For decades, Oregonians have suffered health effects from the field burning of grass residues in the Willamette Valley. Due to the location and the prevailing winds, the smoke from field burning envelops the Eugene-Springfield metropolitan area and surrounding smaller communities, causing respiratory problems and obscuring visibility. Already, the prevalence of asthma in Oregon is considerably higher than the U.S. average and continues to rise.

WELC is working with the Oregon Toxics Alliance, Lane County and other state and local representatives, healthcare providers, and concerned individuals to develop legal, political and communication strategies to stop field burning in Oregon. Both Washington and Idaho have banned the practice and viable alternatives to field burning do exist. Read a recent Idaho study on the health effects of fine particulate pollution.

Due to our extensive research and advocacy, the Lane County Board of Commissioners and the Lane County Board of Health decided to formally urge the state’s Environmental Quality Commission (EQC) to order a two-year moratorium of open field burning in the Willamette Valley in order to protect Oregonians from the extreme dangers of smoke inhalation from burning grass seed fields. Read the letter to the EQC.

Attorneys: Dan Galpern and Charlie Tebbutt