Eugene weekly., March 24, 2011, Page 8, Image 8

NEWS BRIEFS
danger of losing bat benefits.
Panelists at “White-Nose Syndrome
and the Dying of Bats” discussed a newly
emergent disease found in bats called
white-nose syndrome (WNS), which is
causing a mass die-off of bats due to a
white fungus on their noses and other parts
of their body.
Eggers said bats munch on pesky
mosquitoes, pollinate your favorite flowers
and provide prized fertilizer, and the U.S.
needs to realize the values bats provide
and put them on the federal endangered
species list
WNS, a fast spreading disease, was
first seen in Albany, N.Y., in 2006. Since
its discovery, it has been documented in 16
states and two Canadian provinces and has
killed over one million bats in the last five
years.
The main concern for the panelists,
including Pat Ormsbee, bat specialist for
the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of
Land Management; and Mollie Matteson,
conservation advocate for the Center for
Biological Diversity, was the spread of
WNS to western states.
Panelists called for prevention efforts
from the government and the public to
help avoid the advancement of this deadly
disease.
Since bats are not the only vector with
which WNS can be spread, panelists asked
that hikers, climbers and cave explorers
stay away from bat roosts, decontaminate
equipment (shoes, clothing, and climbing
gear) and not to bring equipment used in
other states back to the Pacific Northwest.
“We need to do everything we can to
try to protect bats, even though there are
still a lot of things that we don’t know,”
said Matteson.
For more information on WNS and
bats, visit www.batcon.org.
––– Chelsea Fryhoff
VERY SMALL
BUSINESSES
EXAMINED
How do you start a small business with
very little resources, particularly in a major
recession when traditional banks are
holding on to their money? Experts on the
topic of micro-enterprise are planning a
free event from 4:30 to 5:45 pm Friday,
March 25, at the Eugene Public Library.
Valerie Plummer, executive director of
the Oregon Microenterprise Network, will
provide an overview of micro-lending in
the U.S., followed by Dan McGraw, loan
fund manager of Oregon MicroEnterprise
Network, who will talk about his
experience with Mercy Corps and tools for
evaluating entrepreneurs and their business
plans. Claire Seguin will provide an update
about the O.U.R. Credit Union/NEDCO
partnership.
Topics for discussion include the
benefits of microenterprise as an effective
tool for lifting people out of poverty, the
factors that influence success, plus the
institutions that are available as resources.
Helping organize the event is local
peace and social justice activist David
Hazen, who can be contacted at innercom@
peak.org
HELP SOUGHT
FOR VIEQUES,
PUERTO RICO
In 1941, the U.S. Navy arrived on
Vieques, an island-municipality of Puerto
Rico, and gave the 11,000 indigenous
people living there 48 hours to vacate and
move from their coastal homes to the center
of the island. The Navy bought the island
for $1.5 million and took over two-thirds of
it for a bombing range and testing ground
for nearly 60 years.
Although the Navy left Vieques in 2001,
according to panelists on “The Occupation
of the U.S. Navy in Vieques, Puerto Rico”
panel at the Public Interest Environmental
Law Conference March 6, the long-term
health effects, and environmental and social
damages will be felt for decades.
During the military presence, bombs
were frequently dropped, both on land and
in the sea, damaging the marine wildlife
and fishing industry, panelists said. Roads
built by the Navy led to erosion and affected
the ground water. The panel explained that
the fresh water on the island became so
polluted that a pipeline was built to bring
water from Puerto Rico to Vieques for
drinking water.
Children may have been the most
adversely affected. There were reports of
children finding hand grenades, and low-
flying planes forcing schools to constantly
close early. When a small child was
diagnosed with cancer and developed large
tumors on her head, the residents became
very concerned about their health. This,
coupled with the death of David Sanes
Rodríguez, a local Vieques security guard
for the Navy who died from a dropped
bomb, prompted the first of many uprisings
against the Navy’s presence.
The Navy has left behind undetonated
bombs all over the island. “Rather than use
the glass box for detonating the bombs
more safely and avoid releasing extra
chemicals into the environment, the
company in charge of the clean-up says it’s
cheaper to just detonate them,” said panelist
Tania Morales who grew up and currently
lives in Vieques.
According to CNN reports, the residents
of Vieques now have a 75 percent cancer
rate. “The local people don’t have a health
clinic on the island; they have to travel by
boat to Puerto Rico for their cancer
treatment, which is very hard for these sick
and weak people,” Morales said.
The land is still federally owned and is
managed by the Department of Fish and
Wildlife. Many areas of the island are still
off limits to the local people.
The panel asked for assistance from
environmental lawyers and others to help
the people of Vieques. Because Puerto Rico
is a territory of the U.S. the appellate level
of courts are in English and no understanding
of international law is necessary. For more
information contact: viequesmari@gmail.
com
— Heather Cyrus and Chelsea Fryhoff
TOXIC
UTILITY
POLES
Ever notice that black sticky looking goo
on utility poles when you put your sign up
for the weekend garage sale? According
to the panelists on the “Dioxin from Phone
Poles: Poison in Your Back Yard” panel
at the Public Interest Environmental Law
Conference March 6, the last thing you want
to do is get a closer look, but a big portion of
the West Coast’s nasty stuff on them comes
from right here in Eugene.
Before the World War I, the steel
industry began looking for ways to use
its waste products, and it provided the
public with pentachlorophenol (penta), a
wood preservative. Panelist Patricia Clary,
a representative from Californians for
Alternatives to Toxics, said penta is so toxic
that nothing can live in the wood.
Years later, health issues related to
penta began to surface, she said. Because it
contains dioxin, a known human carcinogen,
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
banned its production in 1987, except for the
use on utility poles. Still used today, penta is
dissolved into petroleum and forced into the
wood of the poles.
A 1994 EPA report said that there is no
safe level of exposure to dioxin, which can
cause cancer and severe reproductive and
developmental problems.
According to the panelists, there are 140
million utility poles treated in the U.S., the
majority treated with penta. Additionally,
damaged poles are sold to individuals to use
in landscaping and garden use.
Heat draws the penta oil mix to the
surface of the pole during hot weather so it
can easily slip down the pole into the soil,
wash down storm drains, and get into water
systems, they said.
“The poles lose up to 50 percent of their
oils in the fi rst eight to 10 years into the
environment,” said Fredric Evenson from the
Ecological Rights Foundation. He explains
that mixing dioxin with oil makes it travel
very quickly through the soil. Penta has been
found in groundwater as far as 90 feet below
the surface.
“Each of these poles are like mini
Superfund sites all across the country. They
are in people’s backyards, school yards, near
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8 MARCH 24, 2011
EUGENE WEEKLY
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