State Proposes 5-Year Ban On Camping At The Yards

PORTLAND, OR — State officials are seeking public comment throughout May regarding a proposal to temporarily prohibit overnight camping along a half-mile section of Willamette River beachfront from the Marquam Bridge to just south of the Ross Island Bridge in downtown Portland.

The Department of State Lands' (DSL) proposal, if approved, would enact a five-year moratorium on overnight camping at an area connected to the 33-acre industrial site known as The Yards, which is officially state land leased to ZRZ Realty Co., a subsidiary of the Zidell Marine Corporation.

Zidell has reportedly conducted its business at The Yards for generations.

According to DSL officials, the integrity and efficacy of a sediment cap installed by Zidell along the West Bank to reduce contaminant mobility is being compromised by increased transient activity in the area.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality in 2011 reportedly ordered Zidell "to complete remedial action at this location for historic soil contamination," which the company did in 2012. Along with the sediment cap, Zidell also planted vegetation on the riverbank, officials said.

Zidell is required to monitor the vegetation through 2037, but camping along the bank — as well as fires created by local transients — has destroyed some of the vegetation, challenging Zidell's responsibility and jeopardizing the remediation efforts, officials said.

"The closure would be limited to the state-owned land above the line of ordinary low water, and does not include the submersible land (under water) of the leasehold," officials said in a statement. "Day use would be permitted on the site, and the five-year term will provide Zidell and DSL adequate time to assess the outcomes of the closure."

Public comment regarding the camping moratorium will be accepted beginning Thursday, May 3, through June 1.

Public comments should be directed to:

Justin Russell
Department of State Lands
775 Summer St. NE
Salem, OR 97301-1279
Email: justin.russell@state.or.us
Phone: 503-986-5219 (Salem)

Images via Oregon Department of State Lands