Trying to add a payment method? You can do this on the 
How much would you pay for peace of mind?
It’s a question worth asking after Lookout Eugene-Springfield reported that 1,400 gallons of J.H. Baxter & Co.’s hazardous wood-preserving chemicals were buried in a long-defunct landfill beneath Alton Baker Park more than 50 years ago.
The J.H. Baxter plant in west Eugene produced railroad ties, telephone poles and other specialized wood products for eight decades. But years of investigations revealed that toxic chemicals from the plant had seeped into the soil of some nearby residents’ yards, possibly contributing to elevated cancer levels in the neighborhood.
State and federal environmental officials spent time in 2021 and 2022 collecting those soil samples from dozens of yards just north of the J.H. Baxter plant. In July, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency declared the plant a Superfund site.
When Lookout asked about toxic chemicals buried at the former Day Island Landfill beneath the eastern portion of Alton Baker Park, neither the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality nor Lane County showed much interest in assuring the public that efforts to seal landfill waste from seeping into soil there have held up. That’s despite the fact that thousands of park visitors and trail runners traverse the iconic grounds each year.
The state and county should reconsider their stance. DEQ previously studied the landfill and found evidence of the same toxic chemical that triggered the Superfund designation, but concluded the risk to the public was low.
That testing was conducted all the way back in 1992.
We hope state and county officials are right that the cover of soil and vegetation between the landfill waste and surface has held up over the past 50 years. And to be clear, there’s no evidence presented to date that anyone visiting the park, running along Pre’s Trail or exploring the park’s natural area has experienced negative health effects.
But unlike the homes near the J.H. Baxter plant, where residents reported concerns for years, it’s trickier to pinpoint the risk in public spaces like parks, where far more people spend far shorter amounts of time. And while landfill coverings typically include a tarp-like impermeable liner in addition to soil and vegetation, no such liner is documented in assessments of the Day Island Landfill.
The redevelopment of former landfills into city parks is hardly unique across the United States, including in Eugene. Portions of Tugman Park in south Eugene were developed in the 1990s above a former municipal burning dump, with DEQ’s oversight.
But in numerous cases across the country, like in Berkeley, California, environmental researchers have found harmful chemicals in soil or water decades after landfills were redeveloped into parks. In César Chávez Park along Berkeley’s waterfront, elevated levels of radium were discovered in 2023, 30 years after it was converted from a landfill to a city park.
The Day Island Landfill was covered during an era of far less stringent environmental regulation than today. And research methodologies have evolved in the 30 years since soil was last tested there.
We think the state bears primary responsibility for conducting additional soil testing at the park. But even if DEQ will not step up, Lane County can. Lane County Public Health reports to the Board of County Commissioners. We call on the board to make its own determination. First priority: Convince the state to test soil above the landfill. And if the state won’t play ball, the county should explore other options, including paying for the tests itself, or splitting the costs with the state.
Officials are reluctant to estimate costs for testing the former landfill. DEQ says one or two tests likely wouldn’t be adequate to get updated information on possible threats.
We know testing isn’t cheap and government budgets are tight. But DEQ has spent nearly $3 million on cleanup work related to the J.H. Baxter plant. If the risk at Alton Baker Park really is low, conducting some soil testing there should cost just a fraction of that.
And it would be a small price to pay for peace of mind.
