• The Lane County Board of Commissioners’ June 28 discussion of giving themselves
the authority to block some local ballot measures has us floored. Did it get forgotten by four
of the five commissioners that Oregon citizens have a right to the initiative process that is
protected in the state Constitution?
• It was not very reassuring when Eugene-Springfield Fire Chief Joe Zaludek answered
a question about oil trains through our cities at the City Club of Eugene meeting June 24.
He said we are “well-positioned for an oil train derailment … we have a lot of foam in
reserve.” He added that we average two oil trains a week through here. In light of the
recent derailment in Mosier, Oregon, luckily not the tragedy it might have been, we have
huge concerns both about the quality of the rails and the quality of the trains. See activist
alert for information on 350 Eugene’s “Stop Oil Trains—Vigil & Procession” at 7:30 pm
Wednesday, July 6.
• A new study from the Oregon Center for Public Policy reveals that Oregon corporate
taxes are much lower than they used to be. According to the report, “corporate income tax
contributions have shrunk by more than half since the late 1970s,” while corporate property
tax contributions have declined by 10 percentage points since the late 1980s. Interesting,
considering that corporations have banded together to oppose IP 28, a proposed tax on
businesses with Oregon sales of more than $25 million. The tax would fund schools and health
and senior services, but corporations say they can’t take the financial strain. Corporations used
to contribute much more to the state of Oregon, so where has all that money gone? Clearly,
something doesn’t add up. We keep hearing the question, “Will IP 28 win in November?” It won’t
pass if Oregon’s major media, led by The Oregonian, has its way. But we are still optimistic.
Corporate Oregon has offered no better solutions.
• In the most significant decision from the Supreme Court on abortion in two decades,
the court voted 5-3 June 27 to strike down a Texas law that made it difficult for women to
access abortions. That decision should deter other states from passing clinic shutdown
laws. As the Notorious RBG (Ruth Bader Ginsburg) wrote in her concurring opinion:
“When a State severely limits access to safe and legal procedures, women in desperate
circumstances may resort to unlicensed rogue practitioners, faute de mieux [for the want
of a better alternative], at great risk to their health and safety.” Former Texas State Sen.
Wendy Davis and her 11-hour filibuster almost three years ago to the day of the Supreme
decision was vindicated, as were women across the country.
• Tree spiking! Like a blast from the past, The Register-Guard reported on a case of al-
leged tree spiking at Swanson’s Brothers Mill in Noti earlier in June. The news story was
based on an anonymous press release posted on Earth First! Newswire, not on actual po-
lice reports. The daily followed its article with an editorial calling the incident “stupid and
reckless,” and then Travis Joseph, former aid to Congressman Peter DeFazio, now a shill
for the American Forest Resource Council, piled on with a letter to the editor calling upon
enviro groups such as Cascadia Wildlands and Oregon Wild to “publicly condemn the radical,
criminal behavior of their peers.” First off, yes, tree spiking is wrong — it can injure workers
— but what criminal behavior? Beyond an online post there is still no evidence anything
happened. Joseph is using the same guilt-by-association tactic racists use when they in-
sinuate that all Hispanic people are illegal immigrants, all black people are criminals and all
Muslims are terrorists and applying them to treehuggers. AFRC should publicly condemn
its member businesses when they or their owners support radical anti-government, anti-
public lands groups and politicians. Has Joseph condemned the illegal armed take-over of
the Malheur Wildlife Refuge that led to the death of one of the occupiers? Last we checked
he merely called it “unwise.”
POLLUTION UPDATE
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) on May 27 sent a warning letter
to Jason and Rachel Shannon of Veneta for illegally discharging sewage to the ground at
their property on East Bolton Road in Veneta. DEQ’s letter requested that the Shannons take
steps to prevent additional illegal discharges, cordon off the affected area “to prevent human
and animal contact,” and disinfect the affected area. DEQ followed up on the May 27 warning
letter with a pre-enforcement notice on June 23, which notes that additional discharges
were continuing to occur, and that “no efforts” had been made by the Shannons to prevent
additional discharges or to cordon off or disinfect the affected area. The pre-enforcement
notice notes that sewage is “an immediate health hazard when exposed to animals and
insects that can transmit disease to people who live nearby” and that it “poses a substantial
threat to both public health and the environment.”
DEQ sent a warning letter to Oregon State Hospital Junction City on June 14 for
failure to manage hazardous waste in proper containers and failing to properly train staff
regarding proper handling of hazardous waste.
DEQ also sent a warning letter to Oregon State University on June 14 concerning
various hazardous waste law violations, including failure to label and inspect hazardous
waste, failure to properly train personnel and failure to clean up spills. — Doug Quirke/
Oregon Clean Water Action Project
eugeneweekly.com • June 30, 2016
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