Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (June 21, 2007)
and extent of contamination. In response to community concern, DEQ compelled UP to voluntarily test 30 addi- tional homes. Greg Aitken, DEQ’s cleanup program manager, said those are the homes closest to the contaminated groundwater plume. But Lisa Arkin, executive director of the Oregon Toxics Alliance (OTA), says, “All homes in the risk zone should be tested. That would be the safe thing to do.” Arkin says there are two problems to the study’s approach. First, “We have no idea how they are choosing these homes,” she says. And second, “We have questions about their methodology.” According to David Monk, president of OTA, Union Pacific “should pay to test crawlspaces of any residents above the plume.” And “rolling out some plastic in the crawlspaces is inexpensive and should be done immediately to prevent further con- tamination.” One concern is that since the cleanup program is voluntary, DEQ has less lever- age on UP, says Monk. “If DEQ is too force- ful,” he says, the railroad “can quit the vol- untary cleanup.” Monk says this means the program has limitations. DEQ’s Aitken said voluntary cleanup is preferable to enforcement by court order. “When you do enforcement, what ends up happening is you just have lawyers against lawyers,” he said. “Voluntary cleanup is much more efficient and financially focused on solving the problem.” UP maintains that crawlspace contami- nation may come from sources other than the contaminated groundwater. Common household items such as paint thinners and furniture products contain volatile organic compounds (VOC), the potentially haz- ardous chemicals found in the crawlspaces of many Trainsong homes. However, as Arkin points out, UP fails to indicate how it is possible that so many homes in one small area have VOC contam- ination. According to Monk, decades of repair and maintenance work hold the railroad legally liable.“It’s disingenuous to imply that crawlspace solvent contamination is due to anything other than groundwater contamination,” says Monk. — Erin Rokita DEATH BY CELL PHONE Your cell phone may be killing you, but Oregon hopes to stop your teenage children from dying in cell phone-induced car acci- dents. A European network of studies of cell phone users called INTERPHONE recently showed a statistically significant increase in brain tumors among people who use cell phones. The fact that tumor increase was not a factor in those who had used cell phones for less than 10 years has been widely reported. But INTERPHONE results on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration website show those who use cell phones for 10 years or longer are indeed at risk. Two of the studies found correlations be- tween the location of the tumors and the side of the head people reported they held their phone to most often. One kind of tumor, called glioma, is often fatal. Another non- cancerous brain tumor called acoustic neu- roma is also linked to cell phone use. The Oregon state Legislature is trying to save Oregon’s youth from death by cell phone while driving. The Senate passed a bill last week that fines drivers under age 18 $90 if they use cell phones or other mobile communication devices while driv- ing. The only exception is if the driver is call- ing for medical or emergency help, and no one else in the car can make the call. Drivers over the age of 18 will still be al- lowed to talk or send text messages while driving. Thirty percent of all car crashes in the U.S. are due to driver distraction, accord- ing to the federal government. Texting may cause fewer brain tumors, but legislators believe it increases your chances of crashing. Washington became the first state to ban driving while texting for all ages after a driver checking his e-mail caused a five-car pileup on I-5 outside of Seattle. According to the Allstate Foundation, 13 percent of teens admit to texting while driving. The Oregon bill banning teen cell phone use while driving now goes back to the House for action on amendments. – Camilla Mortensen EXHIBIT ON COST OF WAR A new exhibit on the human and eco- nomic cost of the Iraq war to Oregon, “Eyes Wide Open,” will be on display June 22-24 at Ken Kesey Plaza, Willamette and Broadway. The exhibit consists of a memorial to those who have lost their lives in the Iraq war, including boots to honor the fallen sol- diers from Oregon, and a display that recog- nizes the estimted 655,000 Iraqis who have died in Iraq of war-related causes since coalition forces arrived in March 2003. The public will have the opportunity to view the exhibit and participate in readings of the names of the fallen. The exhibit will run from 10 am to 6 pm Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with a closing ceremony at 3:30 pm Sunday. The traveling exhibit needs more civil- ian shoes, especially children’s shoes. Shoes can be brought to the exhibit or dropped off at CALC, 458 Blair Blvd. To volunteer at the exhibit, contact Carol Melia at skarstad@aol.com or 556-8241. HAPPENIN’ BiZ DAN JUBBER of Play It Again Sports “My dad was head of fish and game for Lane County,” says Eugene native Dan Jubber. “I grew up fishing and hunting.” Jubber competed in team sports with the Eugene Boys Athletic Association (now called Kidsports) and played in a state championship soccer game for Churchill in an era when soccer was a club sport. “I was small, so I had to be aggressive,” he notes. He learned business skills in five years as a military supply sergeant at the Presidio of San Francisco. “I worked with contractors and budgets,” he says. “I did well and received awards.” After the military, Jubber spent seven years with Bally Fitness in Seattle, eventually as manager of its largest facility. “I got burned out on 14-hour days,” he says, and moved back to Eugene in 2000. In 2004, he was hired as manager of Play It Again Sports. “I enjoy sales,” he says. “I just like people. it’s all about establishing a relationship with the customer.” For each of the past three years, the Eugene franchise has won a Most Valuable Performer award at the PIA winter conference, an honor granted to no more than 20 of 500 franchises nationwide.— Paul Neevel 12 JUNE 21, 2007
