Item A: Joint Meeting with EWEB Board

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federal domestic discretionary spending, funding options through Oregon Parks and Recreation and the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board are now being explored. In the meantime, Clear Lake has a spill kit with the capability to respond to small spills. The McKenzie Watershed Emergency Response System (MWERS), developed by EWEB to provide spill protection in the McKenzie Watershed, is capable of responding to a spill at this facility with specific expertise for land or water response if necessary. EWEB has been actively supporting and assisting Linn County’s efforts to obtain funding, as well as an approved environmental review. At this time, EWEB has located a new double- walled diesel tank to replace the existing tank. The replacement could occur at the existing tank footprint, which requires a less extensive environmental review and could therefore be completed this year. This more immediate measure would remain compatible with future steps to relocate the diesel tank to an optimum site adjacent the resort’s entrance to Highway 126. This project is one of several McKenzie River water quality protection efforts underway. For more information on source water protection, please contact Karl Morgenstern @ 341-8552. 2009 Metal Theft Legislation Metal theft in Oregon has evolved from a problem to a full-fledged epidemic. This meteoric rise is basic economics—demand for metal is long and supply is short—upgrading the status of semiprecious metals to precious. Investors can’t get enough commodity metals such as aluminum, copper, nickel, zinc, and neither can the impoverished and/or addicted seeking quick cash. Public works of art, copper wire, aluminum guardrails, brass fittings, bronze plaques, aluminum siding, sprinkler fittings, catalytic converters, bronze urns, storm drain gates, street signs, copper downspouts, are just a few examples of a myriad of items being brazenly taken with little regard for consequences. For utilities, the property damage and replacement costs are just one negative impact. Power outages disrupt local economies and dangerously exposed live wires and ungrounded substations can injure utility employees or an innocent passerby. Metal theft can cost utilities tens of thousands of dollars in damages for every hundred or so dollars a metal theft yields the perpetrator. Changes to Oregon law in 2007 strengthened penalties for metal theft. However, the epidemic level of the problem coupled with scarce public safety resources in many parts of Oregon have resulted in an insufficient deterrent effect. A more comprehensive approach that emphasizes theft prevention is critical to stem the tide of this costly, dangerous problem. A ‘four-legged stool strategy’ has been proposed that includes law enforcement, hardening targets/increased security, changes to metal recycling practices, and drug treatment components. There are multiple legislators, stakeholders and “task forces” working to develop legislation. EWEB is participating in two such groups: 1) a specific Utility/Telecommunications Task Force, and 2) the Joint Metal Theft Task Force, which includes representatives from law enforcement, agriculture, construction, and metal recycling interests. At the time of this memo, legislative concepts of special interest to utilities were: 6