Forever Chemicals?

Interesting article in the Bulletin about "forever chemicals" found in military sites in Oregon.

I'm probably not understanding the science, but I've always wondered about a couple civilian sites in Bend. Maybe because I've lived here my entire life and I'm relatively old, I remember some places that were pretty darn dirty, and which have become major focal points in modern Bend.

It's amused me a little that the "Old Mill" description has become a selling point for a commercial district. Using the old smoke stacks as flagpoles. Because what I remember about the old mill was that it was dirty, noisy, smelly, and dangerous. I remember walking on the grounds, which were saturated with oils and gas and God knows what else.

I remember the smell.

If you've ever smelled a creasote drenched railroad tie, you know the smell. 

So my question has always been--did they remove this stuff or cover it?

The second location I've always wondered about is where the new four-year college is located (as well as other schools). Close to that area there was the old Bend dump. Now this was the old fashioned kind of dump where people dumped everything--oil cans, paint cans, chemicals, electronics, anything and everything

But whenever it is described in the news they call it a solid waste site. In fact, I think they more or less imply that is was a place where garden debris and branches and such was dumped.

Nope. It was about as dumpy as a dump can be.

So did they dig up all the stuff? Or cover it sufficiently? Is there a time when this stuff becomes safe?

What makes me wonder is the very description of it as being something that it wasn't. That's a bit suspicious.

But who's around the question it?

Like I said, maybe they did the proper thing. Maybe I don't understand the science.

But to pretend those places weren't dirty is just kind of gentrified burying of what once was.