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ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION
Nonprofits talk pesticides, wildlife removal budget cuts and green jobs
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12
A pril 20, 2017 • eugeneweekly.com
V
irtually no protections are in place to safeguard water-
sheds and streams — both sources of drinking water in
Oregon — from being contaminated by herbicides, says
Jason Gonzales of Oregon Wild. This is just one of the
pressing issues that environmental protection bills in Or-
egon’s 2017 Legislative session aim to address.
Other environmental concerns that could come up for vote this
session include the transportation of oil, capping greenhouse gas-
es, cutting the budget for predatory animal control and a bill that
would create infrastructure for green jobs.
Two environmental nonprofits, Oregon Wild and 350 Eugene,
spoke to Eugene Weekly about sustainable legislation that curbs
carbon pollution, protects natural resources and the health of Or-
egonians.
Senate Bill 954 would prohibit aerial spraying in any watershed
that contains a human drinking water source, such as a residence
or school according to Oregon Wild. The bill was referred to the
Senate Committee on Environmental and Natural Resources.
Gonzales says this is a common-sense bill that was previously
introduced as a ballot measure, but was challenged on technical
aspects with regard to the ballot measure’s title by the logging in-
dustry, which held up the issue in court. Although Oregon Wild
won that challenge it was too late to continue with the ballot mea-
sure process.
“Right here in western Lane County we have the community of
Triangle Lake, where residents for years have found some of these
forestry herbicides in their urine even when they are on well water
from their own homes,” Gonzales says of tests that found atrazine
and 2,4-D in residents’ urine samples. “That product is getting into
their water systems as well as their food sources when they are
growing food on their own properties.”
Aerial sprays are extremely unregulated, Gonzales says, adding
that there isn’t a method in place for testing or cleaning up poten-
tially contaminated drinking water sources.
“We are having a lot of trouble even getting state agencies to
acknowledge the problem, and in situations where they’ve bor-
dered on acknowledging the problem, reports have been buried or
changed at the last minute to not reflect that,” Gonzales says.
He says an example of an agency’s backing down took place
when the Environmental Protection Agency began testing and men-
tioned that herbicides were found in the Triangle Lake community
only in earlier versions of their reports. “After challenges from the
timber industry and political pressure being applied, the final ver-
sion of the report didn’t contain that information,” Gonzales says.
Danielle Moser, also with Oregon Wild, says the nonprofit
is also supporting parts of House Bill 5010, which would elimi-
nate $470,140 from the Oregon Department of Wildlife’s use
of Wildlife Services, which is part of the federal Department of
Agriculture. The nonprofit says it considers Wildlife Services a
rogue agency due to its inhumane species killing practices. ODFW
proposed receiving money from Wildlife Services in its biennium
budget, but the governor, according to Moser, rejected it.
“Counties can apply for the use of these state funds to establish
local contracts with Wildlife Services to poison, trap and other-
wise kill predatory animals, and those are usually defined as ro-
dents, rabbits and mostly coyotes,” Moser says.
But the killing methods are broadly defined and so is the scope of
what can be considered a predatory animal. “It’s quite wide-ranging
and whatever is considered a nuisance animal,” Moser says.
A few months ago, the agency was targeting coyotes with an
M44 cyanide device, which resulted in the killing of a wolf desig-
nated as OR-48.
“It just goes to show that Wildlife Services uses techniques that
really affect also non-target animals. They’ve been known to kill
dogs and they poisoned a child in Idaho recently,” she says. In
March, a press release on the Idaho incident from Brooks Fahy of
Predator Defense stated that a boy who handled a “cyanide bomb”
was hospitalized and his dog died. A public hearing on the bill is
slated for April 19.
On the climate change front, HB 2135 would protect Oregon by
addressing greenhouse gas emissions and would also aid in green
job creation, says Linda Kelly with 350 Eugene.
“It puts a cap on greenhouse pollution that would affect only
the largest polluters in the state. It would not affect medium and
small businesses,” she says. This type of legislation, called cap-
and-trade, would also help Oregon’s economy by bringing in sus-
tainable jobs. “This starts moving the whole economy away from
fossil fuels and starts making alternative energy more viable, and
it’s safer for the health of people,” she says.
HB 2135 has provisions that address industries “including agri-
culture, forestry, commercial fishing, recreation and tourism” that
will be affected by climate change, ensuring that these jobs don’t
leave the state, she says. On April 17 a work session was held sug-
gesting the bill be passed but with amendments.
Kelly says California has a similar cap-and-trade policy, and in
a new report, $500 million in climate investments has helped suc-
cessfully funded projects in disadvantaged communities.
350 Eugene also supports protecting Oregon from climate
change inducing fossil fuel industries via HB 3344, which would
prohibit “funding new bulk coal or oil terminals.” Public testimo-
ny on the bill was heard March 13, but currently there are no com-
mittee meetings or floor sessions scheduled.
Kelly says the terminal bill is “making it really hard to get any
more oil terminals in Oregon.”
She adds the nonprofit also supports SB 958, which would re-
quire a balance test for crude oil transportation “that would look at
what are the dangers versus possible benefits,” she says. A public
hearing on the bill was held on April 13.
Kelly adds, “These are things that will insist upon more safety
and raise the bar,” to prevent potential environmental disasters.