Oregon L.O.W.F.I

This issue has been going on for a long time. Triangle Lake is not far from where I live; it’s only about twenty minutes away or so. For years, the residents in the area have been fighting this, as in other communities in my county as well as Oregon in general. From KVAL:

TRIANGLE LAKE, Ore. – Some residents are calling it an environmental horror story, and on Thursday they got the chance to voice their concerns to the state and federal governments.

Nearly 150 people packed the Grange Hall in Triangle Lake on Thursday night after more than 20 residents say their urine tested positive for dangerous pesticides.

It’s ugly. The meeting was called by “…state and federal agencies…” in order to potentially address the poisoning of an entire community:

In response to years of complaints, state and federal agencies held the meeting to lay out a plan for investigating any possible pesticide exposure. lay out a plan for investigating any possible pesticide exposure.

The article cited here doesn’t mention that residents paid for, out of their own pockets, the testing that proves they’ve been exposed. As one resident said

“One hundred percent of us tested positive for the two most dangerous timber industry pesticides in our urine, and we’re not happy about it,” said Dale Day.

I find it incredible — but not surprising — the agencies are only now just beginning to listen. Maybe, sort of.

Speaking of the Triangle Lake area, it is a very weird area in general. Only speaking for myself, and Jim, we have both felt immediate, oppressive and (for lack of a better word) haunted vibes when driving through there. There’s something about the area that literally feels, on a physical level as well as psychological and emotional, that there is an unseen presences about. I remember one drive out there to look at a house for sale; it sounded like everything we wanted; domed, a few structures, a couple of acres, near water… and the asking price was reasonable. But we couldn’t even get our of the car to look, the further in we drove, the worse this feeling got. We turned around and left. I’ve felt this very time i’ve gone out to the area.

I’m not suggesting this weird feeling has anything to with pesticides. And I realize many people love the area. Only speaking for myself.

Dealing with the feds in this case, I have no idea how this will turn out, but I hope it will turn well for the residents in the area. There’s a bit of hope; field burning was banned and I was convinced that would never happen. It was a long, long fight and an ugly one, but finally, we won on that one.