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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 29, 2012)
NEWS Sorenson says that whenever large highway projects such as the West Eugene Parkway have been proposed, LRAPA has said they would not adversely affect air qual- ity. However, car and diesel emissions have been cited as major concerns when it comes to Oregon’s air. Sorenson wonders if the state Department of Environmental Quality has been more stringent on the effects the highway expan- The question of whether a local air agency like Lane sions have on air quality. Regional Air Protection Agency (LRAPA) is better for Other cities, such as Portland, rely upon the DEQ for air Lane County’s air quality than moving to a state agency pollution issues, but according to The Oregonian, the agen- was the topic Commissioner Pete Sorenson wanted to see cy said back in May that “it addressed at the County has exhausted its budget for Commissioners’ LRAPA the air toxics program and it work session Nov. 27. So- has very little money for air renson says the agenda set pollution monitoring.” for the meeting, which was Sorenson says the work called at the behest of Com- session was a good check- missioner Jay Bozievich, in and opportunity to re- was all about the agency and view LRAPA, but he feels not about the air. COMMISSIONER PETE SORENSON that health and air quality LRAPA is a local air advocates should have been agency which, according to invited to participate along with city offi cials. its executive director, Merlyn Hough, who spoke at the Sorenson read a letter from the county’s Public Health work session, is responsible for everything from granting Advisory Committee that advocated for LRAPA, and vari- permits to industries that release air toxics to enforcing fed- ous city offi cials and commissioners said they did not want eral, state and local air pollution regulations and conduct- to make a change. ing public education and outreach regarding air quality. “If air quality can be improved by moving it to state LRAPA is funded through a combination of permit level of regulation then I’m open to the idea of getting rid fees, federal and state grants and local government fund- of LRAPA,” Sorenson says. “But if the purpose is to get rid ing. LRAPA says that it also receives “Airmetrics enter- of regulation and minimize air quality then I will do what I prise revenues” from the local manufacture of portable air can to stop it.” — Camilla Mortensen monitoring devices sold throughout the world. According to Hough’s report, the portion of its funding that LRAPA gets from Lane County is part of $121,670 per year, split between the county and cities of Eugene, Spring- fi eld, Oakridge and Cottage Grove. In exchange, the report says, “LRAPA currently provides about $680,710 per year of local ordinance-related services.” Is a small, speedy potato-shaped seabird the new spotted The agency has both been praised for its work to im- owl? If it wasn’t already clear before: Clearcutting on hun- prove air quality in cities such as Oakridge that have been dreds of acres of coastal old-growth forests that are habitat plagued with toxic air, mainly due to wood stove heating in for the threatened marbled murrelet is defi nitely at a stand- the winter, and it has also been criticized as too favorable still, this time thanks to a Nov. 19 ruling by federal Judge to industry in its permits to pollute. Ann Aiken in Eugene. LRAPA’S FUTURE ON THE ROPES? ‘But if the purpose is to get rid of regulation and minimize air quality then I will do what I can to stop it’ SMALL SEABIRD STOPS LOGGING, AGAIN lighten up Conservation group Cascadia Wildlands had previously announced the voluntary cessation of logging in marbled murrelet habitat in the Elliott State Forest by the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) in response to the lawsuit Cascadia Wildlands and others had fi led. One timber sale in the Tillamook State Forest had also been suspended, ac- cording to Kevin Weeks of ODF. Weeks says ODF pulled a number of timber sales in June due to the lawsuit. In September, a memo in regard to the Coos operations plan, which determines the sales in the Elliott, later pulled 15 more projects planned for 2013 because, according to Weeks, they “have the same issues present as those identifi ed in the lawsuit.” ODF argued that issuing an injunction on the logging was moot because the agency had already voluntarily sus- pended logging on the timber sales in the lawsuit, but Aiken ruled that because ODF had “retained the right to simply resume logging operations after giving notice, a possibility of the recurrence of the allegedly illegal logging activity exists.” Josh Laughlin of Cascadia Wildlands points out that Ai- ken’s preliminary injunction not only prevents logging on the 11 timber sales named in the suit, it also broadens the suspension to “any further logging activities in known oc- cupied marbled murrelet sites in the Tillamook, Clatsop and Elliott state forests.” The ruling is critical for marbled murrelets and makes the clearcutting suspension offi cial, Laughlin says. He says that now the ball is in Gov. John Kitzhaber’s court in regard to suspending what Laughlin calls “aggressive clearcutting plans on our public forests.” Kitzhaber along with Secretary of State Kate Brown and Treasurer Ted Wheeler make up the State Land Board that governs Oregon’s publicly owned state forests. ODF has announced a 46-day public comment period began Nov. 26 on six additional timber sales in the Elliott State Forest that are not impacted by issues raised in the lawsuit, these sales “are anticipated to provide 9.8 million board-feet of timber for the current fi scal year, and an esti- mated $2.48 million in net revenue for schools and county services in Oregon,” according to the ODF announcement. To comment go to: wkly.ws/1e7 — Camilla Mortensen You don’t want to add bicycles to the mix of cars and trucks using south Willamette Street for the same reasons you would not add pedestrians. Bicyclists are nothing more than pedestrians on skinny wheels who don’t see stop signs. BY RAFAEL ALD AVE Nepalese Wool A great gift all season long Handmade through the non-profit Association for Crafts Producers Imagine getting to work easier, cheaper and faster than you do today. West Eugene EmX will connect over 51,000 residents to more than 81,000 jobs along the expanded EmX system. Someday, EmX will connect the whole community. Learn the facts and imagine better at www.ltd.org. +20(*$5'(1 *,)7 WK 2OLYH6WUHHW WK :LOODPHWWH6WUHHW 0RQ6DW 6XQ 8 November 29, 2012 • eugeneweekly.com 541-682-6100 (voice) 7-1-1 (TTY-Oregon Relay)
