LTD FACES BIG UTILITY
BILLS FOR EMX EXPANSION
Expansion of Lane Transit District’s EmX bus rapid
system into west Eugene could run up utility costs to
LTD exceeding $9.2 million, according to a memo sent
July 28 to the EWEB board from EWEB Engineering
Manager Mel Damewood and planner Jon Thomas. The
memo was on the agenda for the Aug. 5 EWEB board
meeting as an information item and no board action was
anticipated.
An intergovernmental agreement (IGA) between
EWEB and LTD calls for LTD to reimburse EWEB
for any costs associated with relocating utilities that
conflict with the expansion. The IGA deals with water
mains, fire hydrants, power lines and other infrastruc-
ture above and below ground.
“To date, LTD has issued EWEB purchase orders for
the design and relocations of EWEB utilities totaling
$2,197,051,” reads the memo. “Further relocation de-
signs, Scope of Work and Purchase Order requests are
forthcoming. Based on estimates of LTD’s 30 percent
design, EWEB’s relocation costs could exceed $9.2
million.”
LTD’s spokesman Andy Vobora tells EW, “The cost
for utility relocation was greater than expected and a
piece of the higher-than-expected guaranteed maximum
price. We have healthy contingencies built in the bud-
get so our expectation is we will still come in under the
original budget.”
Conflicts along the route have not all been identified
and evaluated, so the final costs passed along to LTD
could be greater or less. And LTD has not yet acquired
all the easements for EWEB utilities in the right-of-way.
Some of the work will benefit EWEB’s infrastruc-
ture. For example, an 8-inch steel water main installed
in 1935 is scheduled for replacement “to avoid being
left under the new EmX bus line,” according to the
memo. — Ted Taylor
RAT POISON PASSES
ALONG ITS TOXIC IMPACT
‘ In terms of the
poison itself, it’s
a really horrible
way to go.’
— LO U I S E S H I M M E L ,
E X E C U T I V E D I R E C TO R
C A S C A D E R A P TO R C E N T E R
Louise Shimmel, executive director of the Cascade Raptor
Center, recalls a great horned owl that was found in a pond last
winter. “You could actually see the bruises on his neck where the
blood was seeping out of his jugular because his blood was so
thin and he was essentially bleeding to death,” she says. “We were
not able to save that one.”
Rodenticide, commonly called rat poison, is used in both ur-
ban and wild areas. Though the goal is to kill mice and rats, the
poison has also been the cause of a wide range of deaths and ill-
nesses in children, dogs and endangered species throughout the
country. The most toxic and painful rodenticides are called sec-
ond-generation anticoagulants.
“In terms of the poison itself, it’s a really horrible way to go.
What it’s doing is interfering with the clotting mechanism that the
body has, and they’re essentially bleeding internally,” Shimmel
says. At the raptor center, severely anemic birds are often brought
in with bruising and discolored mucus membranes. The problem,
Shimmel says, comes when the rats are poisoned and then con-
sumed by other species.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, rats that
ingest second-generation anticoagulants can take five to seven
days to die, giving ample time for predators such as coyotes, rap-
tors and cats to prey on the them, especially given their weakened
state and slow movements. In addition, the bait is made to attract
rats via smell and taste, which sometimes draws in other animals
that eat the bait directly. The bright blue-green colored bait in pel-
let form is also attractive to curious children.
California’s issues with wildlife deaths from rodenticide, in-
cluding endangered San Joaquin kit foxes, has led the state to
limit the use of the poison early this year, restricting its use to
licensed pesticide applicators. This move comes after the EPA’s
2008 decision to remove certain rat poisons from the market that
did not use protective bait stations in hopes of eliminating ac-
cidental ingestion by children, pets and wildlife. Most recently,
some d-CON products made by Reckitt Benckiser will stop being
produced by Dec. 31, 2014.
Rose Kachadoorian, Oregon Department of Agriculture pes-
ticide and endangered species specialist, says that those looking
to get rid of rat poisons or other unwanted pesticides should look
into their local depositories. “Don’t pour them down the toilet,
sink or storm water; that is absolutely the worst thing to do,”
Kachadoorian says.
