08/18/2020
It’s the middle of the summer and you’re likely looking for a relaxing spot to take in some scenery and enjoy the outdoors with your family. Sure, every town and city has a park or two with a playground and a shady place to rest under an old tree.
But if you’re looking to step up your game on a sunny afternoon and find something the whole family can enjoy, you can’t beat the historic city parks in West Linn where there’s much more than meets the eye. City officials recognized the need for a relaxing area for residents to decompress from the stress of the city and spent many taxpayer dollars to satisfy just about every need of a family.
Tanner Creek Park is the jewel of the West Linn Parks. It has many amenities including a kid’s area with swings and monkey bars, a splash park, a sports court, a covered picnic area, 4 bathrooms, a tennis court, and four dedicated Pickleball courts, all adjacent to seven acres of open fields for soccer, drone-kite flying and the site of a summer concert series sponsored by Comcast. Visitors can also ride a bike or skateboard at a skate park located less than a half block away.
With all these amenities you might ask yourself why the Parks Department has used a well known carcinogen at the park for over 30 years, as well as all other West Linn Parks. Recently, the Parks Department decided to clean up the w**ds next to the bathrooms (a high traffic area for adults, kids, and pets) for the opening of the new Pickleball courts in June 2020. I took photographs of the area next to the bathrooms and about 30’ from the kids play area, both before and after the application of Ranger Pro a cheaper version of Roundup, the carcinogen marketed by Monsanto (now Bayer), On 5-27-2020 and 5-28-2020 in preparation for the opening of the PB courts, a 5% solution of Ranger Pro was applied to the area around the courts. Ranger Pro specifications call for a .5% solution of the product to w**ds. The spraying was performed at an apparent ratio of 10 times the manufacturer’s recommendation. Along with the incorrect saturation, I have to question the layered spraying done over the course of two days. With a half-life of 174 days in the soil the Glyphosate will be a carcinogenic factor for almost 6 months affecting children, adults, and pets alike.
On June 24, 2020 Bayer offered to settle outstanding claims for $10.9 BILLION for the use of a known carcinogen (Glyphosate), the main ingredient in Roundup and Ranger Pro, which has resulted in many cases of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (NL). Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and its subset cancers have been linked to glyphosate exposure from Roundup. Studies have shown a 41% increase in developing non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma after exposure to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup. This includes T-cell lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, mantle cell lymphoma, lymphoblastic lymphoma, B-Cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma, Burkitt lymphoma, MALT Lymphoma, anaplastic large cell lymphoma, and Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia.
As early as 2015 the World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer determined that Glyphosate is “probably carcinogenic” Since then, several studies have linked glyphosate-based Roundup as a cancer-causing chemical. There has been a global backlash against the w**d killer Roundup. Germany has banned glyphosate-based Roundup use after 2023. This gives farmers and gardeners time to switch to safer alternative herbicides. Austria has already banned glyphosate w**d killers. Ongoing national litigation and Class Action Lawsuits against Monsanto the makers of Roundup
Testimony from numerous WL residents on social media a short time ago concluded that the use of Roundup by the WL Parks Department is a big mistake, and was adamant that our parks should be a haven for health and relaxation, and not a source of cancer. Councilor Richard Sakelik, the president of the WL Council, a cancer survivor himself has voiced his concerns on NextDoor about the city’s use of glyphosate-based herbicides, and is supportive of green alternatives. “My priorities are always health over money”. Although supportive of other alternatives, there was no initiative by Council to stop the use of Roundup in our cities!
With neighborhood support and certain Council support, why is the WL Parks Department using a suspected carcinogen in all our parks? Suggested Green Alternatives exist and are Vinegar, other acidic and natural alternatives, Glufofinate, and Hand pulling w**ds (the alternative used at several schools in the area). Check with your child’s school and their Integrated Pest Management plan. All schools have one, and it should not include Roundup or Ranger Pro!
I’ve lived in West Linn since 2009 and have spent many years at Tanner Creek Park enjoying daily tennis and Pickleball, and volunteering extensively as a “Friend of the Park”, landscaping and w**ding the area around Tanner Creek Park. I’ve recently contracted Mantle Cell Lymphoma, a cancer who which no cure exists today. It’s a subset of NL or Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. If any of you are so afflicted I urge you to contact me and together we can find a solution to the city Council’s lack of initiative in banning the use of a known carcinogen in our parks. Cancer Patients Lives Matter! Call the Mayor, the Council members and the West Linn Parks Department and demand that the city immediately refrain from the use of Roundup or Ranger Pro. An e-mail to [email protected] will go to the entire Council, or better yet call each individually.
Mayor Axelrod – Cell: 503-568-2804
Council President Sakelik - Cell: 503-568-3571
Councilor Cummins - Cell: 503-568-3566
Councilor Relyea - Cell: 503-568-3419
Councilor Walters - Cell: 503-568-2781
WL Parks Manager, Ken Warner – Cell: 503.528.4103
Life is a gift of the Almighty, and this Council has an obligation to preserve and guard against ANY compromise of this treasure, and must act today in an abundance of caution to protect all LIFE – every Man, Woman, Child, and Animal in West Linn. The time is NOW!
