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NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
Saturday, February 25, 2017
Groups skeptical of science panel proposal Lawsuit seeks to
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Bureau
SALEM — A bill before
Oregon lawmakers has raised
a philosophical question: Is it
possible to achieve an unbiased
scientific opinion?
Or more precisely, is a polit-
ically appointed scientific panel
capable of reaching such an
impartial truth?
Legislators recently pondered
this problem while deliberating
Senate Bill 198, which would
create an Independent Science
Review Board to ponder some of
the thornier controversies facing
state regulators.
Oregon’s farmers and ranchers
are no strangers to science-related
disputes over wolves, pesticides
and genetically engineered crops,
among others.
Natural resources groups, while
commending SB 198’s noble aim,
are nonetheless skeptical of how
the review process would play out
in reality.
State agencies that make
“high impact” decisions affecting
natural resource industries are
already overseen by boards and
commissions, said Mike Freese,
vice president of Associated
Oregon Industries, who testified
at a Feb. 22 hearing before the
Senate Environment and Natural
Resources Committee.
“Simply having the same
debate in front of a new board
doesn’t make a lot of sense to
me,” said Freese, who testified on
Capital Bureau file photo
Proposed legislation would create Independent Science Review
Board to study controversial issues. Natural resources groups,
while commending SB 198’s noble aim, are nonetheless skepti-
cal of how the review process would play out in reality.
behalf of AOI and other groups,
including the Oregon Farm
Bureau, Oregon Forest Industries
Council and Oregon Dairy
Farmers Association.
Under SB 198, the Indepen-
dent Scientific Review Board
would be appointed by Oregon’s
governor, just like the commis-
sions overseeing state agencies.
The governor would also hire an
administrator for an Oregon State
University “secretariat” to assist
the board with its work.
The current version of the
legislation doesn’t adequately
ensure the Independent Science
Review Board would be free of
political influence, Freese said.
As a result, the new panel
would become another venue for
advocacy groups to seek a stamp
of approval for their policy posi-
tions in “age-old debates,” he said.
Natural resources industries are
concerned about perceived biases
not only in panel’s conclusions,
but also in the type of questions
that it decides to pursue, Freese
said.
Sen. Alan Olsen, R-Canby, said
he hopes the Independent Science
Review Board would provide
clear, transparent information to
help lawmakers make decisions
involving multiple agencies or
scientific disciplines.
Lawmakers would ideally
present scientific questions for the
panel a year before the pertinent
legislation is introduced, he said.
It’s currently difficult for legis-
lators to decide whose experts
to listen to, said Sen. Herman
Baertschiger, R-Grants Pass.
Sen. Arnie Roblan, D-Coos
Bay, said he’s “seen belief trump
science repeatedly” in the Legis-
lature and noted that advocates
often bring in their own scientists
to discount opposing views.
The current language of SB
198 has raised some concerns
among task force members who
recommended the Independent
Science Review Board’s creation.
While the task force generally
supports the bill, the administrator
overseeing the panel’s “secretariat”
would be more insulated from
political influence if appointed
directly by panel members, rather
than the governor, said Dan Edge,
associate dean of OSU’s College
of Agricultural Science.
The task force is also troubled
by the possibility that SB 198
would allow the Independent
Science Review Board to be
funded with grants and donations,
said Edge.
It’d be preferable for the
panel’s money to come from the
state general fund, to avoid the
perception that large donors can
steer the review process, he said.
“We’re very concerned we
might end up in a ‘pay to play’
situation,” Edge said.
Judge: Reporter won’t have to testify at refuge trial
PORTLAND (AP) — A
former Oregon Public Broad-
casting reporter won’t have to
testify at the ongoing conspiracy
trial of four men who joined
Ammon and Ryan Bundy at last
winter’s armed occupation of a
national wildlife refuge, a federal
judge ruled Friday.
Asserting journalist’s privi-
lege, Oregon Public Broadcasting
and reporter John Sepulvado
fought a government subpoena to
testify about whether his January
2016 story about occupation
leader Ryan Bundy was authentic
and accurately depicted Bundy’s
point of view. U.S. Attorney
General Jeff Sessions approved
the subpoena shortly after his
confirmation.
Defense lawyers contend
Bundy’s statements to Sepulvado
shouldn’t be admitted as evidence
because it’s unknown what
questions were asked and what
responses were omitted during
the editing process.
Defense
attorney
Jesse
Merrithew told the judge at a
Friday afternoon hearing that
the reporter described the men
as thugs and terrorists in public
Twitter posts, and expressed
disappointment that the Bundy
brothers were acquitted in a trial
last fall. “This is a person who
doesn’t make any qualms about
his bias against these men,”
Merrithew said.
U.S. District Judge Anna
Brown said it would be impos-
sible to question Sepulvado about
the accuracy of his story without
getting into his editorial process.
She granted Oregon Public
Broadcasting’s motion to quash
the subpoena.
The judge, however, has yet
to decide whether the radio story
can be admitted as evidence.
Brown could allow jurors to
hear it without authentication.
