EPA

Wednesday night, about 100 people attended a hearing in Eugene to find out what will happen to the old J.H. Baxter plant now that the facility has been listed on the EPA’s National Priorities List.

A controversial wood treatment plant in Eugene’s Bethel neighborhood is now officially a site warranting millions – if not billions – of dollars in environmental cleanup.

Earlier this year, Georgia Baxter-Krause of wood products company J.H. Baxter pleaded guilty to violating environmental laws, then lying about it to federal regulators. An attorney with a class-action lawsuit says having Baxter-Krause pay fines and serve time helps his case, but restitution for victims still seems far from certain.

Benton County’s Planning Commission is holding hearings on a controversial proposal to expand the Coffin Butte landfill.

A $20 million federal grant to support environment and climate justice in Lane County has been suspended. Local officials are now unclear on what’s next.

The Trump administration’s on-again, off-again federal funding freeze sowed widespread anxiety and confusion across the country and around Oregon. In Mapleton, locals feared a delay in federal grant payments would jeopardize efforts to rebuild their failing water system.

The operator of a now-shuttered wood treatment facility in Eugene has pleaded guilty to multiple charges of breaking clean air and hazardous waste laws, and will pay $1.5 million in criminal penalties.

The federal government has issued criminal charges against the J.H. Baxter company and its president over its operation of its Eugene wood-treatment plant.

Disaster preparedness and response in Lane County recently received a $20 million boost. The money will set up six so-called “resiliency centers.”

Cleaning up the legacy of J.H. Baxter’s wood treatment plant was the focus of a press conference held Tuesday morning.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has officially proposed adding the old J.H. Baxter site in Eugene to the Superfund clean-up list.

Oregon’s U.S. senators are urging the Environmental Protection Agency to finish investigating the Coffin Butte landfill.