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