. . . of environmental concern
By Catherine Siegner
Portland General Electric
Co.’s (PGE) request for a prelimi
nary injunction to stop the Trojan
Plant occupation August 6-9 was
denied Friday in Washington
County Circuit Court.
PGE had attempted to enjoin
i
over 100 persons and two organi
zations from demonstrating at the
plant. Judge Albert R. Musick said
he could not enjoin unincor
porated organizations whose
membership was unclear from
trespassing, although he did issue
an order that would place 27 indi
viduals in contempt of court if they
participate in the occupation.
Pacific Power & Light Co.
(PP&L) and Portland General
Electric Co. (PGE), Oregon’s two
private investor-owned utilities,
have filed separate suits against
the Bonneville Power Administra
tion (BPA) to gain a share of
guaranteed federal hydropower.
BPA is required by the 1937
Bonneville Act to give preference
to public bodies and cooperatives
(such as the Eugene Water &
Electric Board and the Springfield
Utility Board) when marketing
power produced by federal dams
on the Columbia River.
The two suits seek to break this
“preference clause’’ and obtain
“firm” power— power that is
guaranteed by contract and can
not be cut off by BPA — for PP&L
and PGE.
Since 1973, when the private
utilities’ contracts with BPA ex
pired, both PP&L and PGE have
not been able to buy firm power
from BPA, and have had to pur
Unload your Books
for Cash
August 10
and
August 11.
Our Buyback Policy:
1. You get half-price—
if a faculty member has ordered the book for the up
coming term. Note that at times we may have more books for a
class then needed and stop purchasing at the one-half price.
2. You get Dealer prices—
for those texts not needed on this campus. We’ll pay the price
offered by used books dealers, which is based on the national
market for the books.
3. We do not accept—
old editions, spiral-bound books, programmed texts, certain in
expensive paperbacks, workbooks, most consignment material, and
extensively cribbed or damaged books. They are of no value to us or
the used book dealers. We purchase such books only at our option.
When to sell your books—
The buyback counter, located upstairs, is open during our
regular business hours. It’s not necessary to wait for a specific buying
period to resell your books. However, don’t wait until the new
quarter has started because we do not buy back used books for use
in any current term. We are always purchasing for future terms only.
13th & Kincaid 686-4331
BOOKSTORE (~)Pen: Mon-Fri8:15-5:30
Page 6
chase “surplus” hydropower that
was not needed by the so-called
preference customers.
The State Board of Forestry
held hearings Thursday and Fri
day in Salem on two proposals to
regulate aerial herbicide spraying
in Oregon.
Over 100 persons presented
testimony on proposals that were
submitted to the board by Gov.
Straub and the Oregon Environ
mental Council (OEC).
The Governor’s proposal would
set up 200-foot buffer strips
around large streams and open
bodies of water, and the OEC
proposal would require posted
notice in all areas to be sprayed as
well as the 200-foot strips.
Currently, the board s regula
tions on aerial spraying of herbi
cides require "one swath” be left
unsprayed on either side of
streams. The two proposals would
each define “swath” as 200 feet.
Testimony was evenly divided
on the proposals. Proponents of
either proposal cited evidence
that aerial herbicide spraying in
evitably contaminates streams,
while opponents claimed the
200-foot buffer strips would re
move too much timber from pro
duction.
The board will rule on the pro
posals late this month.
Teledyne Wah Chang of Al
bany, which manufactures the
metal zirconium, used in flash
cubes and fuel rods for nuclear
power plants, will reopen at mid
night, August 13.
The plant has been closed for a
month to reduce inventory. The
State Health Division ordered
Wah Chang two weeks ago to re
main shut down until it submitted a
detailed plan to control the
radioactive waste that results from
the zirconium manufacturing pro
cess.
Last Friday, the company com
plied with the order and drew up a
safety plan to keep waste from
spreading from the plant.
A spoon-billed sandpiper was
spotted near Vancouver, B.C. last
Wednesday by two reporters from
the Vancouver Sun. The species
has only been seen three times in
North America in the past 64 years
— once in 1914 and again last
year.
The spoon-billed sandpiper
(Eurqnorhynchus pymeus) is from
Siberia and apparently is found in
this part of the world only when it
loses the way on its normal migra
tion route.
The State Department of En
vironmental Quality (DEQ) has
lifted air pollution alerts in both
Portland and Medford.
DEQ cancelled the warnings
last Friday after a one-day posting
in Portland, and a three-day post
ing in Medford.
The cause was not photochem
ical oxidants or carbon monoxide,
but excessive levels of ozone in
the air.
Cooler air came in Friday in
both cities and provided the
necessary ventilation to lift the
warnings.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service has asked the Oregon
Department of Agriculture to
schedule hearings on the use of
the farm chemical heptachlor.
The agency claims that hep
tachlor, which is used to coast
seed grain and protect it from
wireworm and other diseases, is
killing game birds that eat the
treated grain.
The U.S. Environmental Protec
tion Agency (EPA) has banned
the use of heptachlor on seed
grain after Sept. 1, 1982, but the
Fish and Wildlife Service claims
that “the EPA phaseout period will
not safeguard susceptible wild
life.”
The majority of bird kills occur in
Umatilla and Morrow counties.
Canadian wild geese in the area
of the Umatilla National Wildlife
Refuge along the Columbia River
have also been killed by hepta
chlor poisoning, according to the
Wildlife Service.
The Oregon Department of Ag
riculture has set August 22 as a
tentative date for the hearing.
Group promotes
humanities study
University Vice Provost Robert
Albrecht, former University En
glish Prof. Joan Pierson, and
former University Pres. Robert
Clark were recently selected to
serve on th Oregon Committee for
the Humanities (OCH).
The committee is a collection of
community leaders and academi
cians dedicated to promoting a
sense of the human importance of
the humanities within Oregon
communities.
Its primary goal is to encourage
historians, writers, philosophers,
jurists, linguists and others whose
work is collectively termed "the
humanities," to relate their study
to the experience and concerns of
community residents.
Because the Western, mainly
literary, tradition usually as
sociated with the word
"humanities” does not fit most
minority people in Oregon, a full
time staff person works to adapt
the OCH program to the differing
needs and settings of Oregon
minorities.
Committee members believe
that social issues are significant
contexts for applying humanistic
knowledge and perspectives. The
committee funds projects for this
purpose. After nine months of
funding in January, the committee
had awarded 27 grants out of 38
proposals submitted.
The largest grant was $18,485
to Oregon State University for a
project entitled “Television News:
Reflection of Reality or Creation of
Myth?”
Mini-grants are also awarded in
amounts ranging from $500 to
$1,500 for short programs on polit
ical or cultural topics, such as a
lecture and discussion series
highlighting the contributions of
Asians, Blacks, Chicanos, Native
Americans, and Scandinavians to
the history and culture of the
Northwest.
The proposal deadline for
mini-grants is August 21. The
committee also provides grants
for public humanities programs
sponsored by non-profit organiza
tions.
For more information write to
the committee at 1633 S.W. Park,
Portland OR. 97201, or call
229-4821.