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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 2019)
A3 THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2019 Researchers study microplastics in Pacifi c Northwest marine mammals Public unions abandon Oregon Democrats over pension reform By TOM BANSE Northwest News Network By TED SICKINGER The Oregonian It was a dark and slippery early morning on the Ore- gon Coast when researchers scrambled down the rocky shore in the small town of Yachats. They kept one eye on the crashing waves while scanning for two species of Pacifi c Northwest sea life that are now being checked for microplastics — fi bers and fragments less than 5 millimeters long. A very low tide on Saturday accounted for the pre-dawn alarm to collect mussels and whelks that prey on the mussels. “Mussels are fi lter feed- ers,” said Andrew Williams, a student on the Oregon State University research team. “They’ll eat whatever is coming by in the water. That includes microplastics.” The mussel bed where Williams collected samples looked healthy. But most of the bivalves he has analyzed so far have ingested some plastic. “We can use these as basi- cally health indicators for our coastal systems,” Williams said. Williams’ project is among many investigations underway of microplastics in Pacifi c Northwest waters. This has become a hot topic for local scientists, for simi- lar reasons city and state pol- icymakers and activists are debating plastic bag bans and how to reduce plastic straw and bottled water usage. All are concerned that the world’s oceans are awash in plastic trash and fi bers. Scientists from Oregon, Washington state and British Columbia are scrutinizing the marine food chain from top to bottom, from zoo- plankton to killer whales. Sea otters, river otters, oysters, various clams, rockfi sh and young salmon are also being analyzed for microplastics. Oregon State master’s Two of Oregon’s larg- est public employee unions are drawing the line when it comes to Ore- gon’s public pension sys- tem, saying they won’t endorse, campaign for or donate to candidates who supported a reform bill that was signed into law in June. The board of the Amer- ican Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees voted unan- imously last weekend to disqualify Oregon legis- lators who voted for Sen- ate Bill 1049 from the union’s 2020 endorsement process. The Oregon AFL-CIO passed similar resolution at a meeting in September. Senate Bill 1049 made a variety of tweaks to rein in rapidly escalating costs of the Public Employees Retirement System. The most signifi cant was to extend repayment of the system’s $26 billion defi - cit for eight years. That move accounted for about three quarters of the $1.2 billion to $1.8 billion in savings the legislation is expected to generate per two-year budget cycle beginning with the 2021- 23 biennium. That’s not great for PERS members, as the fi nancial strategy further erodes funding for the pension system they rely on. But that’s not what attracted the unions’ ire. The cause of the show- down was the bill’s con- troversial employee cost-sharing provisions, which redirect a portion of the retirement contribu- tions employees currently make to a supplemental 401(k)-like savings plan. Instead, some of those contributions — 2.5% of pay for employees hired Photos by Tom Banse/Northwest News Network Oregon State University researchers Andrew Williams, from left, Katherine Lasdin and Susanne Brander collected mussels and whelks in Yachats. Microplastic fi bers, like this one from an Oregon river, are less than 5mm and often show up in vivid color under the microscope. student Katherine Lasdin and her advisor suited up like surgeons on Saturday before tackling the messy, pungent task of slicing the gastroin- testinal tract out of a donated rockfi sh at the Port of New- port. They have convinced a charter fi shing company and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to donate rockfi sh carcasses that would be otherwise discarded. “It’s incredible that we have so many different spe- cies being worked on,” said Lasdin. “One of the unique things is that the ocean is not just one thing. You have to look at different species because intertidal organisms could feed other species that could eventually feed a fi sh or a whale. So it’s all linked together.” Researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmo- spheric Administration work- ing on the critically-endan- gered killer whales and an Oregon State team looking at otters rely on poop sam- ples to study their subjects. Marine mammal poop is dif- fi cult to discern and collect in the wild. The otter project has evolved to include some samples from wild critters scooped up from haul outs on land as well as samples from captive sea and river otters at the Seattle Aquarium. Many samples funnel through a lab on the OSU Corvallis campus supervised by