ACTIVIST
LERT
• Nancy Chi Cantalupo of Georgetown Law
School will speak on “Encouraging Innovation to
Prevent and Intervene in Campus Sexual Violence”
at 6 pm Thursday, June 5, at the UO Law School,
Room 142. Free and open to the public.
• Alison Weir, executive director of nonprofit If
Americans Knew and author of a new book
examining the history of U.S.-Israel relations, will
speak at 7 pm Thursday, June 5, at the Downtown
Athletic Club, 999 Willamette St. Free and open to
the public. Sponsored by the Al-Nakba Awareness
Project.A Q&A session and book signing will follow
her talk.
POLLUTION IN THE
WILLAMETTE RIVER
TAKEN BY AERIAL CAMERA
PHOTO CREDIT: TRAVIS WILLIAMS
POLLUTION VISIBLE AGAIN
IN RIVER NEAR HALSEY
It’s rafting season on Oregon’s rivers, and the last thing water
enthusiasts want to see is a dark smear of effluent in the river
as they drift by. Travis Williams saw just that — a dark patch
of pollutants in the Willamette River — as he paddled past the
outflow for Cascade Pacific Pulp in Halsey, south of Corvallis,
in May.
Williams is the executive director of Willamette Riverkeeper,
and this is not the first time he has dealt with a murky patch on
this particular outflow on the river. The area is a “mixing zone”
where Cascade Pacific discharges chemicals including arsenic,
pentachlorophenol, mercury and free cyanide, according to its
permit with the Department of Environmental Quality.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says a mixing
zone “is an allocated impact zone where water quality criteria
can be exceeded as long as acutely toxic conditions are prevent-
ed.” In other words, it’s a legal area to pollute. The expectation
is that the water will swiftly dilute the zone and, under the law,
water quality criteria must be met at the edges of the zone.
Willamette Riverkeeper threatened to sue Cascade Pacific
over its effluent in 2012, and in April of 2013 a settlement was
reached in which Cascade Pacific agreed to dredge to improve
water flows by the outfall. The company also gave Eugene-
based McKenzie River Trust $10,000 toward its Green Island
restoration project at the confluence of the McKenzie and the
Willamette as part of the settlement.
Pat Rank, the pulp mill’s general manager, says the geomor-
phologists consulted by Cascade Pacific said the channel the
company dredged would be “viable for 10 years” with only mi-
nor maintenance. Rank says work will begin this week to restore
the flows and that Cascade Pacific is “not real happy” major
maintenance is required only a year after doing the work. He
attributes higher river flows to the gravel buildup that caused the
effluent to reappear.
The effluent is 9 miles from the city of Corvallis’ water in-
take. Williams says while he appreciates the work Cascade Pa-
cific is doing, when it comes to the outflow from the pulp mill,
“I don’t want it there at all. I don’t think that size of discharge is
good for that stretch of the river.” He says another option would
be to relocate the diffuser that releases the discharge down-
stream and to deeper water.
Williams says, “I get it” that the mill is necessary — it makes
pulp for tissue and toilet paper — but “what’s the cost of that?”
Rank says Cascade Pacific is also “evaluating other alterna-
tives” for a long-term fix to the problem. — Camilla Mortensen
• The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission is
expected to adopt the Coastal Management Plan
for salmon and steelhead at its meetings beginning
at 8 am Thursday and Friday, June 5-6, at 4034
Fairview Industrial Drive in Salem. See map and
directions at wkly.ws/1rf.
• A statewide initiative on labeling genetically
modified food and agricultural products is gearing
up with trainings and signature gathering in June.
The initiative needs 87,000 valid signatures by
July 3 to qualify for the November ballot. See
oregonrighttoknow.org or locally call 342-8461 or
email kathy@kathyging.com.
LANE COUNTY AREA
SPRAY SCHEDULE
• ODOT is currently spraying roadsides. Call
Tony Kilmer at ODOT District 5 at 744-8080 or call
(888) 996-8080 for herbicide application
information. Hwys. I-5, 58, 99, 101, 105, 126 and
Territorial were sprayed recently.
• Weyerhaeuser Company, 744-4684, plans to
hire Mountainside Spray, 756-1193, to spray 2700
feet of roadsides near Hawley Creek with
glyphosate, methylated seed oil and/or triclopyr.
