Increased Wildfire Risk
Natural and small accidental fires are a concern during certain seasons in the region. Most recently, we saw how fast these fires spread on Chehalem Mountain during the week of September 8th, 2020. Many residents had only minutes to grab belongings and flee before being evacuated. Several residents could not corral their livestock to evacuate and had to open gates in hopes that they would survive.
The most recent wildfires came within 1.5 miles of the Jaquith Road operation.
Police evacuating residents across the street from the refinery warned, “if the winds change, the fire could be here in 5 minutes.” There were some logistical hurdles that made fighting fires in the region difficult, including terrain and lack of access to water. Many units were fighting for days on end, and planes were dropping water from the air in order to contain some of these fires.
Human Caused Fire - Refinery Explosions
Over 40 documented explosions have happened in Oregon with these types of marijuana refinery operations. The Oregon State Fire Marshall does not have an accurate explosion count because there is no code in their system to track “Refinery Explosions”. An explosion at this refinery could be devastating for the region.
Normally when the proper permit is pulled from the County, it triggers an inspection from TVFR (Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue). The structures at 18505 Jaquith were permitted in such a manner that there haven’t been typical fire inspections. The Yamhill Planning Director classified three buildings as “agricultural buildings” which bypasses TVFR inspecting them for safety. On the application, it shows “TVFR n/a”.
According to firehouse.com, “The occurrence of BHO lab explosions is significant. Due to their prevalence, explosive nature, and significant risk of injury to occupants and first responders, some within the law enforcement community are describing hash labs as the ‘modern meth lab problem.'”
You can access the full firehouse.com article on Butane Hash Labs, and their implications for fire safety here.
How You Can Help
We need help with spreading the word about the potential threat to our finite water resources and risk of fire. We have reached only a fraction of the residents on this aquifer.
We residents have already hired attorneys to oppose the decision with regard to LUBA (Land Use Board of Appeals). We will need to hire an attorney to represent the residents to OWRD (Oregon Water Resources Department). We need to crowd source and fundraise to cover legal fees, protest filing fees, and potential expert testimony.
Please consider donating to the cause or signing up to volunteer by clicking the button below.