This is why the Columbia River Gorge is so important.

Highest 20% of States by Number of Impaired Waterbodies

Toxic Release Inventory A "release" is a politically soft term for pollution, either by air, water, or land and often avoids coverage under the Clean Water Act by injecting waste into underground injection wells, often contaminating aquifers and other groundwater supplies.  This 'release' inventory is from paperwork filed by the businesses and has little auditing or regulation to oversee the hazards done.  One major form of release is to a Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW), where evaporation pools allow for volatile organic chemicals to naturally evaporate into the surrounding atmosphere before being treated in the POTW and then dumped into a nearby river, lake, or ocean.

To see an interactive map of the Toxic Release Inventory for this region, click on the link below to open a Google Map with active pins, click on the pin of your choice to find out more information regarding releases in your area. 

http://maps.google.com/maps/mm?q=http:%2F%2Ftoxmap.nlm.nih.gov%2Ftoxmap%2FtmpKmlFiles%2FtriSearchResultsKml_25.kmz&ie=UTF8&hl=en&ll=46.131,-119.94405&spn=9.759718,17.995605&z=6

Superfund Sites:

To see an interactive map of the Superfund sites for this region, click on the link below to open a Google Map with active pins, click on the pin of your choice to find out more information regarding Superfund sites in your area.

http://maps.google.com/maps/mm?q=http:%2F%2Ftoxmap.nlm.nih.gov%2Ftoxmap%2FtmpKmlFiles%2FsfSearchResultsKml_26.kmz&ie=UTF8&hl=en&ll=46.69735,-118.84565&spn=9.660383,17.995605&z=6