See ODF notice 2014-771-00460, call Marvin
Vetter at 726-3588 with questions.
• Miller Family Trust in Mapleton and Bradley
and Kathy Miller in Ketchikan, Alaska, plan to hire
Rosboro LLC, 746-8411, to spray 2 acres of
roadsides along Rice Creek Road with 2,4-D,
glyphosate, imazapyr and/or triclopyr. See ODF
notices 2014-781-00540 and 2014-781-00541,
call ODF’s Jim Hall at 997-8713 with questions.
RIDERS ON PISGAH’S
SUMMIT ON A FOGGY DAY
PHOTO CREDIT: REHBECCAH BURKHART
VOLUNTEERS FINISH NEW
TRAILS AT MOUNT PISGAH
As hiking and, for horse lovers, trail-riding season begins,
Friends of Buford Park & Mt. Pisgah (FBPMP) has improved
trails at the Howard Buford Recreation Area for humans and
habitat. FBPMP has finished work on the north trail network in
the park, including parts of trails 3, 4, 7 and 17. The group add-
ed materials to the trails in order to withstand use from horses
and hikers, and redirected some trails.
Previously, some trails cut through wetland prairie, which
made for a muddy hike and fragmentation of the prairie, says
Val Rogers, Friends of Buford Park development director. And
during the summer, the hoof marks left by horses on the trail
would dry and become dangerous potholes for hikers.
“The obvious benefit is that it’s easier and safer for hikers
and horse riders,” Rogers says. “But also it is protecting native
habitat by rerouting the trail segments. That’s getting them out
of the sensitive habitat; it’s a nice double benefit.”
The trails are for both equestrian and hiker use and were a
combined effort of Friends of Buford volunteers, REI Eugene
and Lane County Parks, all of whom donated time and money
to help design and build the trails. The trails are a part of FB-
PMP’s overall mission to help protect and enhance the Mount
Pisgah area, says the organization’s website.
“It’s not every day that a nonprofit, a business and a gov-
ernment agency are successfully able to work together for
something that benefits everybody, so it’s worth celebrating,”
Rogers says. Next up is renovating parts of trail 4 of the north
trail network so that hikers can make a complete descent of the
summit.
The county-owned park is a popular hiking destination and
has recently been at the center of a battle over large outdoor
events held at the park’s Emerald Meadows area. The Lane
County Commission voted to cancel Faerieworlds festival and
the Dirty Dash fun run next year, expressing concern over large
events — in particular last summer’s Kaleidoscope Music Fes-
tival — having negative impacts on the native plants and ani-
mals in the Mount Pisgah area. The events will take place this
summer as scheduled per their contracts but not in 2015.
The Friends of Buford Park will hold a ribbon-cutting cer-
emony Saturday morning, June 7, at Mount Pisgah and a tour
to celebrate the new trails and the group’s 25th anniversary.
Participants may choose the length and difficulty of the trails.
To register for the ribbon cutting, sign up at bufordpark.org/
tours or call Val Rogers at 344-8350. To volunteer with the FB-
PMP, email volunteer@bufordpark.org. — Anna V. Smith
• Weyerhaeuser, 988-7502, plans to hire
Oregon Forest Management Services, 896-3757, to
ground spray Garlon 3A on 5 acres near Richie and
Taylor creeks. See ODF notification 2014-771-
00473, call Tim Meehan at 726-3588 with
questions.
lighten
up
BY RAFAEL ALDAVE
The city is spending a lot of money to see what
happens if it shuts down two of the four travel lanes
on South Willamette and adds bike lanes on the
outer edges. Motorists turning right would need to
cross a bike lane, thereby setting up a risky auto/
bike dance. One result is likely to be a hike in
insurance premiums. But what are the mysterious
unmet needs this plan is trying to address? If I had
to guess, it would be: 1) Motorists want more than
a shopping experience along South Willamette.
They also want a memorable driving experience. 2)
Bicyclists need a street with enhanced challenges
to sharpen their survival skills. 3) The city wants
people to know that it’s doing its part to keep
Eugene weird.
eugeneweekly.com • June 5, 2014
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