By Joe Berney, with Bryan Cutchen and Guenevere Patty DiGioia

A few months ago, after Lane County Commissioners voted 3 to 2 in favor of Old Hazeldell Quarry to rezone TV Butte from forest land, leaders from the Oakridge and Westfir communities reached out and strongly requested that I meet with them. 

They included the mayor, city manager, city councilors and community leaders of Oakridge. I didn’t know any of them before we met. They were extremely concerned, and didn’t know where or whom to turn to, or what to do. Their first request was for me to run for county commissioner again. But why?

Because four years ago, when I chaired the Lane County Board of Commissioners, the board denied Ed King permission to blow up a butte in Oakridge to create another gravel mine, which would make him millions of dollars. We used criteria provided by LUBA (Oregon’s Land Use Board of Appeals), received a recommendation against allowing the proposed revetment mine from the appropriate state agency, and we simply made a decision. It was a 3 to 2 vote that time, and I believe we did the right thing.

Back to my meeting with the Oakridge contingent: They remembered that when we made that decision four years ago, I was the only commissioner who had not received campaign contributions from King, and that I was the tie-breaking third vote against it. 

The two new commissioners, David Loveall and Ryan Ceniga, apparently serve money over people and voted to allow the gravel mine to move forward. They are going to do this despite no local or regional demand for the gravel and the Lane County Planning Commission’s unanimous decision to deny the application on July 24, 2024. 

Loveall and Ceniga don’t care. No one from Oakridge or Westfir votes in their elections.

This is an example of his money enabling King to keep litigating until he gets what he wants. For example, he never showed up to the multitude of board meetings dealing with the subject. He simply paid his lawyers to show up. To him, apparently, money talks and everything else walks.

This reality is as bad on the local level as it is on the national level. But we can do something about it locally if we just wake up to the shenanigans going on.

The fears residents of Oakridge and Westfir have are real. While the government should give people more control over their lives, it is clear that this decision could disrupt their community for good and is completely out of their hands.

The reasons against allowing this gravel mine are numerous, consistent with past objections and remain deeply concerning.

Threat to the City’s Water Supply

The proposed mining site sits adjacent to a decommissioned landfill with known hazardous waste and Oakridge’s only aquifer. Excavation and blasting could destabilize this former landfill site, potentially releasing legacy contaminants. Runoff from disturbed soils may further introduce toxins into the aquifer that supplies drinking water to the city’s residents and public facilities.

Risk to Public Health from Air Pollution

Oakridge has spent years addressing its historic air quality challenges, receiving a $7 million EPA Targeted Airshed Grant to improve monitoring and reduce airborne particulates. Permitting a new gravel operation involving blasting and increased diesel truck traffic would significantly elevate particulate matter (PM 2.5 and 10) and reverse hard-won progress, endangering vulnerable populations, especially children and seniors. 

Point sources would originate from the mine itself, while non-point sources include heavy equipment, trucks and dust-covered gravel loads traveling through town. All would release emissions — fine particulates (PM 2.5) and dust (PM 10) — directly into residential and commercial areas, further compounding already existing and emerging health conditions.

Destruction of Elk Calving Habitat

The project area overlaps with sensitive wildlife habitat, including a known elk calving ground. This disturbance would displace wildlife and degrade critical seasonal habitat, violating established principles of land stewardship and environmental responsibility.

Degradation of Community Character and Livability

Unlike the two existing, lower-profile mining operations within less than five miles of TV Butte, the proposed operations would establish an open pit mine along the entire east side of the community, directly altering the scenic gateway into Oakridge. Blasting, industrial equipment noise and substantial increases in truck traffic through residential and commercial corridors would fundamentally undermine the small-town character, deter tourism and degrade the quality of life for residents.

Undermining Local Governance and Precedent

The proposed mine was previously denied under clear LUBA-aligned criteria, and no new evidence has emerged to warrant reversal. A decision to approve the project now would signal that deep pockets and litigation endurance matter more than sound land use planning, public process, or community will.

So here’s what we predict will happen, all funded by and wasting taxpayer dollars: 

This group of Lane County commissioners has already voted to reverse the previous decision and approve the gravel mine. Oakridge and Westfir will appeal on behalf of their citizens and communities. LUBA will make a recommendation. The issue will yet again come back to the Lane County Board of Commissioners. If the current board composition is the same when that happens, the people of Oakridge and Westfir will suffer. 

I have been told that it is expected that about a third of the residents would leave the area for health and quality of life reasons. This continues the cycle that communities like Oakridge experience over and over again: resource extraction and exploitation that degrade and inevitably decline the community for years to come. 

However, if we have a different board, it may go the other way.

This gravel mine will benefit less than a handful of private, wealthy individuals. Not permitting the gravel mine will instead benefit all people who live in these wonderful Lane County communities.

This should be a non-issue. I encourage residents of Lane County, no matter where in the county you live, to rise up and let your elected representatives know: You are against allowing King and Old Hazeldell Quarry to blow up and strip down more buttes for gravel mines, and you are against destroying the quality of life for so many of our Lane County neighbors and some of Lane County’s most pristine communities. 

Your county commissioners and city councilors need to hear your voice. Act now to protect Oakridge’s water, air, wildlife and future. Every Lane County community’s well-being depends on it.

 Joe Berney, former Lane County Commissioner; with Bryan Cutchen, mayor of Oakridge; and Guenevere Patty DiGioia, born-and-raised Oakridgian, scientist and coordinator for South Willamette Solutions/Oakridge Air.