WHAT SALEM NEEDS: a Pam Warhurst: How we can eat our landscapes

Pam Warhurst: How we can eat our landscapes

Awesome!

WEIRD: Oregon Ag Dept working to undermine Oregon Ag

The Willamette River Valley (Photo credit: Wikipedia)This is another example of how moneyed interests capture public agencies and bend them back and use them as weapons against the public interest instead of regulators on behalf of the public well-being.

Allowing genetically tampered crops loose in the Willamette Valley is unwise, unnecessary, and totally undesirable. There is no benefit to Oregonians from allowing the gene tampered foods to intermix in the Willamette Valley -- the only benefit is to the corporate interests who would be only too happy to despoil the Willamette Valley and destroy its status as a haven for organic producers.

The industrial "phood" that results from gene tampering is designed solely to allow corporate interests to capture the entire food supply and destroy peoples' ability to grow pure, real food.

Good afternoon ~

The Oregon Department of Agriculture has fast-tracked the approval of canola production in the Willamette Valley in Oregon. This would include Genetically Modified Canola.

This would mean that our crops that are related to canola (broccoli, cauliflower, kale, brussel sprouts, etc) would be at risk for cross pollination and contamination by GM canola.

Many gardeners rely on seed grown in the Willamette Valley for their home gardens.
Please read the letter below from the Seed Ambassadors and act now to express your thoughts on this issue.

Please comment by THIS FRIDAY to prevent the Oregon Department of Agriculture's temporary rule permitting GM canola and thus, bypassing the public comment period.

It is up to us to protect the genetics of our food.
Thanks!
Marisha

Hello Everyone!

We here at the Seed Ambassadors Project haven't sent out any e-mails in a while, but are compelled to do so today: There is an immediate threat to our food supply because the Oregon Department of Agriculture has fast- tracked the approval of canola (including GM canola) production here in the Willamette Valley of Oregon.

As many of you may know the Willamette Valley is one of the top 5 places in the world for growing and supplying specialty seed and maintaining seed diversity. Seed grown here not only is sold by local Oregon companies, such as Adaptive Seeds, but is also bought by other seed companies such as Johnny's, Fedco, and lots of others both nationally and internationally. Basically, seed grown here supplies the world with food.

One of the specialty seeds that the Valley is perfect for is brassicas, which includes broccoli, cauliflower, arugula, rutabaga, turnip, radish, kale, cabbage, etc. Canola is also a brassica but spreads rampantly and cross pollinates with a lot of other brassicas with detrimental effects. Oregon State University has conducted research proving that canola will cross pollinate with many different crops including turnips, broccoli raab, some kales, rutabaga, and possibly radish and broccoli.

Meaning the presence of canola production in the Willamette Valley will definitely contaminate and destroy those other seed crops. Without doubt.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) has previously maintained a canola exclusion zone in the Valley. However, in the past few months there have been a series of meetings held behind closed doors to change this zone to allow canola (including genetically modified canola) to be grown in the valley unchecked and with disregard to existing seed pinning map isolation guidelines.

ODA only just released a press release on Friday, August 3rd saying they will grant a temporary rule to allow canola this Friday, August 10th.
By issuing a temporary rule the ODA is avoiding the requirement for public comment and therefore behaving unilaterally with only special interests in mind. Not only does this decision harm seed growers but GM canola cross pollination will also potentially threaten the livelihood of any of the certified organic growers in the area. There are good reasons why canola has been banned in the Willamette Valley by ODA up to this point, and pressure on ODA to lift these bans needs to be countered.

Please contact the ODA and Governor Kitzhaber yourself and make your voice heard! It does not matter if you are not an Oregon resident, this decision effects everyone in a huge way and they need to be reminded of that.

And spread the word!

ODA phone number: (503) 986-4552
ODA Director Coba: KCoba@oda.state.or.us

Governor Kitzhaber: (503) 378-4582 ; or email

Remember, we only have until this Friday, August 10th to change this decision!


