Thank you, Jennifer E. Sunseri, for publicizing the scandal that is Zip-O Laminators, a factory at 2701 W. 1st, that’s been waking us up with soul-wrenching noise in the wee hours of the morning (“Zip-O-Hell,” Letters 1/20).

I wake up sweating, sheets wrapped around me, groping for what’s wrong. At first, I was confused for a long while. Lately I quickly realized it’s Zip-O. Then I lie awake — maybe for an hour, maybe for the rest of the morning — feeling it penetrate my body with its massive electrical noise, now louder, then softer, then booming in much louder. I mean, this is mega noise. Even in daytime, it should not be allowed in the city. Nobody else can make that kind of noise without being arrested and/or sued.

I’m retired, but think of the people who need eight hours of sleep to be efficient at work. They get woken at 4 am and kept awake until the alarm goes off. Are they going to give you good service? Are they going to be fun at the office? And what does it do to our personal relationships, which rely to some extent on our mood and our general health? Zip-O is a daily, serious crime against thousands of people.

Testimony in front of the Eugene City Council and personal pleas have had no effect. The city seems not to care.

Why? Money. Big Business generates big tax receipts, giving the city a larger budget, so they can build — well, you see what they’re building. Eugene looks more like L.A. every day. The EWEB water tank adventure showed us what local democracy means.

Does Zip-O’s noise matter to us, as citizens? Yes, very much. Does it matter to the city government?

Christopher Logan

Eugene

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