Cleaning Up the Rogue River: Update

In our effort to clean up the Rogue River because government agencies won’t do their jobs, NWEA filed its opening brief to enforce the City of Medford’s discharge permit. Despite our having obtained a partial settlement with the city earlier, Medford’s continued refusal to clean up its pollution made it necessary to continue the court action.

NWEA’s brief tells the story of how Medford’s discharge of nutrient pollution is upsetting the Rogue River, with slimy algae, rampant growth of aquatic weeds, and killing pollution sensitive aquatic bugs.  The story also includes how flyfishing organizations studied the river in 2013, then pleaded with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to do something about Medford’s discharge, and how every one of many studies done since then has proved the point: Medford is sliming the Rogue River.