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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 16, 1998)
September 16, 1998 C ommitted to cultural diversity, http? www.portlandobserver.net Volume X X V II, Number 89 World Renowned' New York Style' Dr. Jane Goodall to appear with Afrikan American Ballet Engage in poetry reading and book signing, with Susan Wheeler! See page B6 See page BI BULK RATE U.S. POSTAGE PAID PORTLAND, OR PERMIT NO. 1610 See Popeye's Coupon's Inside! University of Oregon Knight Library Newspaper Section Eugene OR 97403 ^orttani» O w u f r T U B WEEK One Billion Pounds of Toxic Chemicals Dumped Into America’s Waters IIIE iw REVIEW The Clinton Affair M embers o f Congress are deciding whether to begin a presidential im peach m ent process. The H ouse voted to re lease to the public K enneth S tarr’s re port that accuses President C linton o f perjury and obstruction o f ju stice in the M onica Lew insky affair. Independent C ounsel, K enneth Starr subm itted 36 boxes o f im peachm ent m aterial to be reviewed by Republican and Democratic leaders. The investigation o f C lin to n ’s affair w ill cost taxpayers $4.4 m illion. Í t r Prime Minister Primakov Y evgeny Prim akov was approved as R ussia’s new prim e m inister. Russian P re sid e n t B o ris Y e ltsin n o m in a te d Primakov after his nom ination o f V iktor Chernom yrdin was rejected tw ice by the Russian Parliam ent. Prim akov, 68 was a foreign policy expert that served well as a special advisor on foreign policy is sues w ith M ikhail G orbachev. gw -V f, Keiko In Iceland Keiko, H ollyw ood’s k iller w hale had arrived in Iceland to a warm w elcom e from Icelanders. K eiko was transferred from N ew port, O regon to the rem ote W estm an Islands o ff Iceland’s south coast on a U.S. A ir Force C-17. The whale was captured in Icelandic w aters in 1979 and has spent tw o o f his 20 years in captivity. Puerto Rico Puerto R ico ’s governor is calling for an election this w inter so that citizens can vote on w hether their U.S. com m on w ealth should becom e A m erica’s 51st state. The U nited States has considered Puerto Rico a U.S. possession for 100 years now and has recognized Puerto Ricans as A m erican citizens. New Arthritis Drug A new drug that treats rheum atoid arthritis, called A rava, had ju st been approved by the Food and Drug A dm in istration. The drug was effective in many clinical cases for providing re lie f from sym ptom s and also slow s the d isease’s progression. FDA w arns o f the side ef fects like birth defects and liver dam age from using the drug. Columbia River Willamette River Receives 17th Highest I Amount o f Direct Pollution o f all U.S. Wa- ters: Columbia River Ranks 1st for Cancer | Causing Chemicals. According to a report released today by I OSPIRG, industries reported discharging | nearly one billion pounds o f toxic chemicals ¡into America’s waterways between 1992 and 1996. The report, “Troubled W aters” | found that industries discharged an addi- Itional 141 million pounds into sewer sys- I I terns over the same period o f time. Oregon ranks 23rd in the nation for toxic I chemicals discharged into waterways. Pol- I luters discharged 4,776,513 pounds oftoxic I chemicals into Oregon’s Willamette River, | the largest quantity o f any river in the state. I The Columbia River received more cancer I causing chemicals through direct discharges | than any other water body in the country. “Troubled Waters” illustrates that polluters | continue to use America’s waterways as | dumping grounds for toxic chemicals, said I Tieman Sittenfeld, OSPIRG Field Director. “Many o f the chemicals being discharged | into our rivers and streams are known to Hood River Casino The C onfederated Tribes o f the Warm Springs are considering the possibility o f building a large casino in the Hood River area. O ne site being considered is about two m iles east o f Hood River adjacent to the H istoric C olum bia River Highway. New negotiations over the casino w ould be required betw een the Confederated Tribes o f W arm Springs and the State o f Oregon. Zoo Renovation The G reat N orthw est E xhibit at the W ashington Park Zoo is near com ple tion. It will feature C ascade m ountain goats, tide pool creatures and other ani mals native to the Pacific N orthw est. A new entrance to the zoo is also being built that is closer to the w estside light rail that ju st began operating. • I .2:. X *,» ■ •4 < 4, a -.rt discharges, prevent polluted run-off, and ensure strict compliance with the law. “While the polluters continue to dump millions o f pound o f toxic chemicals into our waterways, the Congress is working to attach dozens o f anti-environmental provi sions to must-pass spending bills. Instead o f working to weaken our environmental laws, we urge Congress to listen to the public’s demands for clean water and the right to know about toxic chemical use and pollution,” said Sittenfeld. “We want to thank Representatives Blumenauer, Defazio, Furse, and Hooley for supporting H.R. 1636 and urge Repre sentative Smith to do the same. We further call on Senators Smith and Wyden to sup port S.769. Both bills would fill in many important Right to Know reporting gaps. President Clinton should also use all exist ing legal authorities to continue to expand the public’s right to know,” said Sittenfeld. OSPIRG is a non-profit, non-partisan environmental and consumer watch dog organization with 25,000 members through out the state. 