![\"Goodpasture](\"https:\/\/lessgovisthebestgov.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Goodpasture-Covered-Bridge-getting-a-new-roof-300x225.jpg\")
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\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Leaburg Lake on the McKenzie River<\/p><\/div>\n The McKenzie River is one of Oregon\u2019s cleanest and most\u00a0pristine rivers and it is already one of Oregon’s most protected rivers. Certain parts of it are\u00a0designated as a\u00a0“Wild and Scenic River” by the\u00a0United\u00a0States\u00a0government. Those parts of the river receive the strictest federal protections.\u00a0The McKenzie River\u00a0is well known to fly fishermen and drift boat enthusiasts alike. People from\u00a0all over\u00a0the world come\u00a0to\u00a0Lane County to fish in its clean waters and ride its lovely rapids, but wait… the rapids aren’t the only thing\u00a0that is raging. The battle for control of\u00a0the river is\u00a0raging once again too…<\/span><\/p>\n The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (D.E.Q.)\u00a0says they recently measured\u00a0trace amounts of\u00a0mercury in two species of migratory fish\u00a0which\u00a0they caught in\u00a0the summer of 2008 and 2009 in Springfield near the mouth of the McKenzie River. The two fish\u00a0<\/span>they tested were a Northern Pikeminnow and a Large Scale Sucker fish. These fish make their home in\u00a0both the Willamette River and\u00a0the McKenzie River.\u00a0Therefore it\u00a0does not\u00a0 follow that\u00a0the trace amounts of mercury\u00a0measured in those two fish necessarily came from the McKenzie River. More tests need to\u00a0be done farther upstream in the McKenzie River before any conclusions about the origin of that mercury can be drawn but the D.E.Q. has already listed the McKenzie River on a list of mercury polluted rivers in Oregon. <\/span>Why is the Oregon DEQ in such a big hurry and why are they more concerned about the mercury that is not in the McKenzie River than all the mercury that actually is in our children’s vaccines? <\/span><\/p>\n It is\u00a0common knowledge that the Coast Fork of the Willamette River\u00a0as well as the\u00a0main body\u00a0of the Willamette River to a lessor extent c<\/span>ontain\u00a0abnormally high levels of mercury from abandoned\u00a0gold and silver mines located in the Bohemia Mining\u00a0District. These mines are located in the mountains\u00a0south east of Cottage Grove.\u00a0\u00a0These old mines have been leaching their toxic contaminants into Cottage Grove Lake and Dorena\u00a0Reservoir\u00a0since the mid 1940s.\u00a0One of the old\u00a0mines is\u00a0even on the Federal E.P.A. Superfund List, but none of these\u00a0abandoned mines are\u00a0located anywhere near the McKenzie River nor any of its tributaries. \u00a0These\u00a0mines as well as\u00a0Cottage Grove Lake and\u00a0Dorena Reservoir\u00a0are\u00a0all\u00a0over the mountains in a completely\u00a0separate\u00a0river valley\u00a0which\u00a0is drained by the\u00a0Coast Fork of the Willamette River. <\/span><\/p>\n Now the battle to control the McKenzie River is raging once again and the battle to\u00a0protect it from pollution that doesn’t even exist in the McKenzie River Valley as well as the battle to protect\u00a0it from\u00a0excessive State and Federal regulations that actually do exist and real power hungry bureaucrats at\u00a0both the State and Federal\u00a0levels.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n There\u00a0have never been any\u00a0claims made\u00a0about mercury pollution\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a0McKenzie River before… not\u00a0even once in\u00a0Oregon’s\u00a0150 year history.\u00a0There are no commercial mining operations\u00a0located in the McKenzie River Valley and no one has ever alleged\u00a0that the McKenzie River is anything\u00a0less than the\u00a0beautiful crown\u00a0jewel\u00a0in Oregon\u2019s\u00a0magnificent hydrological crown.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Now along comes the Oregon D.E.Q. in 2008\u00a0 which is following in the footsteps of the\u00a0Federal Environmental Protection Agency. (E.P.A.)\u00a0which recently set new\u00a0stricter\u00a0national standards for the maximum allowable level of mercury in fish\u00a0which are\u00a0caught for human consumption. The D.E.Q. found\u00a0small traces of mercury in two species of migratory fish that were caught near the confluence of the McKenzie\u00a0and the Willamette Rivers. To the best of my knowledge\u00a0no one even eats\u00a0these two species of fish that were chosen\u00a0to do\u00a0the sample testing. They are the Northern Pikeminnow\u00a0and the Large Scale Sucker fish. Nevertheless the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality\u00a0has now\u00a0added the beautiful McKenzie River to its growing list of polluted rivers in Oregon. That list isn\u2019t the only thing that is growing. The\u00a0D.E.Q.’s\u00a0 power and\u00a0control over our lives\u00a0is growing too, along with the reach and scope of the Federal E.P.A.\u00a0Both of these\u00a0massive government agencies\u00a0are\u00a0out of control\u00a0and\u00a0they need to\u00a0be reigned back in.