Check out the following links for more information:

Friends of Family Farmers: Willamette Valley Immediately Threatened by Canola

2006 OSU Special Report on Canola Outcrossing Potential in the Willamette Valley

GMOs At The Door, Wild Garden Seeds, Frank Morton

Willamette Valley Farmers Continue the Canola Debate, OregonLive.com

Thanks for your time and help!

Sarah Kleeger
Andrew Still

Visit Beaver State Permaculture

Related articles

• the last thing we need: gmo canola oil in the willamette valley

Snap!

Hugely important as Salem squanders precious funds on 3rd Bridge Fantasies

All the nonsense in the draft environmental impact statement about the value of time saved is just that: Nonsense. Auto drivers want free lunches forever, and are not willing to pay anything like the costs of their autobahn fantasies. Given a choice, only a few will pay tolls to get somewhere faster.

This is a crucial article for Salem, given that our local transportation and construction moguls are dying to tap taxpayers for hundreds of millions of dollars to throw yet another auto bridge across the Willamette, based on imaginary increases in what counts as "congestion" in Salem and the supposed willingness of drivers to pay tolls.

Most importantly, notice that the planners' fantasy includes tapping property taxes directly, again showing that the line about "roads are paid from gas taxes" is complete and utter BS.

The project is a corporate welfare vampire that needs to be killed dead as soon as possible.

If you click on that table above it will take you to Boondoggle Central, the website for the scam, where you can play with various funding streams and see just how outrageously high tolls, registrations, and gas taxes would have to be to fund this one without adding yet more property tax burdens in Salem, where we already have insane numbers of people who are underwater on their houses and who will be foreclosed in increasing numbers if the boondoggle gets underway.

In fact, that's what people really need to understand -- when you build a boondoggle in a contracting economy, you not only waste precious funds, you drown people on the margin completely, people who would have been able to stay in their homes without the excess tax burden used to fund a wasteful scheme.

Heat Stress Alert -- Do NOT fry your pet or kid

OK, people, all that summer you've been crying for is slated to arrive. In one day. That's tomorrow.

Remember, it's a crime to leave an animal or a child in a car. Also insanely cruel. A car, even with the windows cracked quite a bit, can get to be an oven in amazingly short order.

And make sure your pets have ready access to shade and plenty of water.

A wonderful resource, now with an online option

Professional and Noncredit Education
4943 The Valley Library
Corvallis, OR 97331-4504
541-737-8634
learn@oregonstate.edu

Yardening wins another round

Great stuff here.

A sobering talk on what's really going on in the financial world

About 20 minutes. Well worth the time.

Poisoning Marion County for Profit: Brooks slated for yet more airborne toxics

Air Pollution Smoke Stack (Photo credit: EnvironmentBlog)Hey Marion County Neighbors!

Don't you just love the smell of burning plastics in the morning?

Feeling like the air near Salem is just too darn breathable? Wouldn't you rather breathe in tons and tons of hazardous pollutants and see particulate toxins enter the foodchain right here in the heart of the Willamette Valley by landing on produce and fields and in streams?

Then you're in luck! Agilyx Corp. wants to satisfy your craving for more pollution for you!

They're proposing to build a plastic trash burner up in Brooks, already the epicenter of air-quality insults in Marion County. In other words, they propose to dump millions of tons of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere over the project lifetime, while spreading a fine dust of toxic particulates and hydrochloric acid all over! What nice neighbors, eh? Oh, and they don't plan to pay anything for using our sky and our precious world-class farmland as their free toxics dumpsite.

And don't worry about the PVC -- they say they're going to screen out the PVC wastes first, since PVC combustion releases incredibly toxic and nasty products. And we all know that mistakes never happen when plowing through tons and tons of waste garbage that all pretty much looks the same and arrives in truckloads!

Here's the abbreviated notice. (pdf)

What does Agilyx Corporation do that affects air quality?

