"I took some heat early on for accusing the DEQ of being asleep at the switch," Wheeler said Thursday, in an interview with other mayoral candidates. "They were nowhere near the switch."
Wheeler says he's "now leaning more toward the side of the equation that we do need to work with our regional partners to do something here—particularly around monitoring and enforcement." It's the latest in a series of subtle shifts for the candidate on air quality, since revelations in early February that two glass factories had been spewing carcinogens like cadmium and arsenic into nearby air for years.
In early March, according to KGW, Wheeler said during a forum that "the city of Portland needs to be very aggressive, and, frankly, the whole region needs to consider a regional approach to both enforcement and regulation. If the state DEQ can't get its act together, then I think we need to go our own road here.”
Then last week, after Gov Kate Brown announced a fairly vague effort she's dubbed "Cleaner Air Oregon," Wheeler's Facebook page said he was "encouraged." A campaign spokesperson said at the time that "Ted is for helping give state regulators (in an agency already dedicated to air quality) the tools they need to be successful," seeking to differentiate Wheeler from other candidates, such as Multnomah County Commissioner Jules Bailey and Portland State University employee Sarah Iannarone, who have said they'd support the creation of a new air authority.
Wheeler—leading the mayor's race handily according to the only polling that's been released in months— says his latest shift is the product of the news this week that indicates federal rules enacted in 2007 should have forced both Bullseye Glass and Uroboros Glass to install industrial pollution controls. That's a far different story from what DEQ has offered for the past two months. It turns out the agency didn't realize the federal rules applied.
Local air authorities aren't unheard of in Oregon. Eugene/Lane County has had one for decades. It currently spends nearly $3.5 million a year [PDF], with revenues largely generated by permitting fees, but with state and local money thrown in.
Wheeler's still hedging a bit in his support, saying: "Frankly, I prefer the state get its act together. But if they cannot demonstrate to the people of this community in short order that they can get their act together, then we’re going to be forced to go the other way."
In the same interview Thursday, both Iannarone and Bailey—along with candidates David Schor, Deborah Harris, and Bim Ditson—all said they'd support some sort of local air regulation. Local activist and candidate Jessie Sponberg said it would just create more red tape.
Wheeler's not the only person fluctuating on the issue. As we've reported, Mayor Charlie Hales and Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury first suggested a local air authority might be called for in a letter to the governor back in February. Hales recently suggested in a public meeting he'd look to schedule a work session to formally investigate creating a new entity—likely in partnership with other counties and local governments. His office then backed off that statement somewhat, saying it was still waiting to see what plans state officials had in store.
Meanwhile, Kafoury's been in talks with officials at Metro and in Washington County, according to OPB.
