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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 2, 2001)
OSPIRG, NEDC forge environmental lawsuit ■A local company faces allegations of water pollution near Rattlesnake Creek By Lindsay Buchele Oregon Daily Emerald The Oregon state PIRG and the Northwest Environmental Defense Center have joined forces to sue an alleged Eugene polluter and the Department of Environmental Quality, but a permit recently ob tained by the company may hinder their suit. Giustina Resources Dexter Sort Yard, which sorts timber to be dis tributed to saw mills, received a 60-day notice of intent to sue on March 15 from the Oregon State Public Interest Research Group and the NEDC. The two groups are filing a fed eral Clean Water Act lawsuit against the company, contending it illegally discharged pollutants into Rattlesnake Creek, a Willamette River tributary located off High way 58. The Lane Community College branch of OSPIRG said it became aware of the alleged pollution after one of LCC’s instructors, who lives by the sort yard, said he had seen oil-like substances floating in Rat tlesnake Creek several times over the past five years. The LCC and University branch es of OSPIRG presented the situa tion to the state PIRG in order to file a lawsuit for the company’s failure to obtain a storm water per mit. Student branches of the organ ization are not allowed to file their own lawsuits. “We went out ourselves and saw the seriousness of the situation,” said Jill Katzenberger, an LCC OS PIRG member. “The majority of it looked like oil and grease and is probably auto by-products.” Katzenberger said Giustina had no permit from the DEQ as of March 15 to discharge substances into storm runoffs, which eventual ly end up in the Willamette River. But according to Giustina’s land manager Peter Sikora, the compa ny requested a storm water dis charge permit in January and re ceived one March 8. Sikora also said that Giustina had no idea such pollution was taking place until the press conference held by OSP1RG on March 15, during which the notice of intent to sue was issued. “We have people whose job it is to patrol our site and determine if there are any problems,” Sikora said. “This site is only a sorting yard and we’ve never seen any thing like this.” Sikora said since the press con ference, Giustina has taken imme diate action to absorb the pollu tants and intends to define the source and control any further dis charge. It is outrageous that DEQ would take such a clear step to protect polluters. Brent Foster environmental lawyer Brent Foster, an environmental lawyer who is handling state PIRG and NEDC’s suit against Giustina, said Giustina got the storm water The Giustina Resources Dexter Sort Yard has been the target of an intent-to-sue motion by the Oregon state PIRG for alleged violations of the Clean Water Act Hwy. 126/^^ Eugene Dexter G i u stina Reso u rces /Dexter Sort Yard Brooke Mossefin Emerald permit only after the student PIRG brought the problem to their atten tion. “Giustina’s been going along its merry way without a permit for six years,” Foster said. “Before OS PIRG students started making a stink, getting a permit wasn’t on their schedule. When the DEQ vis ited their site, they did not have a permit,” Foster also said the Eugene of fice of the DEQ neglected its duties by not monitoring Giustina and by taking over a month to investigate the polluted site after state PIRG officials notified the department. Both Giustina and state PIRG are waiting for the DEQ’s test results on the substances found at the site. Foster also said DEQ assured state PIRG that they would not give Giustina a permit before the actual lawsuit began. “It is outrageous that DEQ would take such a clear step to protect polluters,” Foster said. But DEQ environmental specialist Bill Perry said the DEQ never said it would deny Giustina a permit. “They applied for a permit and were granted one,” Perry said. Sikora said it came to Giustina’s at tention that they needed a permit for the sorting site and that’s why they applied for one, not because of state PIRG’s recent intent-to-sue notice. Despite the lawsuit, Sikora said Giustina is thankful that the prob lem was brought to their attention and can now be resolved. Since Giustina has received a permit from DEQ, Foster said the company is placed into the state environmental system, which means they will be monitored more closely and be held account able for further violations of the Clean Water Act. “We will continue to review what’s going on with the permit and assess the situation,” Foster said. “This does not eliminate our notice of intent-to-sue.” Sikora said Giustina will contin ue to monitor its site and wait for the DEQ’s test results on the sub stances found at the site. “We would appreciate getting contacted by groups like OSPIRG if a problem arises instead of getting an intent-to-sue notice,” Sikora said. “People talking to people is always the best approach.” Accident Prone Seasons (all lor Com Insurance! Open Enrollment lor Student Insurance Starts Today: Register Between April 2nd and 13th and Summer Coverage is free! Contact the University Health center lor more info: 0113481
