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Government agencies are one step closer to beginning a $1 billion-plus project to clean up the Willamette River‘s polluted Superfund site through North Portland.

Last week, the Portland City Council authorized the Bureau of Environmental Services to enter into a settlement agreement for remedial design of the Willamette Cove area 鈥� a portion of the entire site targeted for cleanup. The bureau will work with the Port of Portland, U.S. Department of Defense and state agencies on the project.

The goal is to design for a 鈥�100 percent remedy鈥� of the 10.1-mile stretch of river from Sauvie Island to south of the Fremont Bridge. The design phase is expected to take three to five years, followed by 13 years of construction. The site will then be monitored for 17 years.

River cleanup will be a long process, with a myriad of government agencies involved. The agreement represents a concrete step forward, said Annie Von Burg, an environmental policy manager for the Bureau of Environmental Services.

鈥淭his is an exciting phase of the project,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his is where we get closer to tangible action.鈥�

The agreement 鈥� known as an administrative settlement agreement and order on consent 鈥� has been negotiated among the government agencies. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is overseeing the work. The cleanup also involves the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and the Department of State Lands, which owns the riverbed.

The agreement now goes to state and federal agencies for their approvals, which starts a clock for the design work.

鈥淥nce that is officially signed, we have a clock ticking that we are legally bound to,鈥� Von Burg said.

A request for proposals was issued June 28. The Bureau of Environmental Services is evaluating the proposals now, and officials expect to award the contract in early to mid-October, Von Burg said.

The contract is for an estimated $8.1 million, although such contracts tend to vary in actual cost.

鈥淢y experience is these change pretty significantly, so I’m not sure where we’ll land, but that’s the target,鈥� Von Burg said.

The work is expected to involve dredging and capping the riverbed in certain places.

鈥淲e are looking at engineered designs that will guide the cleanup of construction itself,鈥� Von Burg said.

Different places in the river will require different solutions. As one example, the agencies face a complex problem at water mile 11, slightly north of the Broadway Bridge. An underwater cable there is complicating the design work, Von Burg said.

The river is polluted from decades of industrial operations, and the city lists 鈥渃hemicals of concern鈥� including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), pesticides and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

In general, the work is likely to begin upriver, closer to where the affected area begins south of the Fremont Bridge. There may be some exceptions in places where there is a reduced risk of recontamination, Von Burg said.

鈥淭here are areas that could possibly go sooner because of the water dynamics,鈥� she said.

The Swan Island lagoon is one such area because it is less impacted by water circulation, Von Burg said.

The remedial construction crews will also have to work around the ongoing operations of Portland Harbor.

The EPA is encouraged that the state and local governments are coming together, spokeswoman Suzanne Skadowski said.

鈥淲e’re always happy when the parties are moving forward,鈥� she said.