From Craigslist: "Before YOU buy a house n Eugene, or in the surrounding area....." (Portland: low income, real estate)

[Roman2000]

Friends,

I'm making actual steps to move to Eugene from SF Bay area. I checked Eugene several weeks ago and fell in love with the area and the people. I've never seen nicer people in my life - to recap my experiences.

For several weeks I've been checking out real estate section of eugene.craigslist.com and there is this person who keeps posting quoted message below. Is that really THAT bad? (talking about air quality). When I was in Eugene, several weeks ago the air was great, I didn't notice anything bad. But this person talks about winter time. In any case, please, comment if there is a merit to the message or it's psycho case on loose.

Thank you very much for you input!

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"Before YOU buy a house in Eugene, or in the surrounding area....

EUGENE, Ore. -- "An American Lung Association air quality report gave the
Eugene-Springfield metro area a failing grade for its air quality."

In the 2013 air quality report, the American Lung Association ranks
Eugene as the 14th worst place for air particle pollution and gives the
area an F grade for this type of pollution.

Those particles come from pollen, mold, and dust. The main contributor to
the failing grade is burnt wood used to heat many homes in Lane County
during the winter. One doctor said the inversions that trap the wood
smoke in the valley during the winter months can be very dangerous for
people with lung problems such as asthma and emphysema. Sure, point the
finger at people that use wood, that's not it at all!!!.....I hardly
doubt that's puts the smell of crude in my house and soot webs under the
eaves of my house and of many houses in EUGENE!! That's absurd to blame them!!!!

The LRAPA spokesperson said the report was a bit misleading about the air
quality in the Willamette Valley. "We monitor everyday, so they're looking at samples
from everyday, where other communities are monitoring every third or sixth day. So we would show
more exceedances of the standard because we do monitor everyday," said Sally Markos, spokesperson
for LRAPA. BUT,THEY DO NOT measure or monitor the level of diesel in the
air!??? ALL the CRUDE in the air!!!! They think it's from the cars
....cars don't sit and idle!!! There is a difference in burned exhaust
fumes vs. just sitting and letting engines idle!!!!! Today Sunday June
30 (2013)...these engines were sitting there pumping ...the numbers on them:
AND that was only at ONE location!!! AND that was only one day, every day
is A NO good air day EVER in Eugene! EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!! IN ALL OF EUGENE!!!

8335
7436
5436
5409

3947
4692
5516
838
5516 all guilty of sitting and letting their damn engines idling!!!
so, contact the railroad and let them know....exhaust was THICK
coming from them!!! AND one engine has two or more exhausts systems!!

I've been wearing a mask and sunglasses today, and most days to stay
healthy! I'm leaving this Hell HOLE!!

Forest fires are also another contributing factor to the air quality. One
doctor said last summer a number of his patients from the Bend area had
to leave their homes because the air quality was so dangerous. THAT'S
IN BEND!!! The problem in Eugene is that it's ongoing, constant!!!!
Funny, how they focus away from the real, ongoing, everyday problem!!

Markos also said the report measures the air quality in Oakridge, which
has the worst air quality in the county." I heard on the radio the
"worst place in the COUNTRY!"

THAT'S TO say nothing about all the diesel exhaust smoke and fumes in the
air! The trains are allowed to sit and idle their engines for hours and
hours, days and nights straight sometimes. Pumping their exhaust in the
air WE breathe. Look around at all the disabled people here! People are
proof of air quality! Wood burning and any kind of burning is an excuse
for what's really going on.

What a shame!....Young, old and in between disabled or/ and sick! Soot
webs under the eaves of homes in Eugene, it's so bad! The above article
doesn't even come close to telling the whole story, there are MANY
different affects on people's health. My advice....live in
Portland/Beaverton/Lake Oswego/Roseburg....anyplace but in EUGENE!
There is NO worse place!!!

Rated on April 26th and broadcasted on the local radio station an "F" for
air quality.
KPNW EUGENE Radio station.

People are disabled and sick here, no energy, dizzy, headaches, muscles hurt, eyes burn,
throat burns, fatigue, and MORE!!!

Have you EVER noticed the people in Eugene....??? People are
proof....LOOK at the people....MANY with hoses up their noses, hence oxygen...read on.

Lots of disabled people in Eugene....people breathe diesel exhaust fumes
and smoke ALL THE TIME! NEVER a good air day in EUGENE! EVER!! If you think so, YOU just
don't know what good air is!! Go to Lake Oswego/Portland/Roseburg/ YOU will find
out....and watch the people there, they are FULL of energy and get
outside much of the time. Check to see how many use walkers, with hoses up their noses,
wheelchairs, motorized chairs.....YOU will SEE!!!! ...Few to none!!

