Guild Lake, prior to 1905; NW Industrial District; Johnson Creek before 1934; Precision Cast Parts

Heather Sparks

Guild Lake, prior to 1905

Guild Lake was filled, paved over, and is now a superfund site.

NW Industrial District

NW Industrial District (facing south) was once Guild Lake, and is now a superfund site.

Johnson Creek before 1934

Johnson Creek is a tributary that feeds into the Willamette. It is part of a wetland that distributes groundwater to Eastmoreland, Woodstock, Brentwood Darlington, and Milwaukie. Precision Cast Parts (#20 most toxic air pollution in the US) now sits on this wetland adjacent portion of Johnson Creek.

Precision Cast Parts

Precision Cast Parts was built on a wetland adjacent portion of Johnson Creek in 1950. The company is ranked #20 in a University of Masschusetts study of the worst industrial pollutors in the US. Run off chemicals from Precision include hexavalent chromium, cadmium, nickel, and arsenic. Former employees allege that cheicals have routinely been dumped into Johnson Creek since the company was built in 1950. In 2011, a major industrial accident at Precision sent a large cloud of nitrogen dioxide into the air. The company has had numerous accidents. On average, they have only been fined $1,200 per infraction by DEQ.

Heather Sparks is a conceptual artist whose work spans sculptural installation, video, drawing and socially engaged projects in public spaces. Her work has been exhibited internationally, and has been included in the Valencia Biennale, Observatori, in Valencia, Spain, and the Lyon Biennale, in Lyon, France. She has been an artist in residence at Kala, Caldera, and Skowhegan, and received her MFA from Stanford University.