Owens Corning Lawsuit Victory
The Center recently celebrated a victory in a lawsuit against the fiberglass company, Owens Corning. In 2005, the Center joined the Northwest Environmental Defense Center at Lewis and Clark Law School and the Sierra Club in a lawsuit to stop the company from building an insulation plant in Gresham without the required permits. The plant would have emitted 250 tons of HCFC-142b, an ozone-depleting greenhouse gas. As a result of the suit, Owens Corning agreed to a settlement in which the company can never use HCFC-142b in the Gresham plant and it must donate $300,000 to environmental projects. Please read the history of the Owens Corning suit for further details. Visit our Articles page for all the news pertaining to this issue.
Since March of 2004, the Center has been working with our members and the affected community to protest Marion County Solid Waste Advisory Council's proposal to lift the cap on medical waste accepted for incineration at the Covanta facility without first considering the full the environmental and health implications to the community. As a result of community pressure through public testimony, letters to officals and information presented to the advisory council, a new proposal is being created with public input that aims to protect public health and the environment by reducing the amount of PVC plastic that is being burned at the incinerator.
Safe Drinking Water
In June of this 2003, the Center filed a lawsuit against Pioneer Mobile Home Park in Boring, Oregon, for what state records revealed to be over 100 violations for failure to test and for failure to report in compliance with the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act. According to state records, the system was also responsible, for repeatedly serving water contaminated with coliform bactera, and for failing to report exposures to park residents.
The Center settled the case through a court-mandated mediation process, and has followed up by alerting the residents to the complaints in the suit and by educating them about how they can monitor further compliance on their own through the state’s website.
Monaco Coach Corporation
Legal action against Monaco Coach Corporation forced a 95% reduction in toxic emissions to the local community. Operating with no pollution control equipment, the company was releasing toxic compounds including toluene and xylene in large quantities to the surrounding neighborhood. Read more about the story in the series of articles from the Register Guard.
