Toxic waste passage urged
Bill calls for ‘right to know’
By Paul Ertelt
Or the F.merald
SALEM — A New York toxic waste research
er urged a House committee Wednesday to take a
far-sighted approach to toxic hazards by pushing
through legislation that would give citizens ac
cess to information on toxic chemicals used in the
state.
But the Community Right-to-Know Bill
(House Bill 2255) was criticized by industry
representatives and officials of Oregon’s Depart
ment of Environmental Quality at hearings before
the House Environment and Energy Committee.
The legislation would require the DEQ to
establish an ongoing survey to compile informa
tion about toxic chemicals used in Oregon. That
information would be forwarded to state officials
and local health boards and be available to
citizens.
The DEQ would also conduct a one-time
survey of chemical waste dumps established in
the state during the past 30 years.
Walter Hang, a researcher for New York
Public Interest Research Group, told the panel
that the bill could help Oregon avoid many of the
problems facing New York. Hang, who suc
cessfully promoted similar legislation in New
York in 1982, testified on behalf of the Oregon
State Public Interest Research Group.
Tom Donaca, counsel for Associated Oregon
Industries, argued that the bill would add an un
due burden to the state and to industry, while
duplicating information that, for the most part, is
available elsewhere. He said it is more important
to inform people of specific health hazards, rather
than just distributing a list of chemicals.
“Our opposition of the measure. . .must not
be construed as opposition to the need for infor
mation that assists in increasing public safety,”
Donaca said. “Rather, it is opposition to the ex
pensive and time-consuming task of disgorging
information by all subject parties.”
Donaca said his main concern was that HB
2255 did not provide adequate protection of trade
secrets. According to the bill, industries could
claim an exemption for chemicals that they con
sidered trade secrets.
But Donaca said the bill seemed to leave the
release of that information to the discretion of the
director of the DEQ. More specific criteria needs
to be established for the release of that informa
tion, he said.
Pat McCormick, representing the American
Electronics Association, said he did not believe it
was always in the public interest for the public to
know what chemicals are used in the state. That
information is best left in the hands of "responsi
ble” parties such as police and fire departments,
he said.
Stan Biles of the DEQ said his agency was
concerned with several parts of the bill, par
ticularly the cost of conducting the survey. It
would cause duplication of tasks the agency
already performs as well, he said.
Biles estimated the cost of the program for
the 1985-87 biennium at $300,000, and criticized
the bill for not making provisions for raising the
needed revenue.
Though Hang said he did not want to "se
cond quess" the DEQ’s estimate, he said that in
stituting the program in New York state costs less
than that, even though that state is more heavily
industrialized.
Hang said the bill would not create a huge
bureaucracy. Once the survey of past waste sites
was conducted, he said, the ongoing survey
could be managed with little manpower.
Hang said an Oregon right-to-know law was a
first step in avoiding the toxic chemical
catastrophes experienced by New York and other
states.
"New York’s environment may never be the
same, but Oregon need not suffer the same fate,”
he said. “Your state is green, clean and lovely.
You should do everything possible to keep it that
way.”
Alsea-dioxin probe
sought by county
The Lane County Board of Commissioners Wednesday
requested that U.S. House Speaker ’’Tip” O’Neill order a
congressional investigation into an alleged federal cover-up
of dioxin contamination in the Five Rivers area of the Alsea
River.
The commission’s request, in the form of a tetter, asks
that O’Neill examine charges that the federal Environmental
Protection Agency has withheld study results on the levels of
dioxin present in the region s ground soil and water supply.
The letter further charges that the EPA suppressed infor
mation on unusually high levels of animal birth deformities
in the region, as well as high levels of dioxin found in
mothers’ milk samples taken from the area.
Residents of the area fear that the levels of dioxin can be
traced to the spraying of herbicides by the U.S. Forest Service
and the Bureau of I .and Management.
Dioxin, vyhieh has been connected with cancers and
birth deformities in animals and humans, was present in her
bicides regularly sprayed on the region’s foliage.
The commissioners took action after Five Rivers-area
residents Carol Van Strum and Paul Merrell. a University law
student, brought the issue to the attention of Lane County
Commissioner ferry Rust.
Van Strum testified before the commission in support of
the letter, but said she was not looking for any drastic con
gressional action.
"All we want am answers to questions about EPA
documents.” she said. ‘Why did the EPA cover up this infor
mation for so many years?”
Michael Axline, who is Van Strum's and MerreH’s at
torney and the co-director of the University's environmental
law clinic, believes the results of the suppressed studies are
so dramatic that the EPA does not know how to deal with
them effectively.
Rust is hopeful that with the support of the Oregon con
gressional delegation, the issue will be investigated.
“The two questions the board wants answered by an in
vestigation are. how was the study done and why was it sup
pressed.” Rust said.
UO Bookstore=
IN HONOR OF
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