BY SUZI STEFFEN
Trees for Teens
“O
K, everybody, it’s time to gath-
er in a circle!”
The hundred people milling
about in front of the dining hall started
moving. Teens — some with purple or fire-
engine red hair — herded fraternity guys
and sorority women, environmental studies
majors and community members into
shape. At 10:20 on a Saturday morning, the
fourth LEAD Plant-a-Thon at Camp
Harlow was about to begin.
Becca Purkey, a 14-year-old from
Junction City High School, was a teen leader
for the day. She spoke slowly and loudly:
“OK, say your name, share what you’re
excited about, and LEAD people, share your
life assignments.”
LEAD, which stands for Leadership,
Adventure, Education and Direction, is a
non-profit organization for low-income
teens. Begun in 1998 as a partnership with
the city of Eugene, LEAD now serves 34
teens directly and aspires to help many more
with a proposed teen center, preferably
downtown. The youth who come for family
dinners and outdoor adventures — not to
mention City Council meetings — commit
to school and to their “life assignments.”
“My life assignment is to build fun
bikes,” said one teen. Or “to make class-
SUZI STEFFEN
Volunteers break dirt to fund
a downtown teen center.
Chloe Shipp, community service organizer for Kappa
Delta sorority, prepares the hole as Terra Williams, LEAD
participant and board member, brings out the tree.
rooms more humane for young people,”
said another. Adults added, “to facilitate
heart connections” and “to teach men how
to share their feelings.”
In the short term, however, everyone’s
BY KERA ABRAHAM
Semi-Stinky
LRAPA evaluates J.H. Baxter’s emission-control measures.
I
t’s been a year since J.H. Baxter & Co. signed an agreement
with Lane Regional Air Pollution Authority (LRAPA) to
install new odor control equipment, in an effort to reduce
the smelly emissions that bother nearby residents.
A consulting firm has found that the measures taken by
Baxter under the Best Work Practices Agreement have reduced
creosote and fuel oil emissions by two-fifths. Complaints about
the plant have dropped by a similar fraction, but some neighbors
insist that the air still stinks — just maybe a shade less.
Baxter’s plant on Roosevelt Boulevard treats wood for
industrial use, driving preservatives such as creosote, pen-
tachlorophenol and arsenic, all of which the EPA considers
known or probable human carcinogens, into lumber. In the
process, some of these chemicals are emitted into the air, creat-
ing a stench that is unpleasant at best.
The plant has been operating since 1943, but over time, the
densely populated Bethel, Trainsong and River Road neighbor-
hoods have sprouted up around it. Now, both the company and
its neighbors are coping with the unfortunate siting of a pollut-
ing plant within one mile of about 7,000 residential homes. That
sticks regulators with the job of trying to contain the plant’s pol-
lution — in the ground as well as the air. While Baxter works
with LRAPA to reduce its air emissions, it’s also working with
the Department of Environmental Quality to contain a plume of
arsenic in the soil and a pool of pentachlorophenol contaminat-
ing the groundwater below the plant.
Neighbors have identified a host of health effects they sus-
pect are related to Baxter’s emissions, from the bothersome —
headaches, dizziness, burning eyes and throat — to the critical.
Three people living near the Baxter plant have been diagnosed
with acute myelogenous leukemia, a rare cancer. Complaints
about Baxter, as logged with LRAPA, increased from about 70
in 2001 to more than 700 in 2004.
But due to a lack of air monitoring data, neighbors can’t prove that
Baxter’s pollution is making them sick. So they latch onto their next-
best bet: pushing LRAPA to fine Baxter for each odor complaint, pur-
suant to a state nuisance ordinance the LRAPA board adopted in
2001. Baxter representatives deny that the plant’s emissions are in any
way harmful or bothersome, reserving the right to litigate over any
fines LRAPA might impose. LRAPA has not yet fined Baxter.
Wishing to pursue a cooperative rather than punitive
approach, in February 2005 the LRAPA board negotiated a Best
Work Practices Agreement with Baxter, planning engineering
fixes to quell the stench. Baxter, in return, got temporary impu-
nity; LRAPA can’t cite the company for nuisance rule violations
while the agreement is in effect.
In compliance with the agreement, Baxter modified its vac-
uum system and installed an odor control system at a cost of
$380,000, resulting in a 39 percent reduction of creosote and
fuel oil emissions from the site, according to a November 2005
report from Global Environmental Solutions. The consultant,
hired by Baxter, suggested two additional modifications that
could further reduce odor emissions by about 9 percent, but
doubted that greater gains could be had for a reasonable cost.
