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Mayor Rob Drake also attended the February meeting. The Q&A session yielded the following Bus Barn questions:Hal Oien later reported that the application for a Bus Barn is dead for the moment. The BSD did not appeal LUBA's decision to a higher court within the required time period, so that application is dead. The BSD is currently parking about 50 buses on-site, is polluting the air with diesel exhaust, and is disturbing surrounding homeowners in the early morning hours. Hal then reiterated Mayor Drake's statement that we need to turn to the DEQ to enforce the law.
- What can we do to stop the air pollution from the Bus Barn site?
As you know air pollution is not clearly defined in our code. The city defers to DEQ. The DEQ has the enforcement power and the law behind them. We relied on the DEQ and they did not negatively comment during the hearing process.
- After some discussion it was decided that the DEQ should add input no later than at the Facilities Review Stage. The DEQ must stay within the 120-Day Rule which is State law.- Where does the property sit now?
They can use that site forever as long as nothing is changed. The school district has rejected the idea of dispersing the buses.
- Someone in the audience then commented that they have pictures that demonstrate that the parking area has been restriped.- I hear the buses every morning at 6am. That area was used by Yamamoto for cars and not buses. There has been no mitigation to current site for bus use. Noise levels must be higher. Why wasn't mitigation required before they moved in?
The property is zoned light industrial. They have the legal right for that use.
Hal Oien announced that LUBA affirmed the decision made by the City of Beaverton against both the School District and the CCOB. Yes, we lost our appeal on Air Pollution, but the City of Beaverton in August of 2002 amended part of the code that deals with performance standards so now they can request modeling on Air Pollution if they want. This is important for us in case the BSD re-applies in the future for a Bus Barn.
It was suggested that anyone who might be curious to see what's happening at the Bus Barn site should go there from 6-7am on a school day and see for yourselves. There is a tremendous amount of noise and diesel smell. If you can smell odor at the fence line the BSD is breaking the law. Please write a letter and complain to Mayor Drake and The City Council. Save Our Neighborhood & Our Kids.
David James indicated he was planning on attending the upcoming City Council Meeting. He asked if he could represent the NAC before the City Council on matters pertaining to The Bus Barn and explaining to the City Council the Letter from the DEQ which is very technical. There was unanimous approval of this idea.
Barb Sem suggested that the NAC and CCOB need to start getting the word out that we want a school and not a Bus Barn at the site. The NAC and CCOB need to also start pushing the idea of building a bus barn at the current school administration site, and putting a new administration building next to the new school. The City of Beaverton offered to sell to the BSD a parcel of land located on the corner of 160th and TV HWY that could easily store 40 or more buses, but the BSD didn't want to purchase the property. Let's disperse the buses. It was decided that for now we would write a letter only asking the BSD not to appeal the LUBA decision.
Hal Oien reported that the Bus Barn LUBA appeals were heard before a 3-member Board on the morning of December 4th. The whole process took about 90 minutes. The decision should be announced on December 23rd.
There was some discussion between those in attendance about the current usage of the site by the BSD and whether anything can be done about it. We are, at the very least, going to demand that the City enforce their own performance standards.
The representative from the Beaverton Police Dept also indicated that traffic volumes have stabilized on Cornell Rd in front of Krispy Kreme.
David James updated everyone on the latest developments with the Bus Barn LUBA appeal. The Beaverton School District's appeal of the City Council's earlier ruling will go before LUBA in a December hearing. The Concerned Citizens of Beaverton (CCOB) has sent the Mayor, City Council, BSD School Board and the BSD Superintendent copies of the DEQ Report described below. The report is very technical but clearly exposes the inadequacies of the study. In addition the DEQ has a long list of recommendations for the BSD to perform to insure safety to the children and nearby businesses. David plans to attend an upcoming school board meeting and ask the School Board to demand their money back from the consultant.
