Funny The Old Old Older Than Dirt Ben Simmons Water Hole

The Sandy River is nice. Pretty darn clean (and cold with that fresh snowmelt off the mountain). But again, I've had some "fun" experiences with the folks up in that neck of the woods.

 

that's all true

as a native Oregonian I remember how filthy the Willamette River used to be. It was disgusting. The Clean Water laws were a long time coming and are a great example of Federal Regulations improving quality of life

In the 70's & 80's, I remember the Waste Water treatment plant in Springfield overflowing and failing several times, mostly during heavy rainfall. I think that was the worst offender on the Willamette but IIRC they built a new one in the late 80's

 

Sandy is great!!!

so is the upper green river in the puget sound. anyone ever been to flaming geizer park up there?

 

I grew up near where Foster takes off from Powell. In grade school my buddies and I would ride our bikes down to the east end of the Ross Is. Bridge and go fishing. This was 1967 and 1968, and the only thing living in the river were carp, and we did our best to keep as much of the river off us as we could. And when we got home our mothers made us immediately bathe. Crown Zellerbach and Publishers Paper were two of the biggest polluters. They would discharge their paper pulp wastes into the river, where it would settle out, go anaerobic and then rise to become massive sludge blankets floating down the river. And who could forget river bank foliage festooned with toilet paper and condoms after the river levels dropped after heavy rains? It’s a totally different river now.

And while most treatment plant overflows to the entire Willamette River have been completely eliminated, some do still occur, mainly during periods of heavy rain. Fortunately when these happen, they are highly diluted. And the effect is minimal. And usually the problem is sub par or failing transmission lines, rarely the treatment facility anymore. Sewer lines are just another huge (and forgotten) part of our failing national infrastructure……

 

1979

 

out of site, out of mind.

 

I remember when they built the two treatment plants in Milwaukie, one by the old log boom and the other by the Oak Grove Train Trestle.

 

Anyone ever swim at Jantzen Beach Pool?
Aa a kid we loved going there to swim all day it seemed.

 

Now that I'm in Florida, it is natural springs. Those things are the best part of this insane state.

 

Blue Springs was fantastic!

 

Yep, two communities that put absolutely no value on waterfront property 50 years ago. Now they want it back for community recreational use. But as the old saying goes, “the people in hell want ice water.” No way at today’s prices can they afford to tear down the old plants and build them elsewhere and still have money to reclaim the properties for community use…..

 

They have them large enough to swim in??? Whoa!

 

Yeah, there are hundreds of them. They usually flow into the rivers here at some point. You can kayake down a river and take little side creeks until you get to the source, which is a spring flowing out of a deep blue sinkhole in the ground. You can kayake about 9 miles down a river and swim in about 10 different springs. And they are everywhere. Kind of an unseen Florida treat.

 

thats like fantasia!!! Wow! I had no idea. So incredibly beautiful!

 

We have one of these like 20 minutes from our house. You have to hike a couple of miles to get to it, so we always have it all to ourselves. Haha