Eugene weekly., May 12, 2011, Page 13, Image 13

B AT T L E O V E R
Does Seneca’s plant violate pollution regs?
S TO RY & P H OTO S BY CA MI L L A M O RT E N S E N
A
slow procession of cars made its way
down East Enid Road off Highway
99 in west Eugene, each turning into
the gates of Seneca Sawmill’s new
biomass cogeneration plant and getting
checked off by a security offi cer with
a clipboard. For Seneca, and many
of its invited guests, the procession
was leading to a celebration. For
the protesters gathering near the gates, it was leading to a
funeral for clean air and for Oregon’s forests.
One protester, Johannes Rune Pedersen, according to
Lane County Sheriff’s Offi ce records, was not content to
watch the line of cars and shout and sign wave to make his
point about the dangers of the biomass plant. He was willing
to risk life and limb to get heard.
At a little past 10 am, just as Seneca’s ribbon-cutting
event was slated to get under way, Pedersen u-locked
himself by the neck to the underside of a station wagon
pulling into Seneca’s gates. If the car continued to drive it
would drag Pedersen with it, possibly breaking his neck.
Within moments the line of cars had ground to a halt, and
the area was crawling with angry sheriff’s deputies.
Seneca’s 18.8-megawatt biomass plant has been touted
as sustainable energy by Eugene Water and Electric Board
(EWEB), which is buying power generated by the wood-
burning plant. The Lane Regional Air Protection Agency
approved its permit. It’s due to get millions in tax credits
from Oregon’s Business Energy Tax Credit (BETC) program
for utilizing a “renewable resource” — Oregon’s forests. So
what is it about Seneca Sustainable Energy’s cogeneration
plant that brought 25 protesters out on a dreary weekday
morning, one of them willing to risk his own neck, to get
their voices heard? It turns out that Seneca’s biomass is a bit
of a biomess, from its controversial old-growth logging to
its maybe not-so-Clean Air Act-approved emissions.
Locking down on biomass
In the fi rst chaotic minutes of Pedersen’s nonviolent
direct action, as deputies and state troopers swarmed the
scene, it was diffi cult to ascertain what was going on.
Pedersen’s legs and feet were visible out from under the red
Subaru wagon. A tall, burly blonde sheriff was kneeling on
them, as if Pedersen was going to suddenly make a break
for it, despite the hefty bike lock fastening him to the
car. Members of Cascadia Forest Defenders, Ecosystem
Advocates Northwest and other protesters held signs
proclaiming “Don’t Cut Off Our Oxygen,” “Biomass is Not
Green” and “Seneca Lies!” and called out to the cars held up
by Pedersen’s prone body and the law enforcement vehicles.
Jason Gonzales, a member of CFD, said the deputies
refused to let Pedersen’s support crew remain nearby
to help ensure his safety. Two other protesters, later
identifi ed as Zach Waddell and Emmalyn Garrett, were
kneeling, handcuffed, by Seneca’s gates. Gonzales said the
deputies had pushed the other protesters away. Most of the
demonstrators wound up across the road, or backed against
the chainlink and barbed wire fence that rings the plant.
An EW reporter’s attempts to speak to the deputies were
loudly and angrily rebuffed by Deputy Marvin Combs with
gesticulations and shouts of, “Go away! This is not Eugene!”
To be precise, Seneca Sustainable Energy (SSE) is not
exactly in Eugene; it is just outside the city limits. It is thus
exempt from the Eugene Toxics Right-to-Know ordinance
that would allow Eugeneans to see what chemicals the plant
is using. But what it will emit is on record, thanks to its air
pollution permit.
The plant will release 200,000 tons of carbon dioxide,
185.61 tons of nitrogen oxides, 200.89 tons of carbon
monoxide, 1.7 tons of formaldehyde and more than 13
tons each of PM 10 and PM 2.5 (particulate matter) over
the course of a year. Lisa Arkin of Oregon Toxics Alliance
(OTA), which did not participate in the protest but has
fought Seneca’s permit from the beginning, said, “You may
not be in the city limits, but you’re in our airshed.”
Seneca is “refusing to acknowledge that their emissions
move away from the facility,” and into the city, she said.
Gonzales said protesters also had been met with the shouts
of “This ain’t Eugene,” as well as with physical force. A
neutral observer with the National Lawyers Guild and trained
by Eugene-based Civil Liberties Defense Center monitored
the events. Lauren Regan of the CLDC said the overreaction
from law enforcement might have been due to an assumption
that “there’s going to be a longstanding campaign with the
plant as target,” and she surmised the deputies were trying to
frighten protesters so they wouldn’t come back.
The biomass burning issue, Regan said, is not one that’s
going to go away, and it’s an “issue that’s going to attract a
Taste of India
Buffet Lunch Special
$8.99 all you can eat.
7 days a week.
✪ Voted Best Buffet
-Eugene Weekly Readers
✪ Voted Best
Indian Restaurant
-Eugene Weekly Readers
✪ Best Indian
Restaurant In Town
Campus Location
Now Open!
844 E 13th ave
(old Sakura location)
Student Lunch
Buffet Special
— Deputy Combs
lot of public attention; it will impact a large portion of the
community and Seneca needs to be ready for the public to
express its grievances.”
Regan continued, “This is a long-term campaign that the
activists have put together and we’re going to support it on the
legal side.” She said the protesters “are well trained on their
legal rights,” and CLDC will have legal observers to monitor
future events and the actions of police as well as protesters.
Seneca “could change that by deciding not to become a
biomass plant, but that’s very unlikely,” Regan pointed out.
The fi re department arrived with equipment to break
the lock holding the protester to the car. Bill Thompson,
a captain with the sheriff’s offi ce, wearing a light blue
sport coat instead of the deputies’ brown and tan uniform,
answered questions after Pedersen was cut loose.
Thompson said that the invitation-only Seneca event
featured community leaders and politicians, and that “folks
from Cascadia Forest Defenders feel strongly this project is
not in the best interest of the environment.” He clarifi ed that it
was not clear if Pedersen, Garrett or Waddell were associated
with CFD. According to Thompson, Garrett and Waddell had
blocked the Subaru as it entered Seneca’s gates while “the third
subject” climbed beneath the car and locked himself to it.
Lane County jail records show that they were all charged
with disorderly conduct in the second degree, a misdemeanor.
Nathaniel, a Cascadia Forest Defender who declined to
give his last name, said he was protesting Seneca because he
was “tired of seeing false solutions and greenwashing marketed
to a community like Eugene that is very susceptible to it.” He
said that he works in the forest, and what is left after trees and
slash have been removed for biomass is “a moonscape.” The
forest, he said, needs decaying dead trees and snags to sustain
NY DOGS
WRAPPED IN
bagel DOUGH
Hebrew National Kosher Franks!
$5.99 (to go only)
-Register Guard Readers 2010
Catering available • Full menu available to go • Delivery through Pony Express
2495 Hilyard St. • Eugene, OR 97405 • ph & fax (541) 485-9698 • ph only (541) 485-9560
WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM
‘GO AWAY! THIS IS NOT EUGENE.’
810 Willamette • 541-341-1335 | 4089 W. 11th • 541-868-1072
Open Daily | www.bagelsphere.com
EUGENE WEEKLY MAY 12, 2011 13