The War Over Sawdust
Federal authorities threaten legal action against local mills for choking the Columbia River with industrial waste.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Complaints have been made to Major Hanbury, who is in charge of rivers and harbors in the northwest, that navigation is being interfered with on the Columbia River, where it is claimed the sawdust from mills along the banks is filling up the harbors; that the sawdust gets into the suction pipes of steamers, and is in various ways detrimental to navigation. Accordingly, notice has been issued to mill owners that proceedings will be commenced if they do not cease using the river to carry away the sawdust from their plants.
“Every day’s continuance of any such obstruction shall be deemed a separate offense.”
This reflects the early environmental costs of the Pacific Northwest’s timber boom. While the sawdust clogs have long since ceased to be the primary threat to the Columbia, the legacy of industrial use and the tension between corporate resource management and public navigation remain central to the river's ongoing restoration efforts.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.