toxicologist Susanne Brander. There the fi sh and bivalve tissues get dissolved in a solution similar to lye. Among the leftovers are bits of suspected plastics. These are usually so microscopic it’s challenging to prove a fragment used to be a plas- tic straw or a grocery bag. Brander actually expects the most common fi nds to be fi bers from synthetic ropes, nets and especially clothing. “If you wash your fl eece or your nylon jacket, there are small amounts of fi bers that come off each time you wash it,” Brander explained. “A lot of that is getting out into freshwater, into the ocean and then that is easily accumulated by animals.” before Aug. 28, 2003, and 0.75% for employees hired after — would go into an account that would support pension benefi ts. In effect, that will reduce the ending balances in employees’ supplemental retirement accounts, trim- ming a 30-year employ- ee’s overall retirement bene- fi ts by 1% to 2% of pay. The contributions won’t apply to employees making less than $30,000 a year, and the redi- rection would cease if the pension system’s funded sta- tus reaches at least 90% . The bill also placed a new $195,000 limit on the sal- ary that can be used in PERS retirement formulas, though that’s not expected to impact many employees initially, and the limit is indexed for infl ation. For employees, the legisla- tion was among the less oner- ous proposals on the table. But unions called the benefi t cuts unfair, unbalanced and a breach of trust with employ- ees who they say are already underpaid. Union leaders vowed to get the money back for members at the bargain- ing table. And there’s already some evidence they’ve been successful at that, includ- ing a new contract for state workers that will provide pay increases of up to 15% during the next two years. In the meantime, the PERS Coalition of public employees has already fi led a lawsuit to overturn the changes, which it calls an unconstitutional breach of the state’s contract with employees. Now unions are looking to step up the pressure even further. Both AFSCME and the AFL-CIO are signifi cant players in Oregon elections through endorsements, their members’ campaign work on behalf of candidates and their campaign contributions. In 2018, AFSCME made more than $1.6 million in cash and in-kind contributions, primar- ily to support Democratic candidates and causes across the state. The AFL-CIO made more than $700,000 in cash and in-kind contributions during the same period. AFSCME, which rep- resents more than 26,000 pub- lic sector employees in Ore- gon, also said this week that it will not contribute to leader- ship political action commit- tees, which in turn, fund indi- vidual candidates. “Legislators that voted for SB 1049 devalued the work we do on behalf of the people of Oregon,” said Jeff Klatke, president of the union in Ore- gon. “Legislators that voted ‘yes’ turned around and told our members they were paid too much and the work they do is worthless. AFSCME members support those elected offi cials that support them and the work that they do.” The AFL-CIO’s leaders expressed similar sentiments this summer. “It’s clear to me that the Democratic supermajori- ties and the governor thought that workers would con- tinue to support those who attacked their retirement and then failed to pass other key pro-worker priorities,” said AFL-CIO President Graham Trainor at the time. “Work- ers aren’t stupid, they know when a boss is taking their paycheck and they know which lawmakers stand with them … It’s going to take a stronger commitment for those elected leaders to gain the Oregon labor movement’s trust back.” RENTAL HOMEOWNERS EDUCATION OCTOBER 19TH, 2019 SEE CCROA AD IN THURSDAY PAPER OPEN HOUSE S UNDAY , O CTOBER 6 12:00 - 2:00 PM The 37th Annual Clatsop Distributing Budweiser Invitational Golf Tournament was held September 4th, 2019 at Astoria Golf and Country Club. One hundred players played and the winners of the tournament are the following. Gross - Christian Thorne score of 69 James Folk score of 69 Joe Schulte score of 69 Net winner- Fa’alaeo Poyer 64 The tournament contributes to youth athletics in Clatsop and Pacific County. The total money raised was $6000.00. Special thanks to Hayward Ocean Crest Chevrolet and Lewis & Clark Bank for sponsoring the Hole in One. Special thanks to John Kawasoe, Jared Klope and the staff at the Astoria Golf and County Club. CL AT S O OP P D ISTIBUTIN C O. G LOCALLY OWNED LARRY PERKINS RON & KIM WILLIAMS 1375 SE 12th Place, Warrenton, OR 97146 503-861-4275 Don’t miss this extraordinary opportunity to acquire one of Astoria’s finest and most coveted homes. Situated high above Astoria’s historic downtown on a private and beautifully landscaped .80 acre lot at the entrance to the Astoria Column Road, this 1925 era estate overlooks the mighty Columbia River, Washington coastline and Astoria-Megler Bridge. 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