West Eugene Community Health

Polluting industries form a semi-circle around homes, schools and parks in West Eugene, causing disproportionate health impacts.

The Story of Two Eugenes

In West Eugene, 550,000 pounds of toxic emissions were released in 2019. This pollution - emitted in the 97402 zip code area - accounted for 96% of all the emissions released in the City of Eugene that year, and every year. Polluted air in West Eugene persists due to outdated zoning laws, housing built near pollution and weak air regulations. Air pollution is linked to heart ailments, lung disease, asthma attacks, cancer, and an overall reduction in life expectancy. These conditions have become the lived experience of the West Eugene community.

Projects

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Air Pollution Stories

We collect stories from West Eugene neighbors who suffer the ill effects of a high concentration of polluting factories in close proximity to residential neighborhoods. Learn more

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Share Your Pollution Story

Are you living in the West Eugene area near the J.H. Baxter factory? You can make a difference in your community by sharing your air pollution story with us today! Be sure to share your pollution story with us today->>

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Local Meetings in West Eugene

You can join our monthly Community Action meetings where you'll get updates on the Core Team work and meet your neighbors to decide how you wish to protect your neighborhood.

Victories

  • Initiated the Clear Lake Overlay Zone, a model local land use law that lifts up environmental justice, climate protection, and places restrictions on new heavy industry.
  • Played a pivotal role in the adoption of Oregon’s Cleaner Air Oregon air quality regulations.
  • Led the way to stop legislation seeking to give tax credits to carbon polluters and waste incinerators.
  • Introduced toxics emissions reporting requirements that were adopted by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.
  • Successfully filed a complaint under the US EPA Civil Rights Office that required the local air regulatory agency to adopt environmental justice practices.
  • Filed complaints that forced industrial polluters to clean up hazardous waste dump sites, stop surface water pollution and mitigate vapors from groundwater plumes.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
— Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.