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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 3, 2013)
NEW S ACTIVIST LERT • Church Women United of Lane County will meet at 9 am Friday, Jan. 4, at Ebbert United Methodist Church, 532 C St. in Springfield, and again at 7 am Tuesday, Jan. 8, at Brails, 1689 Willamette St. in Eugene. See cwulanecounty.org • Anti-drone activist Trudy Cooper will be in Eugene to report on her recent trip to Pakistan, where a CODEPINK delegation witnessed the devastation caused by more than 300 U.S. drone strikes in the past four years, killing as many as 3,000 people in Waziristan. The event will be 7 pm Tuesday, Jan. 8, at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 1685 West 13th Ave. in Eugene. Cooper, from Portland, will show pictures and tell stories of students, teachers, children and women killed when drone-launched missiles destroyed their homes. Sponsored by Eugene CODEPINK, Community Alliance of Lane County, Women’s Action for New Directions and Veterans for Peace. Contact CALC at 485-1755 or calcpeace@gmail.com PHOTO BY ROB AND TRACY SYDOR DIGITALLATTE.COM • The State of the County Address will be at 10 am Monday, Jan. 7, at Harris Hall, 125 E. 8th Ave. in Eugene. Eugene’s 2013 State of the City Address will be at 5:30 pm Wednesday, Jan. 9, in the lobby of the Hult Center. Donations of canned food for FOOD for Lane County will be collected at the door. ‘It’s going to take us all, to alter our lifestyles of over-consumption. We are all buying into this lifestyle that slowly kills us, and some it kills quicker than others.’ K AY L A G O D O WA T U F T I NATIVE AMERICAN IDLE NO MORE lighten up BY RA FA EL A LD AV E Gun control would be a lot less contentious if someone could show that guns contribute to traffic delays. WAR DEAD IN AFGHANISTAN • 2,164 U.S. troops killed* (2,162) • 18,167 U.S. troops wounded in action (18,154) • 1,263 U.S. contractors killed (1,263) • 12,793 civilians killed (12,793) • $597.8 billion cost of war ($595.6 billion) • $176.5 million cost to Eugene taxpayers ($175.9 million) IN IRAQ The war officially ended December 2011 with a total of 4,422 U.S. troops killed, 31,930 wounded in action and undisclosed hundreds of U.S. military suicides. But U.S. contractors have assumed a larger role, high levels of U.S. spending continue, and the body count from civil unrest grows. • 1,587 U.S. contractors killed (1,587) • 121,121 to 1.2 million civilians killed* (121,112) • $809.8 billion cost of war ($809.6 billion) • $239.1 million cost to Eugene taxpayers ($239.1 million) Through Dec. 28, 2012; sources: icasualties.org; defense.gov, U.S. Dept. of Labor (contractor deaths updated occasionally) * highest estimate; source: iraqbodycount.org; based on confirmed media reports; other groups calculate Iraqi civilian deaths as high as 655,000 (Lancet survey, 2006) to 1.2 million (Opinion Research Business survey, 2008). Afghan civilian deaths from guardian.co.uk tallied monthly. 8 January 3, 2013 • eugeneweekly.com Idle No More is a campaign for indigenous rights, sovereignty and environmental justice that began in Canada in part as a response to Canada’s omnibus bill C-45 that is seen as taking away treaty rights. Though neglected in mainstream U.S. media coverage, the cam- paign has generated rallies and fl ashmobs across Cana- da, the U.S. and Europe. Flashmobs were held in Port- land’s Pioneer Square Mall on Dec. 23 and Eugene’s Valley River Center Mall on Dec. 29. In Canada, Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence be- gan a hunger strike on Dec. 11, drinking only fi sh broth and medicinal tea. She has announced she will not eat until there is a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and a representative of the queen of England to address Canada’s broken relationship with indigenous peoples and treaty rights. The bill passed the Canadian Senate on Dec. 14, but the Idle No More movement is more than just that legis- lation, according to the INM website. The Idle No More manifesto says, in part: “The state of Canada has become one of the wealthi- est countries in the world by using the land and resourc- es. Canadian mining, logging, oil and fi shing companies are the most powerful in the world due to land and re- sources. Some of the poorest First Nations communities (such as Attawapiskat) have mines or other develop- ments on their land but do not get a share of the profi t. The taking of resources has left many lands and waters poisoned — the animals and plants are dying in many areas in Canada. We cannot live without the land and water. We have laws older than this colonial govern- ment about how to live with the land.” Among the environmental concerns brought up by the new legislation are the tar sands, fossil fuel pipelines and other mining. According to Kayla Godowa-Tufti, Warm Springs, who attended the Portland fl ashmob: “We are now witnessing the results of all these smaller resistances, like Jackie Thomas Chief of Saik’uz First Nations who stood against the Enbridge Pipeline. All those smaller actions have now come into one movement. The Idle No More Movement. It is good and inspiring to see our people hold solidarity rallies.” More than 100 people, Native American and non- native, from small children to the elderly, participated in or supported the round dance at Valley River. Godowa-Tufti says, “If we really want to end this suffering and oppression, and truly stand in solidarity with our First Nations brothers and sisters, we must end our dependence on tar sands oil, but it’s going to take more than just a round dance and prayers. It’s going to take us all, to alter our lifestyles of over-consumption. We are all buying into this lifestyle that slowly kills us, and some it kills quicker than others.” For more on Idle No More, see a Viewpoint by Go- dowa-Tufti on page 4. — Camilla Mortensen POLLUTION UPDATE Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) recently sent Shell Oil Products Company a warning let- ter for failing to have the wastewater system at its Halsey facility, near I-5 and Highway 228, supervised by a certi- fi ed operator. DEQ considers this a serious violation of the Clean Water Act. The Clean Water Act permit for this facility expired on June 30, 2011. DEQ has issued a draft permit for Weyerhaeuser’s Truck Road Landfi ll, located in Springfi eld southeast of Mt. Vernon Road and Bob Straub Parkway. This 20- acre landfi ll received industrial solid waste (e.g., log pond dredgings, pulp waste, lime grits, boiler fl y ash and general wood waste) generated by the wood products industry dur- ing its operation, and was closed in 1982. Nearby ground- water is affected by leachate from the landfi ll, though the nearest downgradient groundwater user is approximately 2,400 feet from the landfi ll boundary. Public comments are being accepted until 5 pm on Jan. 14. DEQ has issued a draft permit covering 163 City of Eu- gene dry wells, which are “stormwater management facili- ties that collect stormwater runoff from adjacent areas and direct it into the ground.” DEQ received the city’s permit application in July of 2002 (over 10 years ago). The draft permit has a duration of 10 years and, among other things, requires the city to prepare a stormwater monitoring plan; a system-wide assessment of dry wells; a dry well manage- ment plan; and an annual dry well report. Public comments are being accepted until 5 pm on Jan. 15. Visit goo.gl/LN8Tm for more information on commenting. — Doug Quirke/Oregon Clean Water Action Project
