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With police and local TV stations reporting sewage leaks and garbage piles at Occupy Portland camps, speculation has grown that City Hall will try to use health risks as a justification to shut down the tent city at Chapman and Lownsdale Squares. ---
But WW has obtained notes from an assessment by Multnomah County health officials who walked through the camps on Thursday and found "nothing actionable."
"Toilets and urinals flushed and no overflow found," the report says. "Hand washing stations found set-up for the people in line waiting for food and one found set-up in the kitchen. Soap found at hand washing stations and multiple bottles of hand sanitizers found throughout the encampment."
Multnomah County spokesman Dave Austin tells WW that health officials received several calls from citizens asking them to look at the Occupy Portland camps. He compared the health officials' visit to similar walkthroughs at Last Thursday on Alberta Street, another event the city has allowed but not sponsored.
"We appreciate the city's position," Austin says. "We didn't find anything that would be like, 'Oh my God, we have to shut this down.'"
"If anything comes up," Austin adds, "we will let the mayor and the city know, so they can figure out what to do with their park."
WWeek 2015