It couldn't possibly get any more exciting than this!

Of late I've been extremely focused on my book project. Today I've been immersed in archival sources relating to the City of Portland's attempts to design, fund, and build a comprehensive sewer interceptor and primary treatment system in the 1920s and 1930s. The story is fantastically complex and I've been piecing together the chronology, learning about the motivations and personalities of the key players, trying to condense the key events at the local, state, and national levels in a way that will convey the complexity in an intelligible way.

One of the key elements my book will stress is that while the Willamette River pollution abatement movement was centered in this region and abatement advocates worked within a specific set of technological, political, economic, and ecological systems, the movement at every stage relied upon public and private input. For example, in the 1930s Portland city officials benefited from the expertise of two of the foremost professionals in their field, Harrison P. Eddy of Boston, and Abel Wolman of Baltimore. In 1943, Portland city leaders benefited from the clout of renowned New York City planner Robert Moses to jump-start the sewage system plans that Eddy and Wolman had proposed.

Oregon's abatement advocates also relied upon funds and research assistance from such federal agencies as the National Resources Planning Board and the Public Works Administration, and regional organizations such as the Pacific Northwest Regional Planning Commission.

As part of my research process, I've also discovered an interesting Internet resource:

** sewerhistory.org: A collection of materials "related to the history of sewage conveyance systems. Many of these have been displayed in a traveling exhibit entitled "The Collection Systems Historical Photo and Artifacts Display." The overall collection of sewer history materials covers the era from approximately 3500 BCE through the 1930s CE."

It's hard to have more fun with one's clothes on, let me tell you!

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