(CSA Newsletter: Week 12)
Meet this week’s vegetables:
Two weeks ago, Casey and I received news that we have been fearing since we first heard similar rumors back in 2007: a rock company has put in an application to convert 175 acres of farmland on Grand Island to a sand and gravel quarry. The first public hearing on the application is next Thursday, May 6 at 7 pm at the Yamhill County Courthouse.
As I said, this quarry has been in the works for quite awhile. We pass the proposed site regularly when we run, walk or bike to the state park at the south end of the island — it is currently a 225-acre farm field directly across the road from the park. It is a beautiful spot, surrounded by trees and very close to the river. We have been quietly mourning the possible loss of this field ever since we first heard talk of the quarry three years ago.
Since hearing of the official application, we have been busy learning more about what this application actually entails and what gravel quarries really look like and how they affect the surrounding areas. These details are good to know, because another, larger quarry has already been approved (but not yet built) on the north end of Grand Island.
We farmers are concerned about the possibility of a second large quarry on our small agricultural island. Sand and gravel are found beneath some of the best farmland in the country, and yet the work of extracting and moving it is not exactly compatible with the work of farming. Quarries and the associated hauling trucks create noise, dust, and traffic — all of which are concerns for farmers raising a diversity of crops and livestock.
Here on the island, we also have the added concern of how frequent heavy truck trips could affect our bridge’s performance and safety (it’s old!). We are also concerned about how a quarry’s operation could affect floodwater movement during big flood events. Unlike the already approved quarry on the north end of the island, this new proposed quarry is upstream of almost every other farm and residence on the island — meaning that any effect on the flood waters could impact dozens of farms and residences downstream.
There’s no denying that quarries have a real impact on the farming practices of those around them, and that’s a problem for existing and future farms. The Oregon Farm Bureau and Friends of Family Farmers have both worked to stop quarries in particularly sensitive and important farming areas because of those negative impacts.
However, the quarries represent an even larger concern than the immediate consequences for neighboring farms — the continued loss of Oregon’s prime farmland. Four hundred acres of farmland are lost in the Willamette Valley to aggregate extraction practices each year. Two quarry proposals within six years on our small agricultural island is representative of how quickly farmland can disappear — at this rate, what will Grand Island look like in 20, 100, or 200 years?
Obviously rock and sand are non-renewable extractive-based resources. For some reason, the fact that they are non-renewable has given them priority in state laws over the renewable resource of agriculture. To me, this is backward thinking, but it is also the way the law currently works. While we’d love to try and stop this newly proposed quarry, it is definitely an uphill battle. At this point, many industries in Oregon are dependent upon cheap and abundant sand and gravel, and government officials feel pressure to make more sources available — never mind the fact that this rate of use will require the continued finding of sources and the consequential destruction of farmland. We farmers have to question: “When will enough be enough?”
So, what can we do? First of all, we can pressure the gravel companies to restore their quarry sites to farmland when possible. It’s hard to believe that the resulting site will be at all equivalent to its original state, but it’s better than leaving an industrial mess.
Secondly, we can work to change the law so that non-renewable extractive industries do not have priority over sustainable renewable industries such as farming. As a state, we need to shift our priorities and our economy to industries that can continue providing income and jobs for decades to come. Agriculture is uniquely suited to continue producing for many generations because it relies most heavily on the only energy input on our planet: the sun!
Finally, if we acknowledge that extractive industries are a dead end for an economy and society, then we also need to reduce our dependence on non-renewable extractive products: oil, coal, mined metals, ground water (in some places), sand and gravel. To make a big reduction in our use of non-renewables, we need to make societal level changes to industry and commerce — how and whether we decide to build new roads, how we produce food (because agriculture can be a big consumer of extractive resources too), how we make electricity to light and heat our homes, and so much more.
But on an individual level, we can make a difference too. Obviously, you have already begun making a difference by choosing to buy locally produced organic vegetables. You are investing in a farm that makes sustainability a top priority. Individual conservation of existing resources is also key — taking fewer trips in the car, owning fewer things, reusing rather than replacing items around our house, etc.
Specifically regarding sand and gravel use, we suggest that you think twice before using concrete products, which are based on these materials. Concrete has been touted as a “green” building material lately, but we have difficulty seeing how it fits in that category since it is made up of non-renewable, high energy materials: sand, gravel and cement. The production of cement itself is incredibly energy intensive and polluting. The Ash Grove Cement Company in Durkee, Oregon is the largest emitter of mercury of all the cement kilns in the county at 2,582 lbs per year (five times higher than the next highest polluter!).
So, as you can see, an issue that is local to us here on Grand Island is also related to the environment and world we all live in. It’s all connected: how we live, how we eat, how we spend, how we vote, how we approve laws, etc.
Even though it feels somewhat like a lost cause (the current Yamhill County Commissioners have approved every quarry application so far), Casey and I are choosing to be a part of the political process in regards to this quarry. We will be attending the May 6 meeting to testify about our concerns, and we have already been in touch with the planning department with our thoughts.
As eaters and residents of Oregon, you too have a stake in the preservation of farmland. We invite you to attend the hearing as well to express your support of farming and concern about the impact the quarry will have on Grand Island. If anyone is passionate about testifying and would like more information about the quarry application and the issues, please contact us. We hope that at least some of you come out to help us defend Oregon’s farming future! (Unfortunately, the quarry is the second agenda item of the night, so if you do come, be prepared to wait awhile — bring snacks, water, and possibly a pillow!)
In the meantime, keep doing what you do best: enjoy this week’s vegetables!
Your farmers, Katie & Casey Kulla
