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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 18, 2016)
7A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2016 Timber: ‘It’s a complicated issue involving federal agencies’ Continued from Page 1A waterways and federally pro- tected species, he said. Determining how much timber could have been gen- erated from each parcel would devolve into 183 mini-trials, he said. “How can we decide if rev- enue has been maximized on a particular parcel unless you consider all of those issues?” Kaplan said. Linn County is also an inadequate representative of the other counties for multiple reasons, he said. The litigation costs are cur- rently being paid for by timber groups and lumber companies — Oregon Forest & Industries Council, Sustainable Forests Fund, Stimson Lumber and Hampton Tree Farms. Linn County is simply lending its name to a lawsuit that actually represents private interests, according to Ore- gon’s attorneys. “It’s not a public interest case. It’s a case to beneit one particular group,” said Kaplan. Unlike the counties, which appreciate tourism and other beneits from uses besides log- ging, the timber interests fund- ing the lawsuit primarily want to change the state’s “greatest permanent value” rules for for- est management to emphasize harvesting, he said. Much of the alleged dam- ages are for lost future timber revenues, which may force the state to change its logging pol- icies, he said. “That would directly chal- lenge the interests of the other counties,” Kaplan said. Chris McCracken attorney for Linn County Lack of ‘commonality’ The case also doesn’t qual- ify as a class action because of the lack of “commonality” among the counties, which donated land to Oregon during different times and under spe- ciic terms, he said. The presence of threatened and endangered species, which constrain logging, varies widely by county and affects the dam- ages calculation, he said. “It’s a complicated issue involving federal agencies,” Kaplan said. Lead: Most of the districts have either completed or are in the process of testing Continued from Page 1A supplying bottled water, miti- gation and testing individuals who might have been exposed to high levels of lead, accord- ing to the Oregon School Boards Association. Portland Public Schools estimates that taking those steps will cost that district an estimated $7 million, said Joe Crelier, the district’s director of risk management. The cost of just testing lead in water for drinking and food preparation is estimated to cost $10,000 for a small district and about $1 million for a large district, according to district representatives who attended a July meeting on the proposed rules. Legislative leadership has asked the Emergency Board to allocate money in September to pay for costs of testing but not mitigation, Nazarov of the Department of Education said. The Legislative Fiscal Ofice is working on a proposal to present to the Emergency Board in September, accord- ing to school advocates. Leg- islative Fiscal Oficer Ken Rocco was not immediately available Wednesday to pro- vide that number. Governor’s directive Gov. Brown in April directed the Department of Education and Oregon Health Authority to review exist- ing requirements for environ- mental testing and address the problem of lead in drink- ing water. During the review, health and education oficials learned that neither the educa- tion department nor the health authority had rules to require schools test for lead. The health authority has the power to require test- ing of public water systems, but schools are excluded from the agency’s jurisdic- tion. The proposed rule would require school districts, char- ter schools and education ser- vices districts to conduct lead and radon testing and to sub- mit an environmental moni- toring plan to the Department of Education for keeping water, air and physical spaces safe for students and staff. The health author- ity already had authority to treats them according to regional forest plans, he said. Deciding the counties’ con- tractual rights collectively is more eficient than trying sep- arate cases with potentially conlicting verdicts, he said. McCracken also disputed that the lawsuit’s funding mechanism should disqualify it as a class action. ‘... This lawsuit is not seeking to change the management of the forests.’ require schools to test for radon, but the new rule will provide comprehensive guid- ance to schools on all of the testing required. Schools will be required to report their test results to the education department and to the com- munity annually. The agencies asked schools to test for lead during the summer. Most of the dis- tricts have either completed or are in the process of testing, Nazarov said. The agencies recommended that schools identify sources of lead, stop access, communicate results to staff, students, parents and the community and mitigate and repair the problem. A survey of 104 schools ear- lier this month by the School Boards Association found that 88 percent of respondents were in the process of testing drinking water for lead. Most of the other 12 percent had either already tested water or had a plan in place to do so after classes resume in the fall. The Capital Bureau is a collaboration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. FAMILY OWNED & OPERATED Chris McCracken, an attor- ney for Linn County, rejected the argument that there’s a lack of commonality among the counties. They all face the same issues, such as whether the state has violated its contract to maximize timber revenues, he said. “We have common ques- tions in droves,” McCracken said. The Oregon Department of Forestry does not manage each parcel individually but instead ‘No disabling conlicts’ The Davis Wright Tremaine law irm would be entitled to 15 percent of any inancial award in the case. Contingency fees aren’t unusual in class action law- suits, particularly since the counties are strapped for cash and could not afford such litigation on their own, McCracken said. “There are no disabling con- OREGON CAPITAL INSIDER licts between Linn County and the class members,” he said. It’s irrelevant whether some counties prefer the for- ests to be managed for ecolog- ical or recreational beneits, McCracken said. The lawsuit’s outcome won’t affect these priorities, he said. “All that is sought here is money damages,” he said. “This lawsuit is not seeking to change the management of the forests.” Linn County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Murphy said he would issue a ruling by Sept. 19 on the class certiication issue as well as the state’s motions to dismiss. The Capital Bureau is a collaboration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. We’re investing in Salem coverage when other news organizations are cutting back. Get the inside scoop on state government and politics! 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