a project should not be allowed in the city's review process either.