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Item 3A - Minutes Approval
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Item 3A - Minutes Approval
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4/11/2005
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Steve Johnson, 3818 Laurel Hill, illustrated his comments with two posters, entitled Eugene Toxics Right <br />to Know: Reporting Businesses and Eugene Toxics Right to Know: Proposed New Businesses. He <br />asserted that the only way to learn what and how much hazardous substance was being released was to <br />refer to the reports available through the Toxics Right-to-Know Program. He stated that auto repair and <br />filling stations released enormous amounts of benzene that had negative effects on children, as supported <br />by a study by the federal Department of Health and Human Services. <br /> <br />Lisa Arkin, 1192 Lawrence Street, Eugene, the Executive Director of the Oregon Toxics Alliance, said <br />the primary mission of the alliance was to inform the public and the media about toxic use issues. She <br />said the public needed to be aware of toxics issues to better plan community health. She said that The <br />Register-Guard recently erroneously implied that Eugene's Toxics Right-to-Know Program was the only <br />one in the state because no other city was interested in establishing a similar program. She countered that <br />opposition or lack of interest played no role in the singularity of Eugene's program, but that no other <br />community was able to put such a program in place due to a 1999 law, House Bill 2431, supported by the <br />Oregon Associated Industries, that discouraged any city or county from enacting right-to-know ordinances <br />due to policy hurdles and economic barriers. She stated Portland recently adopted a toxics reduction <br />strategy whereby the City and Multnomah County adopted policies that supported reduction and <br />elimination of public and environmental exposures to toxic pollutants, and similar programs were in place <br />in Lake Oswego, Seattle, Cleveland and San Francisco, as well as the states of New Jersey and <br />Massachusetts. In response to The Register-Guard's contention that there was little public interest in the <br />reports that could be accessed on the City's website, Ms. Arkin stated the Oregon Toxics Alliance <br />received at least 20 to 30 calls annually, many from people considering moving to Eugene, seeking <br />assistance in determining the risk of exposure to hazardous emissions in various parts of the city. <br /> <br />Dianne Lobes, 4595 Fox Hollow Road, said that it was entirely fair that any company that used hazardous <br />materials should contribute to the administrative costs of the Toxics Right-to-Know Program. What was <br />unfair was for a company to claim it was unfair to pay a fee because their use was less than the threshold <br />of 2,640 pounds annually. She stated there was evidence linking cumulative chronic chemical exposures <br />to illness and chronic health conditions, asserting that the public had a right to know about all hazardous <br />emissions in the community, regardless of whether or not they met the 2,640 pound threshold. The <br />proposed ordinance would improve the City's Toxics Right-to-Know Program by bringing it into <br />alignment with the voters' intention. <br /> <br />Lynne Fessenden, 95348 Grimes Road, Junction City, a scientist who worked for a national non-profit on <br />toxic issues, encouraged the council to adopt the proposed ordinance to address the inequities in the <br />current funding of the hazardous substance reporting program. She said knowledge was essential, and that <br />synthetic chemicals could be found in all sources of surface water in the United States and in our bodies. <br />She said that public health officials, health care providers, public servants and policy makers, regulatory <br />authorities, and citizens must understand that specific knowledge of the home, community, workplace and <br />school environments was essential information for identifying health risks and implementing preventive <br />strategies against disease and disability. She said Eugene's program illustrated a sophisticated <br />comprehension of this new age of ubiquitous chemical contamination and was leading the way in <br />addressing informed decision making with transparent, relevant and valuable information. She urged the <br />council and the Toxics Board to create an equitable fee system. <br /> <br /> David Monk, 3720 Emerald Street, referred to a packet of information that he had prepared and <br /> encouraged councilors to read the information. As one of the three right-to-know advocates and the <br /> <br /> MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 14, 2005 Page 15 <br /> Regular Session <br /> <br /> <br />
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