She and an attorney for Oregon
Public Broadcasting also raised
the possibility that Ryan Bundy
could testify about its authenticity
and whether the reporter fairly
depicted his position.
The four defendants are
charged with conspiracy to
impede federal employees from
doing their jobs at the wildlife
refuge through the use of force,
threats or intimidation.
Defense lawyers both trials
contend the occupation was
a mostly spontaneous protest
against the federal control of
Western lands and the imprison-
ment of two ranchers convicted of
setting fires on public rangeland.
They say there was no conspiracy
to impede workers.
In the interview with Sepul-
vado, shortly after the takeover,
Ryan Bundy said many ranchers
lost their land to make way for
the refuge, and he blamed the
refuge for the charges that put the
ranchers in prison.
He said the tyranny is “being
facilitated from this office. So by
being here, it puts a stop to that.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Geof-
frey Barrow told the judge that
Bundy’s statement goes directly
to the point of the case — that
the men wanted to thwart federal
workers. “There is no piece of
evidence in this case that is more
relevant,” he said.
keep Columbia,
Snake rivers
cold for salmon
By JES BURNS
OPB/EarthFix
A lawsuit filed Thursday by salmon
advocates aims to reverse a trend of high
summer water temperatures on the Snake
and Columbia rivers.
The groups are asking the U.S. District
Court in Seattle to compel the Environ-
mental Protection Agency to issue a warm
water pollution standard for the rivers.
The standard, called the “Total Maximum
Daily Load” (TMDL), sets limits on how
high the water temperature can rise and
still meet water quality requirements.
The EPA released a draft plan in 2003,
but it was never finalized.
Salmon need cool water to complete
their life cycles. Sustained water tempera-
tures over about 70 degrees can hurt their
chances of reproducing and surviving.
In 2015, drought and high temperatures
in the Columbia River basin caused the
premature death of an estimated 250,000
spawning sockeye salmon. This was
a wake-up call for environmental and
fishing groups, says Kevin Lewis of Idaho
Rivers United.
“It took us realizing that rising
temperatures in the Snake and Columbia
River were not going to be an occasional
event,” he said. “It was going to be a, more
often than not, standard – basically due to
climate change.”
Idaho Rivers United is one of five plain-
tiffs in the new lawsuit. The others are the
Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s
Organizations, Snake River Waterkeeper,
The Institute for Fisheries Resources and
Columbia Riverkeeper.
In addition to climate change, the
groups point to dams throughout the basin
as a factor promoting high river tempera-
tures.
“We have a problem with hot water
on the Columbia River and the dams
contribute to that,” says Brett Vanden-
Heuvel of Coloumbia Riverkeeper. “The
fact that climate change is causing the heat
problem to get worse faster, means that
we need to take action, take some swift
action.”
If the lawsuit is successful, new TDML
standards for temperature could bolster the
case for dam removal on the Snake River.
But the idea of dam removal is contro-
versial, and opponents say it would take
a toll on the economy of the region. Dam
removal is strongly opposed by farmers,
ports, utilities, and others who point to
benefits for the region from low-cost
hydroelectricity and dam-created reser-
voirs that make the rivers navigable for
shipping vessels.
Grocery Outlet - Pendleton, OR
2016 Commercial
Recycler of the Year
At the end of each year the employees of Pendleton Sanitary Service, Inc. (PSSI) nominate several commercial businesses or institutions for the Com-
mercial Recycler of the Year award. Th e winning recipient is determined by a vote of PSSI employees, as they are the individuals who deal directly with
the recycled materials, and are impacted by the quality of those materials. Th is award is given to a commercial recycler that does an outstanding job in
recycling, and/or has made signifi cant improvements to their recycling eff orts over the past year.
Th e employees of Pendleton Sanitary Service voted unanimously to choose Grocery Outlet as Pendleton’s Commercial Recycler of the Year for 2016.
In August of 2014, Grocery Outlet began cardboard recycling services with PSSI. Because of Grocery Outlet, and the large amount of baled cardboard
they produced, through a joint eff ort, PSSI devised a container system which allowed us to collect baled cardboard. In 2016 Grocery Outlet generated
113 bales of cardboard totaling 50.85 tons! In addition to cardboard, Grocery Outlet makes a concerted eff ort to minimize waste and reduce, reuse, and
recycle all items possible from their waste stream. One example is the wooden pallets that they return to distribution rather than recycling them – a
terrifi c example of Reuse before Recycle! Grocery Outlet also promotes Reduce and Reuse through donating food to Capeco through the Fresh Alli-
ance program three days per week. Lastly, Grocery Outlet is very environmentally conscious, as they contract with a hazmat collection company for any
chemical breakage or spills. Other items recycled from the store include aluminum cans and plastic bottles.
Not only does Grocery Outlet do an outstanding job of recycling with the signifi cant volume of materials they produce, the quality control in their re-
cycling eff ort is extraordinary, which makes a signifi cant impact on reducing waste going to the landfi ll. A special thanks go to Dan Canale
and the team at Grocery Outlet!! Great job!
Pendleton Sanitary Service would like to congratulate and thank Grocery Outlet and their employees for the outstanding eff orts in recycling!