PORTLAND, Ore. – In honor of Earth Week, watch how Oregon’s tradition of environmental reporting first began.
In a special live event on Thursday, KGW streamed Pollution in Paradise, the station’s seminal 1962 documentary about pollution in the Willamette River. The documentary was led by Tom McCall, then a KGW reporter. Four years later, McCall was elected governor of Oregon.
The documentary shows just how bad pollution was along the Willamette River. It was the first time many Oregonians learned about businesses dumping thousands of gallons of toxic waste into the river, and the documentary spurred massive efforts to clean the critical waterway.
Today, the Willamette River is far cleaner than it once was – but pollution is still a problem.
Before the documentary streamed, KGW talked to Travis Williams, the Executive Director of Willamette Riverkeeper, the nonprofit dedicated to protecting and restoring the Willamette River. Williams discussed how much the river has changed today, what still needs to be addressed and what Oregonians can do in their everyday lives to help protect the river's health.
To watch a replay of the conversation and documentary, click here.
You can also watch Pollution in Paradise and many other archive reports on KGW’s YouTube page.
