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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (March 7, 1983)
I Clean up EPA: dump Burford The Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, Anne Burford (formerly Anne Gorsuch) should bow to pressure and resign. Burford recently said Pres. Reagan’s use of executive privilege to withhold complete Congressional access to EPA documents is hurting trust in the President’s ability to govern. She should consider what all the recent revela tions of the agency’s inefficiency and mismanagement are doing to the country’s faith in the EPA. In 1980 Congress allotted a $1.6 billion emergency “Superfund” to clean up the worst 418 national toxic waste sites. It was understood that dumpers would be prosecuted and fined later. The solid waste department under the direction of Rita Lavelle has admitted to holding out on prosecuting companies to encourage them to clean up the sites themselves. Obviously this doesn’t work, unless one con siders five of 418 sites and the matching of $120 million in private funds to $1.8 million public funds a “success.” Firing Lavelle is the first step toward ridding the EPA of those who do not understand the agency’s purpose: These appointed agency officials who make clean-up deals with polluters, who take $53 million “dips” into the Superfund for purposes other than toxic waste clean-up, who put paper shredders in the solid waste department hallway and who slam the agency lawyer for wanting to prosecute dumping violators. Congress has reason to want those files. The EPA battle stems from controversies like the Stringfellow acid pits in Riverside, Calif., where clean-up has been delayed and debate continues. Lavelle, since her resignation, has suggested that funds were withheld to hurt the senatorial race of Gov. Jerry Brown. Burford claims that funds were withheld because California should pay half the price of the clean up. Others at EPA say the clean-up has been delayed for economic reasons — the dumpers should pay, not the EPA. This same sort of mentality pervaded a "successful” EPA clean-up in Seymour, Ind. The local community com plained of the state of the drinking water and tests discovered over 60,000 barrels of toxins, including PCBs, benzene, and petroleum poisons. In I979 the drums began bursting into flame. A rainstorm washed much of the poisons into local rivers and streams causing an emergency clean-up. Now, more than three years later, there are still 50,000 barrels sitting in Seymour. The EPA made “sweetheart deals” with the 24 major dumpers and now refuses to clean-up further because the dump site is city owned. Under agency rules, the EPA does not have to con tinue cleaning-up until the community of 13,000 is able to match funds. Burford, obviously battling to keep her position, sug gested that all the documents go to Congress. Only a few weeks ago Gorsuch said she would rather die than divulge the hot documents. Now Burford realizes that the President may find it politically expedient to dump her, even if he approves of her management of the EPA. If she can’t muster the courage to resign, the Presi dent should dump the dioxin queen and replace her with someone who understands the environment’s state of emergency, not to mention the management of a national public agency. opinion Adolescent invasion They may dress like budding professionals, but high school debate team members who descended on the EMU acted like budding jerks. The student union was overrun by juveniles with radios, junk food and high obnoxious voices last Thurs day, Friday and Saturday. But this is not to complain so much about their lack of maturity as the EMU’s decision to allow the little foren sic urchins to invade the place this weekend. University students are frantically looking for places to study and write during these last two weeks of the term. The high school debators were a disturbance. Next time they show up to debate, won't someone confine the loquacious adolescents to one place? The EMU director or debate director needs to explain to them that they are guests and that spilling Coke, yelling, blasting their radios and general rudeness are “inap proprlate behaviors." letters Expansion We would like to expand on Rich Burr’s coverage of OSPIRG’s budget hearing before the IFC that appeared in the Feb.23 Emerald. OSPIRG, the Oregon Stu dent Public Interest Research Group, is a statewide student directed and funded organ ization. It is a non-profit, non-partisan corporation workng to provide a statewide student voice on public policy issues. OSPIRG offers students a chance to affect decisions on energy, en vironmental, consumer and social justice issues. For example, students recently became concerned about utility rates with the cost over runs of WPPSS and the impending deregulation of the phone idustry. After researching the issue, students discovered a group in Wisconsin called the Con sumer Utility Board. This group provides ratepayers with an effective vehicle for keeping utility bills down. OSPIRG is now working in the Legislature to establish a CUB in Oregon and the prospects look very good. OSPIRG offers all students a chance to become directly involved in such issues. Through the process of obser vation, increased participation and education, students develop skills necessary to bring about change. Working in conjunction with the ex perienced OSPIRG staff, students gain invaluable ex perlence by applying classroom knowledge to real world situations at the state and local levels. Olrect involvement through internships and/or voluntary r participation is not necessary, however, for students to benefit from OSPIRG. Anyone can pick up one our local con sumer surveys, cal! our hotline with a consumer problem, or benefit from OSPIRG's legislation. In order to provide the pro fessionalism and the continui ty that allow OSPIRG to func tion effectively, we must establish a stable funding base. It is for this reason that OSPIRG is working to establish our funding at $1 per student per term. OSPIRG, located in Suite 1, EMU, welcomes any questions or ideas that students may have as we continue our pro ject work and our effort to ob tain a funding upgrade. Amy Gndltr OSPIRG Irate citizen It surprises me to discover that every time a group of peo ple gather together to practice their Constitutional rights — social change through the ballot — some irate citizen of this free country raises his voice and labels it subver sive. Why in the hell do we have these rights written down in the Constitution if we’re going to cry fault every time they’re exercised? I suppose that Randy Shepard would advocate not paying taxes to the federal government. Because with his understanding of the func tions of public servants, they are ail robbers. You should be given your money back, Mr Shepard, and then thrown out into the real world alone and unre presented. You soon would be crying for equality, representation, not to mention paying someone to do it for you. Well Mr. Shepard, student body government is your representation in the world related to the University. Students in student programs spend many more hours than they can ever receive payment for working their butts off try ing to see that students get their share of that thing called representation. Students for a Nuclear Free Future and all the ASUO pro grams are your guarantees that you will be considered and informed by the higher forms of government as much as any other group of people in the "free” country. Sure, you should be allowed to decide about what your money is spent for, but sitting and complaining about it won’t solve the discrepancy. Get your tail down to the ASUO and get involved. Some day you will have a part in mak ing those decisions which you know so little about now. Bill Snyder sophomore, sociology Hitlerian I noticed that there is a pic ture of Ronald Reagan ad dressing a synagogue in the EMU display case. The caption of the picture reads, ‘‘Working for the masters.” We would like to note that religious and racial harass ment is a misdemeanor in the state of Oregon, and I suggest that the party responsible for this piece of Hitlerian pro paganda remove it imme diately. John Barton representative, Jewish Student Union Oregon daily emerald The Oregon Daily Emeiald is published Monday through Friday except during exam wees and vacations, by the Oregon Daily Emerald Publishing Co at the University ot Oregon Eugene OR. W?403 The Emerald operates independently ot the University with offices on the third Hoot ot the Erb Memorial Union and is a member ot the Associated Press News and Editorial Display Advertising and Business Classified Advertising Production Circulation SBftSSM Editor Managing Editor News Editor Assistant News Editor Editorial Page Editor Photo Editor Sports Editor Associate Sports Editor Entertainment Editor Night Editor Associate Editors Higher Education Departments and Schools Student Government Features Politics Student Services/Community General Stall Advertising Manager Classified Advertising Production Manager Controller Harry Esteve John Healy Marian Green Cort Fernald Joan Nyland Bob Baker Mike Ripimger Paul Oanzer Jonathan Siegte John Healy Sandy Johnstone Frank Shaw Richard Burr Sean Meyers Michele Matassa Aleta Zak Darlene Gore Sally Otjar Victoria Koch Jean Ownbey