The Bus Barn site is not standing empty and unused. The BSD is currently storing approximately 50 buses behind the building and next to the Willow Creek wetlands. The BSD is also using a mobile tanker to fuel these buses and creating diesel spills on the pavement, according to a driver that was interviewed. That diesel will eventually be washed into Willow Creek, as the BSD has done no mitigation to prevent the diesel from being washed into the sensitive wetlands.
As mentioned during September's NAC meeting, the School District's original Air Quality Study with regard to the Bus Barn was made by Michael Minor & Assoc (MMA).
Questions regarding the study's technical accuracy were raised by NAC members, and the study was ultimately submitted to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for review. The DEQ's conclusions after performing an overview of the study were that "the model used and the level of detail in the analysis does not fully evaluate the impacts from this project." Specific inadequacies cited by the DEQ include:Click here for a copy of the DEQ's findings. The file is in PDF format, and you will need version 4.0 (or higher) of Adobe's Acrobat Reader installed to your PC. The software is available for free at www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html.
- "The focus of the analysis is on emissions, both idling and moving, only within the parking area. Potentially larger peak emissions from accelerating buses exiting the parking lot and leaving the area are not directly addressed in the MMA analysis."
- "Two roads leave the area, one along the east side of the area occupied by a school and play field. Emissions and impacts from these access roads were not evaluated in the analysis."
- "There is no supporting information on emissions and how they were derived."
- "Start-up emissions and other operating emissions data are important to evaluate, but have not been included in this analysis."
- "The analysis examined the impact of 176 buses, but other information indicates that a larger number of buses will be using the lot."
- "The MMA Report used the free-flowing traffic algorithm for simulating emissions from stationary idling vehicles."
- "The size of the emissions area (128 ft by 200 ft) used in the model is significantly smaller than the actual area that is proposed for use by buses."
- "The receptors chosen for the model were inadequate. The receptors extended from the parking lot to the south", and "higher concentrations would be expected to the east and west".
- "The analysis does not address impacts from diesel PM [particulate matter], a pollutant that DEQ considers to be of significant concern".
The contact information for written complaints concerning BSD Bus Barn diesel air pollution, noise pollution, water pollution, and any litter problems are listed below. Phone calls followed by written correspondence works best. Paper has to be filed in a complaint file, and that helps build the complaint record:
Oregon Department of Environmental QualityStephanie Hallock, DirectorYou can also contact the same office via:
Oregon Department of Environmental Quality
811 SW Sixth Avenue
Portland, OR 97204-1390
(503) 229-5300Oregon DEQ Compliance and Enforcement, (503) 229-5340Written complaints have the most impact because they have to be logged and placed in a file. Repeated written complaints are acceptable and normal. A letter should be generated stating the date and time of offending activity, with a request for protection from pollution and action by the Oregon DEQ to correct the situation.
City of BeavertonMayor's OfficeMayor Rob Drake (Chief of Staff: Linda Adlard)City Council
PO Box 4755
Beaverton, OR 97076-4755
(503) 526-2497
mayormail@ci.beaverton.or.us
- Dennis Doyle (2003 Council President). Voicemail: (503) 526-2344
- Fred Ruby (Councilor). Voicemail: (503) 526-2345
- Cathy Stanton (Councilor). Voicemail: (503) 526-2343
- Forrest Soth (Councilor). Voicemail: (503) 644-4972
- Betty Bode (Councilor). Voicemail: (503) 526-2347
Mailing Address: PO Box 4755, Beaverton, OR 97076-4755
E-mail Address: citymail@ci.beaverton.or.us
Online Comment Submission Form: www.ci.beaverton.or.us/council/comments.cfm
Beaverton School DistrictJerome Colonna, Superintendent
16550 SW Merlo Road
Beaverton, OR 97006
(503) 591-8000
And for those of you with inquiring minds, here's a link to a generic Public Records Request Form. The form can be used for requesting access to public records from both the City of Beaverton and Washington County.
Excerpts from the Question & Answer session with Beaverton School District Superintendent Jerry Colonna...
