NEWS
GREENHILL LAWSUIT ALLEGES
EMOTIONAL DISTRESS
Heidy Hollister, a former Lane County Animal Services
veterinary technician who then went on to work for Greenhill
Humane Society after it took over the LCAS shelter, has filed
a $700,000 suit against Greenhill that says she was subject to
“unwarranted criticism and reprimands” and her contract
terminated after she complained “that many of the animals
were injured, sick and diseased and defendant [Greenhill] did
not provide them with adequate or any medication or
hygienic care to relieve their pain and suffering.”
MISTER THE CAT
WITH FELINE AIDS
PHOTO COURTESY NO KILL LANE COUNTY
Hollister’s suit filed in Lane County Circuit Court on
Nov. 9 asks for a total of $700,000 for claims including
wrongful discharge in retaliation for “reporting what she
reasonably believed to be criminal conduct” by Greenhill
and its vet, Gail Schroder, “by failing to provide veterinary
care that a reasonable person would deem necessary to
relieve distress of animals due to injury, neglect or
disease,” economic damages and severe emotional distress.
LCAS, now 1st Avenue Shelter, had been successfully
going no-kill, meaning that adoptable, treatable animals are
not euthanized, but animal advocates have criticized Greenhill
for not continuing with the LCAS’s policies and have
communicated their allegations of mistreatment and neglect
via mass emails cc-ing newspaper and elected officials and
via the No Kill Lane County web page (www.nokilllanecounty.
org). Hollister was not available for comment and Hollister’s
attorney, Claud Ingram, says he does not discuss the facts of
his cases with the news media because he says it would waive
attorney-client privilege. However emails on the No Kill web
page between Hollister and Greenhill discuss the euthanasia
of a FIV (feline AIDs) positive cat named Mister that
Hollister writes she had arranged a foster home for, and the
case of a dog named Oakly, who Hollister writes was slated
for euthanasia and so not treated by Greenhill’s vet for crusty
eyes and painful ears. Oakly, who also had kidney disease,
was later transferred to a senior dog rescue for hospice.
According the court documents, Hollister began
working for LCAS on June 20, 2010, and after Greenhill
took over the shelter in the summer of 2012, Greenhill
accepted her “as a transferred employee as a veterinary
technician” per the contract with LCAS. The documents
say that Hollister observed that the care of the stray
animals by Greenhill “did not meet the standard of care for
animals required by Oregon statutes in that many of the
animals were injured, sick and diseased” and allege that
Greenhill “did not provide them with adequate or any
medication or hygienic care to relieve their pain and
suffering.” The documents go on to allege that in July of
2012 Hollister complained about the treatment of some of
the animals, or lack of it — because they were to be
“euthanized as soon as the holding period expired” and she
“should not provide them with medication and hygienic
care to ease their suffering.” The documents say Hollister
complained to the Greenhill executive director about the
substandard care and was ignored.
After Hollister made the complaints, she was “subjected
to unwarranted criticism and reprimands” and on Aug. 10,
Hollister was notified that her employment was terminated.
Jaclyn Semple, Greenhill’s assistant director, says as of
press time the humane society had not been served with the
court documents. She writes in an email, “We cannot
comment on the aspects of the claim regarding a former
employee because that involves a personnel matter, but we
adamantly deny all allegations made in the lawsuit
regarding the care of the animals. Greenhill provides high
quality care to all animals at its shelters, including high
quality veterinary care. We are very proud of our dedicated
staff, tireless volunteers and exemplary veterinary
professionals who work every day to maintain our high
standards.” — Camilla Mortensen
lighten up
Finally, the elections are over. I enjoyed as much as I
could stand of them back in September.
BY RAFAE L ALDAVE
POLLUTION UPDATE
In early September, DEQ (Department of Environmental
Quality) assessed a penalty of $1,500 against SFPP, L.P.
for Clean Water Act violations at its bulk petroleum facility
at 1765 Prairie Rd. (just south of Lane Forest Products and
north of Maxwell Road). The violations consisted of
multiple oil and grease limit violations, and multiple
failure-to-monitor violations. The Prairie Road facility is
the southern terminus of a 114-mile pipeline from Portland,
and has a storage capacity in excess of 700,000 barrels.
SFPP elected to pay (and not to appeal) the penalty, which
pales in comparison to the nearly $5.3 million SFPP and
associated company Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP
agreed to pay in 2007 to resolve liability associated with
three California spills.
Also in early September, DEQ also issued a demand for
payment of a stipulated penalty of $300 to Junction City
for high pollution levels in its wastewater treatment plant
discharges. Junction City routinely violates its Clean Water
Act permit limits and in 1995 entered into an agreement
with DEQ that relaxes permit limits for purposes of DEQ
enforcement, and that also provides for automatic penalties
for violations of these relaxed limits. DEQ records appear
to indicate that Junction City has not paid the $300 penalty
as of press time.
In late September, Oregon Department of Transpor-
tation (ODOT) paid the highest penalty so far this year
($15,668) for a 2012 enforcement action for various viola-
tions related to the septic system at the Gettings Creek Rest
Area along I-5 north of Cottage Grove.
DEQ has sent numerous Oregon Walmarts warning
letters for hazardous waste violations, apparently starting
with a Roseburg Walmart in February of 2011. Since then,
Walmarts in Bend, Coos Bay, Cottage Grove, Dallas,
Eagle Point, Eugene (both Green Acres Rd. & West
11th Ave. locations), Grants Pass, Hood River, Lebanon,
McMinnville, Medford, Redmond, Salem (two stores),
Springfield, Talent and Woodburn have received similar
letters, with Bend, Hood River and Redmond stores
receiving letters in September. DEQ also sent the Corvallis
Home Depot a letter regarding hazardous waste violations
last month, and while Home Depot doesn’t appear as
frequently in DEQ’s databases as Walmart, the same
Corvallis store was contacted previously (in April 2008) by
DEQ regarding hazardous waste violations, as have Home
Depots in Albany, Bend, The Dalles, Eugene and Roseburg.
DEQ has a “super-short” public engagement survey
aimed at finding out “If you have the opportunities you
need to weigh in on environmental issues,” at the following
address: http://wkly.ws/1ds
DEQ is accepting public comments on its draft permit
for industrial stormwater discharges from sand and
gravel operations, quarries, etc. through Nov. 17. For
more info, visit http://wkly.ws/1dt
Information provided by Doug Quirke and the Oregon Clean Water
Action Project
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November 15, 2012 • eugeneweekly.com
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