260,000 People Celebrate Tri-Met s New Westside Max Light Rail Westside Light Rail The new W estside light rail had ju st opened up to the public. People packed the trains which ran from G resham on the east side to H illsboro on the west side. Tri-M et and MAX lines w ere free for the w eekend’s opening festivities. It was estim ated that 100,000 people at tended the special light rail events. Without more complete information on the use and release o f toxic chemicals, the public is left in the dark, and we cannot protect ourselves,” said Don Francis, Co- Director o f the Willamette River Keeper. OSPIRG recommends the following ac tions to expand Right to Know as a first step toward reducing toxic pollution to our water ways: ljRight to Know should be expanded to include information on how toxic chemicals are used in the workplace, transported through communities, and contained in consumer products. 2) Reporting thresholds should be set at zero for highly toxic substances such as lead, dioxin, and mercury, to ensure reporting on the use and release o f any quantity o f these substances. 3) All significant sources o f toxic pollu tion should report to the Toxics Release Inventory, including sewage treatment plants, medical and solid waste incinerators, and the oil and gas industry. 4) The Clean Water Act should be strength ened to require polluters to eliminate toxic cause cancer, birth defects, reproductive dis orders and other serious health effects. OSPIRG analyzed toxic chemical releases to maj or waterways, as reported by industries to the Community Right to Know Act’s Toxics Release Inventory. The Toxics Release In ventory data accounts for only a small per centage o f toxic chemical pollution released into the environment. Due to loopholes in the law, major sources o f toxic pollution are shielded from the pub lic view, including data on some o f the most hazardous substances known to science, such as dioxins, lead, and mercury. “Troubled Waters” concludes that an esti mate o f toxic chemical dumping in our water ways over the last five years may be many times greater than Toxics Release Inventory reports. “Millions o f Americans rely on our water ways for drinking water sources and swim ming and fishing destinations. We have the right to clean, toxic-free lakes, rivers, and streams, and we have the right to know when polluters discharge toxic chemicals into our waterways. The 18-mile line helps relieve traffic congestion, keeps air clean & adds an other segm ent to the light rail system O ver the w eekend, 260,000 Portland area residents celebrated the opening o f T ri-M et’s W estside MAX Light Rail line, which travels from downtown Port land, through Beaverton to downtown Hillsboro. A round 160,000 people rode the new 18-mile MAX line, follow ing a dedication featuring V ice President A1 G o re , S e c re ta ry o f T ra n sp o rta tio n R o d n e y S la te r , G o v e rn o r Jo h n Kitzhaber, members o f O regon’s Con gressional delegation and other local dignitaries. R iders hopped aboard trains and checked out the 20 new stations along the line - highlights included the three- mile tunnels and the W ashington Park station, situated 260-feet below the sur face. Crews bored through 16 million year old rock to create the tunnel and station. Core sam ples o f the rock stretch along the station platform s, along with a tim eline o f historical events. Community celebrations in Hillsboro, ¿ X ''. Beaverton, W ashington Park and Pioneer Courthouse Square offered food, music and fun for all ages. O ther celebrations occurred at additional MAX stations, in cluding Orenco. Quatam a, M illikan Way, Tuality Hospital and a commuter-rail dem- ...A « S onstration at Beaverton Creek. R epresen tatives o f the Oregon Zoo said they had three times the usual Saturday attendance - with tw o-thirds o f the visitors arriving on M A X ."This trem endous response dem on strates what a special community we have,’ TO *v ä 5' - said Tri-M et G eneral M anager Tom W alsh. “O ur citizens believe that light rail - completed on time and within bud get - is part o f the solution to traffic congestion, and helps keep our air clean. W e’re building a system, asked for by our citizens. The W estside is an im por tant addition.” Tri-M et expanded transit by 46% in the W estside corridor, which includes light rail and new and improved bus service. The com m unity helped design the bus service, and based on em ployer input, MAX trains and new em ployer bus shuttles will run earlier to m eet m a jor shift times. MAX will run about 22 hours a day along the entire 33-m ile line. Ridership is projected to increase to 50,000 average weekday boardings by the end o f the first year o f operation Light Rail has also been a catalyst for transit-oriented developm ent. N early 7,000 housing units are underw ay and $500 million invested along the W estside alignment. This com plem ents the $1.9 b illio n in v ested alo n g the e x istin g Eastside MAX line. - 1
