The Lane County Board of Commissioners will consider a ballot measure that would ban aerial spraying of pesticides. They’ve scheduled it for a May work session.
The citizen group Community Rights Lane County has been urging the board to consider a ban on aerial spraying of pesticides in forests, a practice they say is harmful to human and environmental health. A charter amendment they proposed for the May ballot is currently tied up in court. The community rights movement is pushing for local control of environmental issues statewide. Lane County Board chair Jay Bozievich says he is a strong supporter of local control.
“The idea of community rights though extends beyond that concept in a lot of ways and gets into some issues where it may actually conflict with our federal constitution and state constitution in how they define rights.” Bozievich says.
A spokesperson for Community Rights Lane County says she’s pleased the board agreed to hold a work session on their ordinance but disappointed it won’t be until May. Meanwhile, their charter amendment proposal gets a hearing in circuit court on February 2nd.