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Eugene’s Water Intake Facility in Springfield<\/p><\/div>\n The McKenzie River is the sole municipal drinking water source for the City of Eugene which diverts\u00a0its allotted share of water to the Eugene Water and Electric Board (E.W.E.B.)\u00a0Hayden Bridge Water Treatment\u00a0Plant located in Springfield.\u00a0 E.W.E.B. takes actual test samples of water four times a year at their intake facility\u00a0near Marcola Road. They have never\u00a0detected\u00a0any measurable levels of mercury in any of the raw water samples\u00a0they\u00a0have\u00a0tested in their\u00a0entire one hundred year history… not even once!\u00a0Therefore officials at E.W.E.B. have disputed the accuracy of the State D.E.Q. findings and they question the\u00a0wisdom of sampling a\u00a0migratory fish that is known to swim back and forth between\u00a0the McKenzie River and the Willamette River.<\/span><\/p>\n In addition to being\u00a0out of control, the\u00a0power hungry\u00a0State Department of Environmental Quality has demonstrated a remarkable lack of\u00a0 knowledge of\u00a0our local environment. So\u00a0has\u00a0our main\u00a0newspaper\u00a0in Lane County, the Eugene Register Guard. They recently published a\u00a0front page\u00a0article by\u00a0an ambitious\u00a0young reporter named Josephine Woolington entitled, “DEQ finds Mercury in the McKenzie River.”\u00a0 The alarming title of\u00a0Miss Wollington’s story along with its\u00a0 prominent position\u00a0on the first page above the fold was\u00a0nothing less than outrageous.\u00a0The placement of the story and the title was intended to grab the reader’s attention and to get them to form an incorrect conclusion\u00a0before even reading the rest of the article.\u00a0\u00a0One of the anonymous sources\u00a0that\u00a0Ms. Woolington quoted\u00a0in her\u00a0story said that he wouldn’t be\u00a0surprised if the McKenzie River tested positive for mercury\u00a0since the river flows over rocks which\u00a0might contain mercury.\u00a0Might<\/span> contain mercury?…\u00a0Really? I might be the King of Saudi Arabia,\u00a0but I’m not!<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n It should be noted for scientific purposes that minerals are always found in rocks although not\u00a0every rock\u00a0contains\u00a0all of the minerals.\u00a0Our whole planet is\u00a0just\u00a0a great big rock. Minerals\u00a0come from\u00a0rocks, but minerals don\u2019t usually get into\u00a0the water in\u00a0detectable amounts\u00a0sufficient to measure unless the rocks\u00a0containing those minerals are disturbed in some way.\u00a0 For mercury to be found in the River the rocks\u00a0have to contain mercury. Then they have to be disturbed in some way in order for the mercury to be released into the river.\u00a0Minerals don\u2019t usually get into the water stream unless those rocks containing them have been blasted or crushed in a mining operation. This is\u00a0especially true for mercury which is only found in\u00a0certain types of rocks. Unless those rocks containing mercury\u00a0have been blasted and mined\u00a0the mercury usually stays\u00a0locked up in those rocks\u00a0for all time. It doesn\u2019t get into\u00a0the drinking\u00a0water of the McKenzie River. <\/span><\/p>\n There are no\u00a0large scale\u00a0commercial mining operations\u00a0located in the McKenzie River Valley and their never have been because\u00a0valuable minerals have never been found there in sufficient quantities to justify their removal,. So there is no reason at all to\u00a0believe\u00a0that\u00a0there is any mercury in the McKenzie River.\u00a0That is our good fortune and the good fortune of everyone who lives in the\u00a0McKenzie River Valley. The only thing being mined\u00a0in the McKenzie\u00a0River Valley\u00a0are\u00a0trees for harvest and gravel for the roads to\u00a0get to them.\u00a0Gravel doesn\u2019t contain mercury. If it did they wouldn’t be using it\u00a0for roads. This should have been pointed\u00a0out in the Register Guard story, but it wasn’t.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n McKenzie River Valley<\/p><\/div>\n Several years ago the Eugene City Council and the Lane County Board of Commissioners \u00a0collaborated in an effort to try to restrict\u00a0the land use along the McKenzie River and in the McKenzie River Valley. This\u00a0affected many property owners who were fortunate enough to have surface water on their property. The attempt failed however when about five hundred angry property owners deluged a November, 2010 Lane County Board of Commissioners meeting. The motion to create a 200 foot easement along the McKenzie River and all of its tributaries as well as a special overlay map of\u00a0restricted land use areas was tabled. But the liberals who sit on the Lane County Land Planning Commission have never given up their idea of confiscating or at least\u00a0restricting the use of land along the McKenzie River\u00a0which\u00a0provides the\u00a0municipal drinking water for the city of Eugene. I would not be at all surprised if this latest attempt by the Oregon D.E.Q. is\u00a0just another attempt to curtail the use of land along the river, and the rights of\u00a0property owners who live in the McKenzie River Valley. