As an Environmental Studies major I’ve gotten very used to discussing issues of injustice and land degradation through a scholarly/objective lens, however I had never drawn these connections back to myself and how they affect me as an Oregonian. Never would I have imagined that a trip out to interview a community affected by pesticide drift – a predominantly middle class, white conservative community in Gold Beach – would connect directly to the working-class Latino-immigrant farmer community I grew up with in the Rogue Valley.
A Failure to Protect: Oregon laws allow community poisoning
A pesticide helicopter operator was discovered lying to an Oregon rural community about what herbicides he sprayed, how much he sprayed and where he sprayed. Four months ago, Beyond Toxics filed a petition with three federal agencies claiming that not enough was being done to help more than two dozen residents of Cedar Valley, a rural area near Gold Beach on the Southern Oregon coast, who said they had been doused by herbicides from a forestry helicopter. The US Environmental Protection Agency and the Agency for Toxics Substances and Disease Registry stepped in to oversee the state’s investigation.
For bees, Oregon sets important new legislative precedents!
It started eighteen months ago, when a group of passionate and dedicated bee keepers came to the Beyond Toxics office to talk with us about the bees. They were well informed and brought published studies revealing the role pesticides play in the demise of honey bee colonies.
Bees, pesticides and freedom
Our freedoms come with responsibilities when our actions may affect, directly or indirectly, people’s welfare and the environment. The responsible person asks the question of what is at risk. We think that Oregonians want responsible legislation that helps prevent unintended harm and death to the hard working bees that make home gardens and bountiful harvests possible.
Bees by the Numbers
There are a lot of reasons to be concerned about the rapid decline of many species of bees worldwide. Honey bees and bumble bees have played a crucial role in human cultures for thousands of years. Today, even with more industrialized modern agriculture, the humble bee (both native and domesticated bee species) still plays a remarkably important role in bringing food to the tables of people all around the world.
Oregon lacking in the science of forestry
Profitable timber production can readily coexist with protections for water quality and community health. That is the lesson of commercial logging operations in Washington, California and even Idaho.
Then there is the way we do it in Oregon.
The future of Oregon’s clean-flowing drinking water
Over the past few months The Register-Guard has held a back-and-forth debate about Oregon Rep. Peter DeFazio’s plan to increase logging in Oregon’s federal forests.
What’s at stake? Nothing less than the future of Oregon’s clean-flowing drinking water.
Oregon and pesticides: our chance to make a stand for safety
Oregon has become somewhat of a focal point for pesticide issues. That is hardly cause for celebration for a state that wears its green credentials on its sleeve. The only hope is that Oregon will respond to the crisis with better regulations, safer policies and a commitment to protecting Oregon from pesticide poisoning.
What’s Up with Brownfields and Environmental Justice?
The City of Eugene, the City of Springfield, and Lane County are looking for public input in the process of finding, cleaning up and redeveloping brownfields. Brownfields are abandoned properties that are not being re-purposed because of the likely presence of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants. Brownfield result in neighborhood “blight;” they make people feel unsafe and they drag down property values.
Victory is Sweet!
WE DID IT! The Safe Public Places Bill has passed in both chambers of the Oregon Legislature and will be signed into law this week! What a sweet victory!
No exaggeration! Beyond Toxics researched the issue, wrote the language and fought hard to pass both bills that reduce pesticides in Oregon.