- Is the Bus Barn site being considered as an alternative school site?
Jerry Green answered. Statistics show that only 50 students would be able to walk to school at this site. In addition schools are not allowed in light industrial zones.
- What are your contingency plans if the BSD Appeal before LUBA concerning The Bus Barn is denied?
No comment. We will continue to use the existing site.- The City Council rejected the Bus Barn application based on local traffic impacts, specifically the congestion on Bethany Ct. Has the BSD investigated why their traffic experts analysis failed to predict this conclusion?
No Comment- Audience Question: Would you run buses up and down Bethany Ct to see if they can safely pass by each other?
No Answer- Who is the Risk Management carrier for the BSD?
The BSD is self insured. It does have an umbrella policy with Marsh. Dan Thomas is the Risk Manager.- What has your Risk Management team advised you about potential liability from lawsuits originating from the many Bus Barn Issues?
No Comment.- There are currently a small number of buses operating at the Bus Barn site. How many complaints have you had from surrounding neighbors and businesses? What have you done to mitigate these complaints?
So far only one complaint in the form of a letter. No mitigation was suggested.
- It has been suggested that high school students be given bus passes to ride Tri Met buses in order to reduce the need for expanding the bus fleet and to save money. Has the BSD discussed this with Tri Met? If not, why not?
The BSD has not discussed this with Tri Met. We have some issues with this idea. primarily that Tri Met buses don't go into neighborhoods so students may have to walk too far. Also we're concerned about liability issues because we would be unable to screen the bus drivers.- Has the BSD ever considered moving the Administration building to the Bus Barn site and putting a bus barn at the current administration site.
No we have not.- Audience Question: Where should Bus Barn complaints be made?
Please call Bob Fisher, Assistant Superintendent, at 503-591-4395.
The Bus Barn appeal is now before LUBA (the State's Land Use Board of Appeals). We found 95 errors in the record that was submitted by the City of Beaverton and are asking the court to have those corrected. We are in agreement with the City's decision on Traffic, but we are contesting their decision on Air Quality. The City's argument is that "it's a performance standard not a design standard." Our group has gone through all 1800+ pages of the official record, and we have filed 13 public record requests with the Beaverton School District. So far we haven't heard back from them.
DEQ Update from David JamesThe original application on Air Quality was made by Michael Minor & Assoc. The technical information was completely wrong. David ran their numbers through the model and came up with completely different figures. His analysis was submitted to the City Council at the Appeal but rejected by them. David James, David Kamin, and Hal Oien recently met with members of DEQ and discussed the reports. As a result of the meeting, we have now formally submitted Michael Minors Report to the DEQ for review. Our goal at LUBA is to have Air Quality made a design standard.
The BSD has reopened their appeal to LUBA. The City has till 7/22 to submit the complete record. The petitioners have 2 weeks to make sure that the City submitted all documents. Then there is a three week period where the petitioners can write a brief that contains assignment of errors that the City made in determining their decision. After that it will be argued before LUBA. The NAC and Concerned Citizens of Beaverton (CCOB) are with the City on traffic but not on air pollution and the other issues. One of our first hurdles is to go over the Record as submitted by the City of Beaverton to make sure that it is complete. If not we can submit documents that were left out. Lauren Paulson an attorney and chair of CPO 6 doubts that LUBA will read the record. Instead they will concentrate on the Briefs. Briefs will cite the record though so we need to make sure that documents that support our cause are included.
Hal Oien told everyone that CCOB has twice offered to setup a committee to work with our congressional delegation to get funds for catalyzed soot filters for all the buses. The BSD rejected the idea each time. Currently there is only one school district that uses soot filters. Soot filters will last about 75,000 miles and cost $2000-$3000 per bus depending on the type. In order to retrofit the whole bus fleet the cost will be about $2,000,000. New federal laws will be effective in 2007 that will require soot filters.
