Lincoln County officials are speaking out against a plan to use helicopters to spray herbicide near a local source of drinking water. But they said the company behind the proposal could now be backing down.
The timber company ANE Forests of Oregon can begin spraying its property near Beaver Creek this Saturday, following a review by the Oregon Department of Forestry. But some nearby residents are worried about exposure to the herbicide glyphosate.
Adam Denlinger is General Manager with the Seal Rock Water District, which collects water downstream from the proposed spraying sites. He said the company’s methods concern him.
“Aerial application of herbicides is more difficult to control,” he said, “in that you could have overspray or drift of the material onto other lots and into the waterway.”
According to the National Pesticide Information Center, studies disagree on whether glyphosate is likely to cause cancer.
On Wednesday, the timber company appeared to respond to these concerns, filing a new application to spray the sites from the ground. Lincoln County Commissioner Casey Miller said the grassroots awareness campaign had worked.
“Many of us are relieved and encouraged to see that they're going with a ground operation,” said Miller.
However, the company can still spray by helicopter if it chooses. Beaver Creek resident Willow Kasner said the landowner needs to publicly commit to not using that option.
“I told HFI Consultants that this would help calm down the growing rage and the growing uproar from the community,” she said.
The owner, ANE Forests of Oregon President Sorn Nymark, couldn’t be reached for comment. According to state business records, Nymark is based in the European nation of Denmark.
"We have been trying as a community to get a good agreement going with him," said Kasner. "And it's really hard without having a neighbor that we can contact."
Tyrol Forfar is a forester with HFI Consultants, which is working with the timber company. In an email to KLCC Tuesday, Forfar said Nymark hadn’t yet decided on the “extent, mode or timing” of the herbicide application.
KLCC reached out to HFI Consultants following the new filing, but didn’t receive a response as of Thursday afternoon.
Miller said this issue has been a teaching moment for the community, and it could lead to future action.
“Some are awakening to forestry practices that they were just not aware of,” he said.
Lincoln County banned aerial spraying in 2017. But a state circuit judge in Newport threw out the ordinance two years later, ruling that it was preempted by state law.
Miller hopes state law will change someday, giving counties more power to regulate pesticide and herbicide usage.
“We want lower ceilings of what we're comfortable with in the drinking water,” he said. “There might be a future where in Lincoln County, we get to call the shots on whether herbicides are used for forestry practices.”
Denlinger said the Seal Rock Water District will still be concerned about herbicide runoff if the sites are sprayed from the ground. He said they will take countermeasures to keep the community safe.
The National Pesticide Information Center said glyphosate bonds to soil and is unlikely to leak into water. A public comment period for the new spray application ends September 13.
