It's true, it's possible, I've done it.

Forget the brown trout. I'm waiting for the first sightings of Coney Island whitefish.

We love how ignorant city officials make stupid decisions. The Willamette is a cesspool.

The Willamette has to be declared clean and safe for recreational activities before the CoP can tax the residents for its use.

just this winter, I attended a power point presentation by the Willamette River Keepers about the PCB's in the Willamette River... and how they are tracked in the BIOMASS... Little boys are especially vulnerable to PCB's as are little girls to radiation... keep both out of the people scanners at the airports and keep their little tootsies out of the biomass, kicking it up, swimming in it... don't eat the fish should give you a clue.... and the Oregon State Department @ Hanford said that the radioactive waste could not be tracked outside of the plume when it hit the Columbia although there was evidence of Radioactive Waste in the BIOMASS found along some Columbia River Docks... But the water is fine!!! They get away with scare tactics like E.Coli in our drinking water, twice, over false positive tests... tests known in the industry to be extremely unreliable but THE CITY OF PORTLAND with this knowledge, continues to SPIN and REFRAME.... NOW THEY WANT YOU TO BELIEVE THAT THE WILLAMETTE IS SAFE???? Who's gullible?

I often swam and water skied in the river many, many decades ago. Current pundits say it was supposed to be really bad back then. Maybe there’s a cottage industry buried in this mess.

You can't make the move to use the Willamette as our primary water source without first saying it is safe for swimming...

NOW THEY WANT YOU TO BELIEVE THAT THE WILLAMETTE IS SAFE???? Who's gullible?

What do Charlie Hales and Jefferson Smith think?
Important questions, are they for fluoride in our water? Are they for treating our water with added chemicals? Do they know of the negative results of the covered storage tanks? Do they think our super-funded river water should be "cleaned" to drink, would they be in favor of it?
Do you think our press will even ask them these and other vital questions?

If the water's so good, why doesn't our fearless leader Sam Adams, and maybe all of the Mayoral candidates, the City Council...and all those "sustainability" types swim? I say a group swim, OMSI dock to Riverplace public dock, and of course they need to expose their skin to the water so no wetsuits (although there will also be a no Speedo rule for the men.)

Every now and then, I fish for bass in the Willamette for fun. More frequently than not, the bass that I caught have some kind of deformity. Some are downright ugly and scary looking.

Regardless of the residual chemical, anyone who pays attention will see that almost every fisherman and ski boaters use the Willamette as just a big bathroom. Whenever you see someone sitting on the swim platform, or just semi-submerged right next to their boat doing nothing, you are probably watching them actively polluting the river.

Then there are the ones who relieve themselves into milk jugs or small coolers. Instead of dumping the content in the proper waste disposal site, they dump the content into the river and rinse the container right in the river. This seems to be a common practice for all the guided fishing boats.

No way I would spend more time than I absolutely need to in the Willamette or the Columbia.

Swim in the Willamette, sure just one question.

How do you do the doggie paddle with three arms?

If one were to examine all of the 250 boats in the RiverPlace Marina they would find that many do not have head holding tanks. If they do, they are turned to directly dump into the river.

And if you think the additional 100 boats anchored in front of the Blues Festival have tanks or use them, then you are mistaken.

Now we have groups and CoP sponsoring swims right around this open sewer cesspool. Happy Swimming in your Depends.

Insanity, if anyone is even thinking of blending this river water with our good Bull Run drinking water! However, if big money is to be made, the money may very well trump the health of our community!