Baxter also performed air emissions modeling, using naph-
thalene as a proxy for other chemicals. The models indicated
that the naphthalene levels only exceeded the odor threshold in
limited areas just beyond Baxter’s property line.
LRAPA collected seven air samples from Baxter’s property
boundaries between January 2005 and January 2006, at $2,000 a pop.
The data support Baxter’s models, showing that only low concentra-
tions of hazardous air pollutants drift over the company fenceline. At
a Jan. 10 LRAPA board meeting, Baxter plant manager Gary Hunt
said that the results show that there are no health hazards leaving
the Baxter property. Hunt did not respond to requests for comment.
From the neighbors’ perspective, the engineering fixes may
have worked to some extent. Complaints about Baxter dropped by
40 percent in the last half of 2005 as compared with 2004 numbers.
“The odor is not as strong as it was, but it’s still there,” said
Kimm Marshall, who lives several hundred yards from the
Baxter plant. “It’s constantly in the air and it’s still harmful. I’m
not satisfied until that plant’s closed down.”
Baxter’s air contaminant discharge permit is currently up for
renewal, and LRAPA may absorb the existing Best Work Practices
Agreement measures into the renewed permit. LRAPA Director
Merlyn Hough said that if neighbors continue to complain about
the plant’s emissions, the agency will likely addend and extend the
agreement with Baxter, a move that could further reduce the odors
but would also protect the company from nuisance fines.
“I’m not concerned about shielding [Baxter] from fines,”
Hough said. “In my mind, it’s more effective to negotiate solu-
tions rather than pushing it toward litigation.”
But River Road resident Becky Riley disagrees. “All that
a new BWPA would accomplish is protecting the company
from further enforcement actions,” she wrote in a Feb. 14 let-
ter to the LRAPA board. “Fines might be the only way to
motivate the company to make the expenditures necessary to
really control its pollution.”
– Kera Abraham
For more background on Baxter’s air pollution, see EW’s 2/3/05 cover story:
www.eugeneweekly.com/2005/02/03/coverstory.html, and visit
www.lrapa.org/public_education/JH_Baxter
LRAPA’s 24-hour complaint line: 726-1930.
assignment was the same: to plant trees and
raise money. According to Molly Gordon,
LEAD intern and junior in the UO’s Family
and Human Services program, the monetary
goal was around $5,000. Plant-a-Thon par-
ticipants collected flat amounts of money for
every tree they planted from sponsoring
friends and family. And many saplings
awaited a place in the cold ground.
“We have 2,100 trees, and the tempera-
ture is right around freezing,” said LEAD
founder and executive director Maj
Rafferty, urging everyone to stay warm.
Some of the LEAD teens wore sleek gear
donated by SportHill, a Eugene-based out-
door clothing company. Weyerhaeuser,
Roseburg Forest Products, and several
nurseries donated trees, and FOOD for
Lane County provided lunch.
Two Weyerhaeuser representatives
trained everyone on keeping saplings alive
between tree bag and soil, and LEAD teens
paired off with community members. Half
the participants headed up the road; half
hiked to what Colin Halstead, Camp Harlow
guest services director, called “the back 40.”
Rafferty and Gordon were both awed.
Three previous Plant-a-Thons each attract-
ed 30 people; Saturday almost quadrupled
that number, thanks to Gordon’s UO con-
nections.
Jessica Spaulding, a young woman
from Cascade Middle School, surveyed the
field. She loved planting trees because, she
said, they were “making the camp a better
place for animals.”
Caleb Pruzynski, a 13-year-old LEAD
board member and teen center co-coordina-
tor, planted quickly and efficiently. He began
to warm up and took off his hat. Caleb raised
the most money last year, but he was excited
this year about funding the teen center.
For Will Ross, Caleb’s classmate at the
Network Charter School, the teen center
was also fueling his shovel. “There’s a big
problem in Eugene with teens on the
street, doing drugs and being homeless,”
he said, speculating that a teen center
would help with downtown “street kid”
issues. Will found a grub and carefully
placed it back in the ground.
By 1 pm, only 350 trees remained.
Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy showed up to
help. Piercy was impressed that the teens
were “getting their voices heard and helping
their community.”
Rafferty noted that trees planted a few
years ago were as tall as she is — about 5’8”.
“As the young people grow up, the trees
grow,” she said. “These are teens who will
make positive change in the world.”
ew
FEBRUARY 23, 2006 13