Camas, Washington

Camas is a city in Clark County, Washington, with a population of 19,355. Camas sits right on the Columbia river, east of Portland. Officially incorporated on June 18, 1906, the city is named after the camas lily, a plant with an onion-like bulb. The east side of town borders the city of Washougal, Washington, and the west side of town borders Vancouver, Washington.

At the west end of downtown Camas is a large Georgia-Pacific paper-mill, formerly owned by Crown-Zellerbach. Accordingly, the city is about 20 miles upwind from Portland, Oregon. Historically, the commercial base of the city was based almost solely on the paper mill. Railway lines run right through the center of the mill. In 1960, the population was 5,666, which rose to only 5,790 by 1970 (and actually decreased by 1980).

The Georgia-Pacific mill casts a nasty smell over much of Camas. Smelly mills use a process for conversion of wood into wood pulp consisting of almost pure cellulose fibers. It entails treatment of wood chips with a mixture of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide, that breaks the bonds. The sodium sulfide is what gives the mill their sewer-like stench.