Portland Harbor Superfund Site Contamination, Cleanup, and Collective Action

Portland State University PDXScholar Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses Spring 6-7-2017 Grassroots Resistance in the Sustainable City: Portland Harbor Superfund Site Contamination, Cleanup, and Collective Action Erin Katherine Goodling Portland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds Part of the Environmental Studies Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Goodling, Erin Katherine, "Grassroots Resistance in the Sustainable City: Portland Harbor Superfund Site Contamination, Cleanup, and Collective Action" (2017). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 3613. https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.5505 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: [email protected]. Grassroots Resistance in the Sustainable City: Portland Harbor Superfund Site Contamination, Cleanup, and Collective Action by Erin Katherine Goodling A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Studies Dissertation Committee: Nathan McClintock, Chair Sy Adler Lisa K. Bates Veronica Dujon Portland State University 2017 © 2017 Erin Katherine Goodling Abstract How does progressive change happen in so-called sustainable cities? In this dissertation, I present findings from a three year-long ethnographic investigation of grassroots organizing in Portland, Oregon, a city at the leading edge of the green urbanism movement. This research centered on an extended case study of the Portland Harbor Community Coalition (PHCC). PHCC is an alliance of grassroots groups working to ensure that cleanup of the Portland Harbor Superfund Site benefits those who have been most impacted by pollution. In this dissertation, I develop three main empirical findings. First, despite depoliticized (sustainability) discourse permeating the harbor cleanup planning process, which excluded impacted communities from and minimized disparate impacts resulting from contamination and cleanup, there has not necessarily been a green growth machine operating in the way that we would expect. Instead, a classic status quo growth machine has indirectly pushed depoliticized sustainability discourse, and benefited from it at the expense of vulnerable residents -- even in a paradigmatic sustainable city. Second, in contrast to the “just green enough” strategies put forth in previous research, there are, in fact, grassroots groups who are demanding robust environmental improvements as part of broader social and environmental justice outcomes. PHCC takes an “oppositional community development” approach in attempting to transcend the green development-displacement dialectic. This approach has entailed being strategically confrontational some of the time, and engaging through more established participation channels at other times. Third, individual and collective historicized learning has played a key role in PHCC’s efforts to re-politicize the cleanup i planning process in three ways: it helped coalition members connect their personal experiences to the harbor; it helped coalition members build a political analysis of the cumulative and inter-generational ways that harbor pollution has impacted different groups; and a collectively produced historical narrative ultimately contributed to the coalition’s moderate success in pushing public agencies to be more responsive to impacted communities. More broadly, this research draws attention to the historical contingencies, organizing approaches, challenges, and transformations experienced by ordinary people coming together to fight for a more just sustainability. It suggests that in order to develop a fuller understanding of urban socio-ecological change processes – and to make meaningful contributions to change in an era of environmental crisis, extreme housing instability, racial violence, and other forms of oppression – scholars must pay attention to those working on the front lines of change, themselves, in broader historical context. ii For Roy Pascoe, who loved and fought for the Willamette River and its people. iii Acknowledgements This research was made possible through generous financial and in-kind support of Portland State University’s (PSU) Institute for Sustainable Solutions; an Ernie Bonner Equity Planning Scholarship; a PSU Laurel’s Fellowship; the PSU Library Special Collections Dissertation Fellowship; and two Maurie Clark Dissertation Fellowships. Additionally, this material is based upon work supported by National Science Foundation IGERT Grant #0966376: “Sustaining Ecosystem Services to Support Rapidly Urbanizing Areas”. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. I owe a long list of people an enormous debt of gratitude for their support throughout this project. First and foremost, I want to thank the members and supporters of the Portland Harbor Community Coalition (PHCC). This research – and more importantly the grassroots collective action that is the central topic of this dissertation – would not have happened without those who have dedicated so much hard work and love to PHCC. Many people are named in this dissertation, and many remained unnamed. I owe Cassie Cohen, PHCC’s founder, particular thanks for her patient support of this project. And I am also so lucky to know Steve Goldstein, who has willingly loaned me his ear and shared decades of accumulated wisdom. I can only hope that the words on these pages help to amplify in some small way the knowledge and perspectives of those working on the front lines to make cities more just. iv Second, I cannot thank the members of my dissertation committee enough for their belief in this project and their help making it come to fruition. Nathan McClintock, the chair of my committee, took me under his wing soon after we both arrived at PSU. When I first contacted Nathan, I had never read, let alone written, an academic article. He patiently helped me channel the critical perspective and facilitation skills I had developed over the previous decade as a youth worker and high school teacher, and not only learn to navigate the world of academia, but also to connect the world of research with on-the- ground social change work. Sy Adler has also offered invaluable support since I began at PSU. More than anyone, Sy has pushed me to think historically, connecting the past to the present. At first, Sy’s system of dog-earring the corners of my drafts terrified me; I’d walk into his office, and immediately see that nearly every page needed attention. Sy’s consistency made it easy to trust him, however, and I have been so lucky to receive his counsel. I look up to Lisa Bates as the quintessential phronetic scholar. Equally at ease tackling a complicated spatial statistics problem and talking story with teenagers, Lisa is a role model for the kind of researcher that I aspire to be. Throughout this project, she reminded me that my first order of business is to maintain my commitment to PHCC members and their work. Our two-hour long conversations always left me with renewed dedication to making sure this project eventually lands on the ground in a way that matters for those doing this work day in and day out. The first day I met Veronica Dujon, she reminded a room full of students how critical it is to continually ask three questions: who wins? Who loses? Who decides? Ever since, I have endeavored to make these questions central to my own work. I have benefited enormously from Veronica’s v guidance around the ethics and logistics of doing ethnographic research, and feel so lucky that she agreed to remain on my committee even when her work took her far beyond the walls of PSU. Sincere appreciation is also due to colleagues and mentors at PSU and other institutions. Classmates – now friends – who have helped shape my thinking in valuable ways include Amy Coplen, Anandi van Diepen-Hedayat, Betsy Breyer, Cameron Herrington, Claire Bach, Diana Denham, Fiona Gladstone, Jamaal Green, Jen Turner, Khanh Pham, Kenya Dubois, Marissa Matsler, Mary Ann Rozance, Max Ritts, Melanie Malone, Mike Simpson, Pam Phan, Paul Manson, Tara Goddard, Sam Stritzl, and Z Grabowski. Three classmates/colleagues – Anthony Levenda, Ellie Harmon, and Dillon Mahmoudi – deserve extra special thanks; I am confident I would not have finished this without the friendship and support you all have given. Ellie, especially went above and beyond, biking and taking the bus to the east side of town to write alongside me on so many occasions; reading draft upon draft; and helping me stay focused with emoticon texts. And I have benefited enormously from the formal and informal guidance of so many faculty members at PSU and elsewhere, including Alan Yeakley, Amy Lubitow, Carl Abbott, Connie Ozawa, Greg Schrock, Henrik Ernstson, Isabelle Anguelovski, Jason Jurjevich, Jennifer Allen, Jennifer Dill, Karen Gibson, Marisa Zapata, Moriah McSharry McGrath, Naomi Adiv, Nik Heynen, Paula Carder, Richard White, and Thad Miller. Additionally, I cannot thank the faculty and staff leaders of PSU’s IGERT program enough for their deep commitments to interdisciplinary research and student-centered vi approach to learning, especially Darrell Brown, Dave Ervin, Elise Granek,

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