Date: 04/08/2015 09:14 AM
AP-OR–2nd NewsMinute/283
Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press
SALEM, Ore. (AP) – Oregon could be the latest state to ban the tiny plastic beads that are often used in soaps and other personal care products. Lawmakers are considering a bill banning so-called “microbeads,” the small plastic particles used in items such as facial scrubs, hand cleansers and toothpaste. They’re designed to be rinsed down the drain, but are too small to be captured by wastewater treatment plants. They can make their way to large bodies of water, where they can be ingested by birds and fish.
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) – A judge has heard arguments in a case brought by two Eugene teens who have spent years contending that the state is failing to take adequate steps to stave off climate change. The Register-Guard reports that the teens originally filed suit in 2011. The same judge dismissed the case in 2012, but the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled last year that the judge does have jurisdiction to consider the lawsuit’s merits.
GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) – Federal biologists have agreed to consider changing protections for the northern spotted owl from threatened to endangered. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is announcing today there is enough new scientific information in a conservation group’s petition to warrant a hard look, which will take about two years.
VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) – The City of Vancouver says a proposal by NuStar Energy L.P. to handle crude oil at the Port of Vancouver must undergo a detailed environmental review. The Columbian reports the decision means the planned conversion of NuStar’s existing facility would be subject to an environmental impact statement. The company has until April 17 to appeal the city’s decision.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press.
