BY AMY SCHNEIDER
• There will be a peaceful “Rally for Black Lives” 5 pm
Thursday, July 21, in front of Lane County Correctional
Facilities at 101 W. 5th Avenue in Eugene, Community
Alliance of Lane County tells EW. The rally is followed by a
march to Kesey Square. Springfield-Eugene Showing Up
for Racial Justice (SURJ) and CALC are responding to a
national call to action by the Movement for Black Lives,
and they ask “the community to join them to end white
silence and call for an end to police violence directed at
black people in our country.” Wear black and bring signs.
For more info email calcb2b@gmail.com.
• We hear from the folks at Community Alliance for
Lane County (CALC) that their office has been
vandalized. With its involvement in everything from
supporting Black Lives Matter to aiding the local Asian
businesses that were recently vandalized, CALC writes,
“We shouldn’t be surprised that CALC’s involvement has
drawn the attention of the haters.” Not surprised, but we
are disappointed at the hate that bubbles up in our
community. CALC says the group was targeted with
“three disturbing incidents of hate graffiti” containing
“some extremely racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic
words and images.” To support CALC and help fight hate,
you can donate online at calclane.org or mail to 458 Blair
Boulevard.
• Let Us Eat Cake! A People’s Rally and Celebration
in Solidarity with Bernie Sanders will celebrate “all the
good things Bernie stands for and that we have
accomplished this year with music, speakers,
entertainment and cake,” organizer Ellen Furstner tells
EW. She says, “The day before the start of the Democratic
Convention we will join over 100 cities in the U.S. and
around the world to demonstrate our unwavering support
and appreciation for Bernie Sanders and to get ready for
the next stage in the political revolution.” The Eugene rally
will have a donation drive for Occupy Medical and a talk
by OM director Sue Sierralupe. The rally is 11 am to 1 pm
Sunday, July 24, at the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza,
8th and Oak. Please bring donations for Occupy such as
socks and underwear, bathroom items, vitamins and
ibuprofen, or money. Contact Furstner at 541-933-2246
for more info.
• Womenspace’s Safehouse will be closed from July
25 to Aug. 8 for annual maintenance and cleaning.
Womenspace could use donations from the community
including: carpet cleaning, vent cleaning, painting,
janitorial and general maintenance and repair.
Womenspace’s mission is preventing “domestic violence
in intimate partner relationships in Lane County and
support survivors in claiming personal power.” The Crisis
Line is available 24/7 at 541-485-6513 or 800-281-
2800. For more information, contact Teresa Aslin, acting
executive director, 541-485-8232.
• NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Lane
County is hosting a panel on what you need to know for
crisis intervention 6:30 to 8:30 pm Wednesday, July 27,
at Lane County Behavioral Health Services, Rm. 198,
2411 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. To learn about what to do
if your loved one is in crisis, come hear from the Eugene
police, White Bird Clinic, PeaceHealth and Hourglass
Community Crisis Center. Call NAMI at 541-343-7688.
8
July 21, 2016 • eugeneweekly.com
LANE COUNTY
CHILDCARE
CENTERS NOT
REQUIRED TO TEST
DRINKING WATER
FOR LEAD
T
oxins are everywhere. In Portland, the discovery
and subsequent cover-up of high levels of lead in
the drinking water of public schools led to Portland
Superintendent Carole Smith’s resignation July 18.
Here in Lane County, school districts are in the
midst of testing drinking fountains and faucets for elevated
levels of lead.
But for daycare centers and buildings where young chil-
dren gather to learn, testing water for lead isn’t a sure thing.
School districts in Oregon aren’t mandated to test for
lead in drinking water, but many have chosen to pay for
testing out of their general funds, including Eugene 4J,
Springfield, Bethel, Creswell and North Douglas school
districts. The districts have committed to find and repair any
locations where lead is leaching into the water.
In April, the state of Massachusetts set aside $2 million
to test public school drinking water across the state, accord-
ing to The Boston Globe. No such money has been set aside
in Oregon as of yet.
Daycare centers aren’t mandated to test, and any testing
would come out of their own pockets. On June 8, the Or-
egon Health Authority (OHA) and the Oregon Department
of Education released recommendations “to help school
districts and childcare centers reduce lead in drinking wa-
ter.” The recommendations say that all childcare programs
should test their drinking water for lead this summer and fix
all detected problems.
Young children and babies are more vulnerable to the
health effects of lead than older children or adults, and even
small amounts of exposure can cause learning disabilities,
impaired hearing and other symptoms, according to the En-
vironmental Protection Agency.
“Most childcare centers are private, and we have a lot
of registered home facilities as well, so we can’t mandate
them to test their water for lead,” says Karol Collymore, a
spokesperson for the Oregon Early Learning Division. “We
are arming our childcare licensers with information on how
they can do that. We know that our caregivers want their
kids to be safe, and we know just because we’re not allowed
to mandate it doesn’t mean they don’t want to do it.”
Judy Newman, co-director of Early Childhood CARES,
says as Preschool Promise — a new publicly funded pre-
school program — is implemented in Lane County, new
classrooms will be tested for lead before opening in the fall.
Charleen Strauch, operations director for Head Start of
Lane County, says that because Head Start is a federal pro-
gram, they follow strict mandates that require testing each
facility to ensure children are safe. Head Start drinking wa-
ter was tested five months ago, Strauch says.
In some Head Start locations, fountains and sinks are
disabled, and children drink from water coolers. Strauch
says she hopes to install new, hands-free water bottle sta-
tions at Head Start locations by September.
For privately owned daycare centers, lead testing is up to
the discretion of the owners. Last month, the Early Learn-
ing Division sent a flier to local childcare centers with tips
on how to deal with lead in drinking water, recommending
that all early learning environments should test for lead and
use an OHA-accredited drinking water laboratory. Any taps
with water showing lead levels of more than 15 parts per
billion should be shut off, the flier says.
Collymore with the Early Learning Division says par-
ents should talk to their childcare providers to find out if
they are testing for lead. “They can express their concern
and support them as they try to navigate this lead testing
situation,” she says, adding that the Early Learning Divi-
sion is a resource for guidance.
Visit the Oregon Health Authority website for more in-
formation.