I say we close down the Interstate bridge until those damn Washingtonians agree to fund a MAX line extension. If they won't, then fuck em. Let's blow the damn bridge up then maybe those job-steeling Vancouverites will stay the hell out of dodge.

Oh, wait a minute -- no Interstate bridge would mean I'd have to swim to get to the Jantzen Beach Target. Never mind.

re: 50% less...

Can Oregon be the Switzerland of the West Coast?

For better or worse, the West Coast connects with ocean-going trade, floating being one of the most energy efficient ways of moving things.

All those West ports connect today with I5 and concrete truck highways headed East. Here in PORTland, megatons of wheat come down the Columbia to be loaded into ships outgoing. Scrap metal too.

So why not follow Switzerland - http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/09/19/europe/tunnel.php - put I 5 trucks on trains North-South? Trains are way more energy efficient than trucks, and cheaper.

Think about it behind a big ass triple truck on I5 or one mashing a bike at the Sandy-I84 onramp.

According to the investigation, Portland has the following substances in its water: acetaminophen, caffeine, ibuprofen, and sulfamethoxazole. The first three are common enough, but it's still alarming and unhealthy to be drinking them in any regular amount. But what's that last one?

It's an antibiotic.

According to the drug's Wikipedia page, it is "commonly used to treat urinary tract infections" and has some other side effects.

But we don't drink water from the river, or at least we shouldn't. Ever. Our drinking water comes from the Bull Run Watershed. How do those medicines get all the way up to our drinking supply?

Or, did the researchers just test the river, and assume we were drinking that? And if so, how is that all they found?

"The AP's investigation also indicates that watersheds, the natural sources of most of the nation's water supply, also are contaminated. Tests were conducted in the watersheds of 35 of the 62 major providers surveyed by the AP, and pharmaceuticals were detected in 28."

I know, but how in the world do pharmaceuticals travel upstream, uphill, through several dams, and across 50 miles into a watershed area that's completely closed off to humans?

"I know, but how in the world do pharmaceuticals travel upstream, uphill, through several dams, and across 50 miles into a watershed area that's completely closed off to humans?"

I think the overall point is that the drugs and other soluble chemicals are travelling through the natural process of creating drinking water. Some chemicals are rising up on molecules of condensation formed from sewage sludge, forming clouds and then raining back down. I think one of the big issues here is that most people are trained to dispose of old or unneeded medicines in the toilet instead of throwing them in the garbage (presumable so nobody else get ahold of them).