The NAC will need an attorney to go before LUBA. At this time the Board has not hired one. The Board will be meeting on August 16th to discuss the LUBA appeal and our strategy.
A couple of good ideas from Hal on bus use that we will try and pursue regardless of any outcome:
- Use compressed air to charge the brakes of the buses so they don't need to idle for long periods during morning startups.
- When you set the emergency brakes shut off the engine.
The BSD has now put a fence around the building in clear violation of the CCR'S. Mediation is over. The Concerned Citizens of Beaverton (CCOB) made the offer to try and get federal grants to put soot filters on the buses. The BSD has begun parking the small size buses on the site. They still have no valid Air Pollution Study. Apparently the BSD is planning to park buses on all the paved areas of the site and then have the employees park offsite on nearby streets which is a clear violation of the CCR'S. It is up to the other property owners to enforce the CCR'S.
The Beaverton School District has proposed that a new Bus Barn be located next to the Stonegate & Weybridge neighborhoods at 167th Ave and Twin Oaks Drive [the former location of Yamamoto Manufacturing (USA) Inc]. The proposed facility is intended to hold several hundred buses and staff vehicles for the district. The official project description from the Board of Design Review application is available on the Land Use Bulletin page of this website.
The application was reviewed at a public Board of Design Review hearing on March 14, 2002 at Beaverton City Hall, 4755 SW Griffith Drive, Beaverton. Representatives from the Concerned Citizens of Beaverton (CCB) and our NAC used this presentation to urge the Board to reject the Bus Barn plan on health and environmental grounds. Of particular concern was the potential for this facility to generate substantial amounts of diesel emissions, considered a "probable carcinogen" by numerous State and Federal health & environmental agencies. The facility's location adjacent to the Five Oaks Middle School and to several neighborhoods would mean that many residents (especially young children) could be at significantly increased risk for respiratory disorders such as asthma and pneumonia, various types of cancer, and other ailments. In spite of these issues, the Design Board ultimately approved the plan.
The NAC appealed the Board's ruling, and the matter went before the Beaverton City Council for a full public hearing on June 3 & June 10, 2002. Representatives of both the CCB and the NAC were again on-hand to provide the Council with another presentation which again focused on health and environmental issues, but which also provided more detailed analysis of resulting traffic conditions. The City Council ended-up rejecting the Board of Design Review's decision, citing unresolved traffic issues.TIPS FOR VIEWING PRESENTATIONS: They are designed for viewing at a resolution of 800x600. If that's what you've got, and if things still seem a bit off, try adjusting your browser's font/text to a smaller size.The School District has appealed the City Council ruling to the State's Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) pending the result of mediation talks with NAC and CCB representatives. The mediation meeting between the Concerned Citizens of Beaverton and the Beaverton School District began in December, 2002.
Another development, resulting in part from the efforts of several CCB and NAC representatives, has been the procurement of a $75,000 grant from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality towards the installation of new emissions filters on a portion of the District's fleet of buses. Once installed on a bus, each filter can be expected to reduce that bus's diesel emissions by up to 95%. While this grant only supplies filters for a small portion of the BSD's fleet, it is a significant step in the right direction with regard to improving the outlook for the health of our children and ourselves. Once again, citizen involvement makes a difference.
Additional information regarding the Bus Yard and related issues can be found via the following links:If you know of other websites which contain information regarding the busyard, whether pro or con, please forward the web address to the NAC Webmaster via the E-mail link at the bottom of this page.
- busyard.homestead.com is a website maintained by the Concerned Citizens of Beaverton. It charts the issue's progress and provides additional links to various media and research reports.
- www.ehhi.org/pubs/children_diesel.html highlights the numerous health issues related to diesel emissions, particularly with regard to children. The website is maintained by Environment and Human Health, Inc., self-described as "a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to protecting human health from environmental harms through research, education and the promotion of sound public policy," and "made up of doctors, public health professionals and policy experts committed to the reduction of environmental health risks to individuals."
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