The company proposes to construct and operate a pyrolysis energy reclamation facility. They will produce a synthetic crude-oil like product from plastic feedstock. The feedstock will consist of plastics not feasible for recycling. The feedstock must be pre-screened to remove polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastics. The oil product will be sold to off-site customers.

The proposed operations will emit Particulate Matter (PM), Fine Particulate Matter (PM10/2.5), Carbon Monoxide (CO), Nitrogen Oxides (NOx), Sulfur Dioxide (SO2),Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), Greenhouse Gases (GHG), and Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs) to the air. Additional detailed information regarding operations and emissions can be found in the review report.

Table 1
Criteria Pollutant Proposed Emission Limit (tons/yr)
Particulate Matter (PM) 24
Fine Particulate Matter (PM10) 14
Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) 9
Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) 39
Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) 39
Carbon Monoxide (CO) 99
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) 39
Greenhouse Gases (GHG) 74,000 (67,100 metric tons)

Table 2
Hazardous Air Pollutants Proposed Emission Limit* (tons/yr)
Individual HAP (HCl) 9
Combined HAPs 24

*HAP PSELs are being established to ensure the source remains a minor source of HAPs pending further emission factor verification analyses.

For more on the criteria pollutants, see http://www.deq.state.or.us/aq/forms/annrpt.htm

Comments due: Written comments due: 5 p.m. September 5, 2012

Where can I send my comments?

Patty Hamman, Regional Permit Coordinator
(503) 378-5305 or Toll Free (800) 349-7677
750 Front Street NE, Suite 120
Salem, OR 97301-1039
(503) 378-4196 (Fax)
hamman.patricia@deq.state.or.us

Where can I get technical information?

Karen White-Fallon, Permit Writer
(503) 378-5315 or (800) 349-7677
750 Front Street NE, Suite 120
Salem, OR 97301-1039
(503) 378-4196 (Fax)
white-fallon.karen@deq.state.or.us

Where can I get background information?
Information about this project is viewable online by clicking the following link(s):
• Permit (pdf)
• Evaluation Report (pdf)

Help support transit in Salem -- Apply for the Cherriots Advisory Board

logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Cherriots - Salem Keizer Transit
CITIZEN ADVISORY COMMITTEE - CALL FOR APPLICANTS

Salem-Keizer Transit is creating a Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) consisting of community members representing a broad spectrum of transportation and community concerns. Ideally, the CAC will include a balanced membership including users of the system, students, business community members, and at-large community members.

The CAC's mission is to assist Salem-Keizer Transit and the Board of Directors by encouraging and promoting services, and transportation decisions that meet the needs of the Salem-Keizer community. The CAC will also help communicate the Transit District's mission and programs back to the community. The CAC accomplishes this mission by providing the Board of Directors and staff of Salem-Keizer Transit with input on matters that go before the Board of Directors. This may include providing comments on transportation plans, programs and studies, project funding priorities, transportation-related legislation, and community transportation concerns. The CAC also assists in publicizing transportation projects and plans to neighborhoods, business groups, student groups, and other stakeholders; while soliciting input for feedback to the Transit District.

Salem-Keizer Transit is in the process of accepting applications for the Citizen Advisory Committee. Applicants are required to fill out an application and submit it by August 31, 2012. Salem-Keizer Transit will then make recommendations for appointments to the committee to the Board of Directors, who makes the final decision. New members will be notified about the time and location of the meetings. Typical appointment to the committee will be a two-year term. For the inaugural appointments, half of the membership will be appointed for a one-year term of service. Once an application is received, it will remain active for two years. Your application will be considered for any openings, unless a letter is submitted withdrawing your candidacy.

Download the application from our website at www.cherriots.org or call 503.588.2424 for mailing options. The application can be submitted via fax to 503.566.3933 or via email at carneys@cherriots.org.

Contact Info: Sadie Carney
Director of Community Relations
503-588-2424