Ever notice how many people in wheelchairs, with walkers, in motorized
chairs, hoses up their noses in EUGENE? Take a look, they are EASY
to find.....LOTS of them!!!! Young, old and in between!!!!
Many with asthma, retina/blindness problems and MORE!.....Eugene is a
dr's gold mine! An epidemic of Whooping cough, I heard on the radio here.
Clean the air up in Eugene and that will go away!!! Lots of kids and pets too
with diesel poisoning!!! WHAT A SHAME!!!! Of course, the railroad and LRAPA
are government related!! So, good luck to US!!!

The trains are allowed to idle their engines for days and nights straight
pumping their damn exhaust fumes and smoke into the air for ALL to
breathe. It's in ALL of
Eugene...clear up to Cottage grove and North clear up to Albany. See the
fuzzy haze ......that's diesel! YOU can see it moving in the air!! People
are sick and don't know why!!!! AND they want coal trains
coming through to add more health problems!!! IT'S Over time to FIGHT
BACK!!!! LARPA won't do a damn thing!! Contact them, though!!!
EVERYONE needs to speak UP!!!!!! Do you care about YOUR health!!!????
Smoke and fumes is good FOR NO ONE....and/or other toxic chemicals IN
EUGENE!!!! PLUS on top of ALL the diesel pollution and chemicals in the
air they now want to put smart meters on all the homes here. Smart Meters,
another health hazard!!!

The Railroad denies it even happens....NO ONE has the RIGHT to
contaminate THE AIR I BREATHE!!!! That YOU breathe!!!!!! I was tested
off the chart with exhaust smoke and fume poisoning!

I didn't know why I never felt good in EUGENE!!! TESTED in PORTLAND!!!

Contact the governor!! Environmental agency, whom ever....YOU/ME/US are
being affected by ALL the pollution in EUGENE.

THIS criminal nonsense NEEDS TO STOP!!!! In front of EWEB is a sign
that reads....NO idling....WHAT A JOKE and the trains are allowed to sit
and idle for hours and hours pumping their damn exhaust into the air WE
breathe!!!!!!!!???????

People that live in Eugene should be DAMN MAD!!!!!!"

[Steve Pickering]

Extremist with a rant and a personal axe to grind. Ignore them.

[Steve Pickering]

Originally Posted by Roman2000

... ... THAT'S TO say nothing about all the diesel exhaust smoke and fumes in the air! The trains are allowed to sit and idle their engines for hours and
hours, days and nights straight sometimes. ... ...

This line in the rant tells you a ton about this commenter. They most likely live in the low income Trainsong area. This is a low rent drug infested hovel along the tracks between Highway 99, and across the rail yard along the Parkway in the area west of River Road with another low rent enclave.

You get any farther away and you can't hear, smell, or see the engines in the train yard.

[ditchlights]

Yeah...... That's why Eugene is nicknamed Track Town USA and they hold the Olympic trials for track and field here. Because, you know, those high calibur runners love nothing more than to train in an environment loaded with air pollution.......

Now, as far as allergies from grass and pollens and such, yeah, it can get pretty bad here some times. Also, some of the burns that occur can make the air somewhat smoky. But really bad air pollution? Those rants are comical. As someone who was born and raised raised in SoCal and has lived in the Eugene area for close to a decade now, I know what "pollution" looks like.

[Metlakatla]

The OP may have posted some personal opinions, but nonetheless, the American Lung Association did rate Eugene as the "14th-most polluted city in the nation for short-term particle pollution."

American Lung Association

[Steve Pickering]

I think that rating goes back to the days when they burned the Grass Seed Fields. They no longer do that.

These days there are no "Burns" that occur. There are forest fires, but Eugene does not own the record for those. That would be Bend to Sister to Madres.

The short term pollution the Lung Association refers to is based on Fires in areas like Sisters that get trapped in the BOWL that Eugene sits in. It is very short term, and only when external sources pollute.

[Metlakatla]

The report was released just a couple of months ago.

Anyway, OP, if you've got respiratory issues, I'd suggest checking with your doctor before moving to Eugene. I think that the CL poster used quite a bit of hyperbole, but it the air quality has been a matter of concern for some.

[Steve Pickering]

It's the bowl effect. The temp drops and the air clears.

[Roman2000]

Thanks a lot to everyone who has responded. Your kind help is appreciated.

OP

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Well, it is wet, so there are mold spores. There are lots of plants, so there is pollen.

People heat with wood stoves, so there is smoke in the winter.

My opinion: it is not the best location for people with fussy or weak lungs.