Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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were often used as a “rescue medication,” but if used over a period of years they had powerful side effects. She pointed out that emphysema was the fourth leading killer in the country and that heart disease was on the top of the list. She related that one patient of hers was diagnosed with osteoporosis and had the “bones of a 90-year-old” though she was 50. She listed some of the issues people experienced as a result of breathing particulate matter. Bonnie Blomberg , 5271 Overbrook Lane, said she had asthma. She stated that field burning aggravated the condition and she had been hospitalized several times with asthma attacks, pulmonary infections, and pneumonia after periods of such burning. She related that she had been diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) one year earlier. She felt she was too young for such a “devastating” diagnosis. She underscored that she had never been a smoker. She stated that her doctor attributed her diagnosis directly to field burning. She underscored that her life would be shortened and she would never experience life without invasive drug therapies. She questioned whether she would have COPD if she lived in an area where there was no field burning. She said everyone in the Willamette Valley damaged their lungs when they breathed air polluted by field burning. She declared that this was too high a price to pay to live in this area. Charlotte SottoSandra Guffin read a letter written by , 2580 Hayden Bridge Road, Springfield, that voiced her support for a ban on field burning. It explained that she had serious health problems aggravated by field burning. She believed that it was unfair for the grass seed industry to infuse the air with “terrible contami- nants” in the face of research that showed there were alternatives to burning. She said her father, a farmer, had opposed field burning because he deemed it unnecessary and harmful to public health. She concluded her letter by asking the council to “act now to end the practice of field burning in the Willamette Valley.” Elizabeth Paul , 3837 Potter Street, stated that she had emphysema and her lung capacity had been reduced to 25 percent. She said field burning affected her lungs and exacerbated her asthma, sometimes causing infections for which she was prescribed a heavy dose of prednisone. She related that at the end of the field burning season she usually found that her lung capacity had dropped perceptibly. Kathy Hoover , 1316 Audel Avenue, recalled the birth of her grandson in August 2002. She had helped to care for her daughter and grandson in the days after his birth. She related that one hot day when he was a few days old they were forced to close all of the windows because of huge clouds of smoke. It had been very uncomfortable and she promised her grandson she would fight field burning. While she acknowledged the “trials and tribulations” that farmers face she found nothing to convince her that the practice of field burning should be permitted to continue. Lisa Arkin , 1192 Lawrence Street, thanked Councilor Clark and Mayor Piercy for attending the town hall meeting on field burning. She said she had been asking since the 1980s for a stop to field burning. She stated that a legislative effort to stop the burning had failed. She noted that Oregon State University had conducted “copious” studies on grass seed growing and had determined that there were alternatives to burning. She believed it was unnecessary to burn fields to be a good grass seed farmer. She stressed that the issue was health. She presented a petition signed by approximately 650 people that asked the Eugene City Council to take the legislative steps to end field burning and to hold a work session on the issue. David Thor Johnson , 4986 Hunters Glen Drive, thanked the councilors and Mayor for their work. He averred that trees helped to filter the air and as such preserving the Amazon Creek headwaters properties would help to remediate burning practices. He opined that five of the elected officials were doing “the right thing. He asked the council to “stay the course, finish the job, do the right thing, protect the planet, [and] protect the ‘urban growth boundary’ forest.” MINUTES—Eugene City Council December 10, 2007 Page 3 Regular Meeting