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Pollution in Oregon\u2019s rivers is a\u00a0rather recent phenomenon. It is caused primarily by four different things:<\/span><\/p>\n Heavy agricultural use of land along a river that involves the use of chemical fertilizers and herbicides<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Municipal sewer discharges that have come mainly from Portland in the past<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Industrial chemicals that are used primarily in Oregon\u2019s various wood products industries<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Toxic runoff from Oregon\u2019s abandoned mines located primarily in the old Bohemia Mining District southeast of Cottage Grove which leach their contaminants into Dorena\u00a0Reservoir and Cottage Grove Lake. From there they flow into the Coast Fork of the Willamette River and\u00a0north toward Portland.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n <\/p>\n View looking west from Marcola Rd water intake<\/p><\/div>\n There are no large scale agricultural enterprises located along the McKenzie River. There are no municipal sewage plants dumping their raw sewage into the river the way they have done in Portland\u00a0in the past\u00a0whenever the rains produce more runoff than their wastewater treatment plant can handle. There are no mills or other wood products industries located along the banks of the McKenzie River except for one Weyerhaeuser paper plant located in Springfield not far from the confluence of the McKenzie and the Willamette Rivers, but they don\u2019t use mercury to process\u00a0any paper products. \u00a0\u00a0And there are no commercial mineral mining operations going on in the McKenzie River Valley.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Koosah Falls on the Upper McKenzie River<\/p><\/div>\n The main source of the McKenzie River is a series of large springs bubbling up in the\u00a0forested peaks of the Cascade Mountains near Clear Lake. Extensive testing of the water downstream from\u00a0these sources\u00a0has never indicated any pollution in the McKenzie River of any sort…\u00a0including mercury. The old Bohemia Mining District is the principal source of\u00a0toxic mercury\u00a0in the Willamette River. This pollution enters Cottage Grove Lake and Dorena Reservoir\u00a0from\u00a0Big\u00a0Creek and\u00a0Sharp Creek which drains Bohemia Mountain and the old\u00a0mining district. From there\u00a0the tainted water\u00a0flows into the Row River and\u00a0enters the Coast Fork of the Willamette River.\u00a0 The Coast Fork of the Willamette River joins\u00a0the\u00a0main body\u00a0of the Willamette River near\u00a0Pleasant Hill and Jasper. About\u00a0fifteen miles downstream from there and about ten miles west of Springfield the beautiful McKenzie River adds its pristine waters to the mix.\u00a0 It was somewhere near there that the Northern PIkeminnow \u00a0and the Large Scale Sucker fish\u00a0were caught\u00a0in 2008 and 2009 which tested positive for mercury in trace amounts. These\u00a0are migratory fish that\u00a0they caught which swim back and forth between both rivers.\u00a0It doesn\u2019t take a rocket scientist to figure out where the source of the\u00a0mercury in the fish is coming from, and it isn\u2019t the McKenzie River.<\/span><\/p>\n Karl Morgenstern\u00a0is Eugene Water and Electric Board\u2019s Water Source Protection Coordinator. He went on record this week stating that the D.E.Q. tested the wrong fish. The fish they sampled were both migratory fish that swim back and forth\u00a0between the waters of both the Willamette River which is polluted and the waters of the McKenzie River which is not<\/span> polluted. For a more reliable indicator of the actual water quality of the McKenzie River they should have tested actual water samples the way that EWEB routinely does or they should have sampled a type of fish that doesn’t\u00a0ever leave the McKenzie River such as the resident Cutthroat Trout or the McKenzie Rainbow Trout. They could have\u00a0tested the sediment on the bottom of the river, but they didn’t.\u00a0The real objective here was not to arrive at the truth of course. The real objective is to lock up the McKenzie River in perpetuity and to prevent more people from living\u00a0along its banks or anywhere\u00a0in the beautiful McKenzie River Valley. They just don’t trust\u00a0people to take good care of\u00a0the river.<\/span><\/p>\n If you enjoyed this article then please sign up for my free RSS Newsfeed located at the top and bottom of this page.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Selected Reading<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n http:\/\/lessgovisthebestgov.com\/Property-Rights-Oregon-Lane-Water-Quality.html<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n http:\/\/lessgovisthebestgov.com\/Property-Rights-Oregon-Lane-Reset-Button.html<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n![\"Leaburg](\"https:\/\/lessgovisthebestgov.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/103-300x225.jpg\")
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![\"McKenzie](\"https:\/\/lessgovisthebestgov.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/McKenzie-River-Valley-resized-to-541kb.jpg\")
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