NEWS
CLEARCUT LOGGING ON
OREGON’S PRIVATE LANDS
CASH-STRAPPED SCHOOL DISTRICTS
TO PAY FOR LEAD TESTING
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say
“there is no known safe level of lead in a child’s blood.”
Effects of lead poisoning include developmental delays,
memory loss and brain damage.
The discovery of lead in drinking water in Portland
public schools so soon after the lead crisis in Flint,
Michigan, ignited alarm in schools across the state of
Oregon, including those in Lane County.
Kerry Delf, associate director for communications for
Eugene School District 4J, says that after tests this spring
showed excessive levels of lead at the district office and
three schools — Sheldon High School and Roosevelt
and Kennedy middle schools — 4J has hired PBS
Environmental + Engineering to test all water faucets used
for drinking and making food district-wide.
4J last tested its drinking water for lead in 1998, Delf
says, when it found and fixed the locations “where water
samples were identified for concern.” Those same locations
were tested this year.
Delf says the district-wide tests will cost an estimated
$25,000 or more, and the money will come from 4J’s
general fund, with no state dollars yet available to help.
The Oregon Health Authority (OHA), which oversees
many state health care programs, has never required school
districts to collect water quality data unless they use a well,
and Oregon school drinking water has not regularly been
tested by the districts themselves. OHA is currently discussing
guidelines or standards for school districts to follow.
“Think about how disturbing it is that the goal of sending
children to school is to educate them to be productive
members of society, and lead is a barrier to that,” says Lisa
Arkin, executive director of the environmental justice
nonprofit Beyond Toxics.
For public water supplies, the EPA recommends acting on
lead levels of more than 15 parts per billion (ppb). For schools,
since testing protocol differs, the action level is 20 ppb. The
district sampled each fixture twice, once after the water sat
overnight and again after flushing water through the system.
The highest lead levels — 866 ppb and 521 ppb — were
found at a Roosevelt fountain, which is being demolished,
and at Sheldon. After being flushed with water, most
fixtures registered below the EPA’s action level, but three
were still above that level.
PBS Environmental + Engineering will retest the
buildings already tested by the district.
Joel Iboa, environmental justice and community
outreach manager for Beyond Toxics, says he’s concerned
that kids in low-income communities might be at greater
risk because they are more likely to live in older homes
where lead is already an issue. Malnourishment also
worsens the effects of lead poisoning.
“I don’t think schools should be blamed,” Arkin says.
“They didn’t have guidance and they don’t have the budget
that allows them to deal with this problem.”
Delf says testing is underway, and once complete, the
district will release the test results and determine the
lead source. Delf says that based on the results of the
preliminary testing, fixtures like faucets and sinks are most
likely to blame for the presence of lead, in which case the
district will replace fixtures and test again. If the problem
is not resolved, the district will need to take further action.
“The follow-up to the testing will be important,” Iboa says.
Springfield and Bethel districts are also testing school
drinking water. Until testing is complete, it’s unclear how
much repairs will cost the districts.
Keep up with 4J’s progress at 4j.lane.edu/water, and learn
more about lead poisoning at epa.gov. — Amy Schneider
HAPPENING PEOPLE
SKIP JONES
Ever since 1999, when the Rooster Man, aka Gavin
Fox, long-time host of KLCC’s Saturday afternoon
Blues Power program, was struck down by ALS, Skip
Jones has kept the weekly Rooster’s Blues Jam alive.
“Rooster hired me to be the house drummer in 1990,”
says Jones, a regular at the Monday night jams at
Taylor’s Bar. After years of hopscotching from club to
club, the jam has enjoyed a stable venue for the past six
years, Tuesday nights at Mac’s at the Vet’s Club, 1626
Willamette Street. Admission is free.
“We have a robust turnout, between 20 and 40 musicians
every night,” says Jones, who shares hosting duties with
Byron Case. “The quality of musicianship is amazing.”
Musician signup is at 6 pm, and music starts at 7.
BY PAUL NEEVEL
As a kid growing up on the San Francisco Peninsula,
Jones began playing ukulele and piano at home, then got
into drums and guitar, and joined a band in junior high.
“I lied and said I could play bass,” he says. “We played
for our parents’ lavish events.” In high school, his band,
United Straights of America, played rec halls, high school
dances and the county fair. He visited Eugene on a 600-
mile solo bike trip during the 1976 Bikecentennial, then
moved here three years later.
Aside from a mid-’80s tour on bass with Canned Heat,
Jones has worked as an independent contractor with
local bands and events. He started his own band, Spirit
of New Orleans, six years ago. “I work parties, weddings,
wineries, clubs and festivals,” he says. His wife Mari
teaches school in Elmira. Their son Kenny goes to college
in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.
• More than 4 million acres of Oregon’s forests have
been converted into single-species tree plantations,
enviro-justice group Beyond Toxics tells EW. Those
plantations are helicopter sprayed with herbicides
affecting our drinking water, salmon and health. Climate
change means our forests, both public and private
plantations, are more at risk for fire and drought. Tree
plantations lack biodiversity and younger trees don’t
store as much carbon as older, bigger trees, Lisa Arkin
of Beyond Toxics says, despite greenwashing attempts
to say otherwise from the forest industry. Check out the
Oregon Forest Voices website, sponsored by Oregon Wild
and BT, for a new drone video that dives dramatically into
these tree plantations at oregonforestvoices.org.
• #StopOilTrains: 350 Eugene is hosting the “Stop Oil
Trains—Vigil & Procession” at 7:30 pm Wednesday, July
6, starting at Kesey Square on the corner of Broadway
and Willamette, then heading to the Amtrak train depot,
433 Willamette Street, with the event concluding at
9:30 pm. “This event marks the third anniversary of
the Lac-Mégantic oil train explosion in Quebec. Forty-
seven people were killed and 30 buildings burned in the
town’s center. About 1.6 million gallons of oil was spilled,”
according to 350 Eugene. The event also recognizes the
recent oil train derailment and spill of Bakken crude near
the Columbia River in Mosier, Oregon. 350 Eugene says,
“Indeed, oil bomb trains pass through Eugene-Springfield
on a regular basis. Hundreds of residents, businesses
and public institutions, including the University of
Oregon, Hult Center, Sacred Heart Medical Center—
Downtown Campus and selected elementary schools, are
in or very near the blast zone of these trains.” Organizers
say that participants are encouraged to wear red to show
solidarity. For more info, email 350Eugene@gmail.com
or search “Oil Train Vigil and March” on Facebook for the
event page.
• The first meeting of the Vulnerable Populations
Working Group is scheduled for Wednesday, July 6, from
6 to 8 pm at the Hilyard Community Center, 2580 Hilyard
Street. “Recognizing the homelessness crisis and
the unlikeliness that the funding and implementation
required for sufficient publicly funded shelter beds will
come together before the rainy, winter months,” the
Council of South Eugene Neighborhoods, which is
made up of Friendly Area Neighbors, Southwest Hills
Neighborhood Association, Southeast Neighbors and
Amazon Neighbors) set a goal for the group to find 40
safe shelter spots for people experiencing homelessness
by winter within the South Eugene area boundaries.
The meeting will include a training session on the legal,
community supported shelters options that are available
and a talk from Terry McDonald, executive director of
St. Vincent de Paul. Organizers say, “Neighbors are
invited to join us to work towards local, community-
based solutions.”
eugeneweekly.com • June 30, 2016
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