EPA and other federal agencies, states, tribes, and nonprofit partners established the Columbia River Toxics Reduction Working Group to share information, coordinate activities, and develop strategies to identify and reduce toxics in the Columbia River Basin.

All meetings and workshops are open to the public. 

Next meeting

The next full Working Group meeting will be in 2017. More details to be announced...

Past meetings

Notes and presentations from past meetings Exit

Executive meetings

The second Columbia River Toxics Reduction Executive Meeting was held in Spokane in November 2012. Six initiatives were identified to help advance the prevention and reduction of toxics in the Basin. Read a summary from the 2012 Executive Meeting

Past workshops

Presentations from past workshops The following links exit the site Exit

• Pesticide Stewardship Partnership Workshop (July 2014) - This one day workshop in Walla Walla brought together 46 participants including growers, tribal government, state and federal agencies, industry and nonprofit partners from Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and tribal lands. Participants shared innovative pesticide stewardship efforts taking place around the Basin, and explored possibilities for future collaboration. 
• Reducing PBDEs Workshop (February 2010) - This one day workshop in Portland was designed to help identify actions to reduce and eliminate PBDEs (toxic flame retardants) in the Columbia River Basin.
• Toxics Reduction Watershed Workshop (August 2009) - This one day workshop in Wenatchee was an exchange of information with local watershed groups, municipalities, and other participants about their toxics reduction efforts in the Columbia River Basin.
• PCB Workshop (July 2009) - This one day workshop in Portland focused on characterization of PCBs in the Lower Columbia and Willamette Rivers, monitoring efforts, and reduction activities.
• Toxics Reduction Workshop (May 2009) - This one day workshop in Pendleton was our first of a series of workshops designed to exchange information with local watershed groups and others about toxics reduction efforts in the Columbia River Basin.

Questions?

Contact Mary Lou Soscia (soscia.marylou@epa.gov), 503-326-5873