We the undersigned Petitioners are residents, business owners, water ratepayers, visitors and admirers of the North Oregon Coast who are concerned about the water we drink and the air we breathe. This petition shows support for basic, common-sense protections of these drinking watersheds. It will be presented to city, county and state legislators and agencies in order to demonstrate widespread support for common-sense protections for the most essential human rights of access to safe and plentiful drinking water, and clean air. These are protections our communities desperately need in the face of a changing climate.
Why is this important?
WHEREAS, there is a growing water shortage, especially in the summers, caused by climate change, increased demand and accelerated forest clearcutting;
WHEREAS, water quality has declined, and in some areas, can require an unsafe amount of chemical additives and treatments to meet minimum Oregon Health Authority standards;
WHEREAS, buffer zones are inadequate to address the fact that the air we breathe and the water we drink are compromised by slash burning and pesticide spraying;
WHEREAS, government agencies have failed to adequately protect community watersheds and air quality, even in the face of unprecedented climate change and industrial forest clearcutting;
ACCORDINGLY, Petitioners want accountability for the above, want no more logging operations and no more pesticide use in drinking watersheds across all land ownership in the North Oregon Coast, and want an end to pesticide applications near where people live and recreate.
FURTHERMORE, Petitioners seek independent health studies and unbiased analyses of the water people in the area drink and the air everyone breathes.