Instead of using rodenticides, Shimmel, Kachadoorian and the
EPA recommend alternatives and preemptive measures such as
removing possible food items that would draw rats in the first
place and using humane traps. For homeowners in Lane County
looking to dispose of unwanted rodenticides or pesticides, call
Lane County Waste Management Division to call and make a
drop-off appointment at 682-4120. — Anna V. Smith
SLANT
• Does anybody remember Rudy Crew? He was the
nationally known education expert hired by Gov. John Kitzhaber
to figure out how to finance and fix Oregon’s public education
system. He was a bust. It was soon apparent that he wasn’t that
interested in Oregon kids and he was off to the next bigger job.
The governor then wisely persuaded Nancy Golden, recently
retired and much loved superintendent of Springfield schools, to
become his education czar. Nobody doubts her competence or
her dedication to Oregon kids. So, this is a cautionary tale. Board
members of School District 4J won’t confirm their hiring process
to replace Superintendent Shelley Berman, who is leaving next
spring, but good sources tell us the board is hiring a Portland
head-hunting firm to look nationally. Maybe the leader we need
already works in the neighborhood, another Nancy Golden,
perhaps.
• We continue to hear about VA Clinic issues from sources
who are critical but fear retaliation if they are named. Most
criticism is leveled not at the Eugene clinic but rather the
Roseburg VA Medical Center, and its management in particular.
One source told us the sprawling old hospital complex in
Roseburg is where “problem administrators are sent until they
retire.” Low morale and poor working conditions lead to good
doctors and nurses going elsewhere. One Roseburg VA doctor
did speak out on the record recently in an interview on KVAL-TV.
Dr. Steven Blum told KVAL reporter Nia Wong that management is
the real issue and internal criticism is met with retaliation. We
hope Blum’s courage is contagious. See the interview and
transcript at wkly.ws/1sl.
Roseburg VA Director Carol Bogedain has worked for the VA in
various posts since 1976. Yep, 38 years. Associate Director
Steven Broskey has been on the VA payroll since 1987. Time to
retire? The VA has closed old, problematic hospitals in the past,
but what would happen if the Roseburg facility is shuttered after
the new Eugene VA clinic is completed in 2015? “That would be
the end of Roseburg,” one source tells us, citing the fact that the
VA is a major employer in the mostly rural and depressed area.
• We wrote about the measure to legalize pot for adult use
last week in our news section and now we’re seeing the
opposition coming forward. A pro-hemp group called Raising
Awareness (raising-awareness.net) is putting out information
that directly contradicts what’s actually in the measure. The
opponents claim the Oregon measure is “the same bill that
recently passed in Washington,” “It completely dissolves
Oregon’s already existing Oregon Medical Marijuana Program,”
and “It doesn’t legalize industrial hemp.” All these statements are
false, of course, but this might be the kind of information we’ll be
seeing as we get closer to November. We can expect opposition
from pharmaceutical companies, the timber industry, drug
dealers, religious groups and some public safety officials.
Educating voters about what’s actually in the measure will be a
big challenge.
• This weekend (Aug. 10) marks the 50th anniversary of the
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in 1964 that carried us into the
disastrous Vietnam War. Let’s not forget that our own Wayne
Morse of Oregon and fellow senator Ernest Gruening of Alaska
were the only “no” votes in the Senate against the war. Several
events have happened or are going to happen in Lane County
this week (see Activist Alert) that remind us of the impact of that
war on veterans, their families, society and our foreign policy.
• The rats are coming! Check out our news brief this week on
unintended victims of rat poison. Rats are becoming an
increasing problem in Eugene neighborhoods. Exterminators tell
us backyard chicken flocks and tasty compost bins might be to
blame. We haven’t heard of rats attacking chickens, but we do
know rats like to gobble chicken feed and they get fat while they
pee and poop in the feed bins. No manners at all. Rats are smart
and sneaky little bastards and will chew through wood to get into
chicken houses at night, and sometimes even make daylight
raids. Any suggestions from our readers? Maybe training videos
for timid hens on “How to Tap Your Inner Velociraptor”? Those
smaller Havahart live traps can work — and one bait that
sophisticated Eugene rats can’t seem to resist is garlic-dill
cheese curds from Market of Choice. Maybe MoC should run an
ad for that. Meanwhile, take a baseball bat when you check on
your chicks after dark.
PHOTO BY: LAURENT GAUTHIER
eugeneweekly.com • A ugust 7, 2014
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