About Us

About OTA’s Programs & Activities

Oregon Toxics Alliance is taking a leading role to systematically challenge the root causes of toxic pollution in Oregon and to provide direct-action on local projects to empower citizens to actively protect themselves and their communities. We provide the scientific and organizational resources to confront the assumption that regulatory agencies can predict the capacity of children and all living organisms to withstand relentless toxic exposures.

An example of how these commitments can intersect occurred in the late 1990’s when OTA’s founders successfully passed the model Community Toxics Right to Know law in the city of Eugene (which requires polluters to report their emissions to the Fire Marshall for posting on a public website), and also helped win a successful legal challenge against Hyundai, Inc. for violations of the Clean Water Act at their Eugene fabrication plant.

OTA’s strategy has always been this double-pronged approach. We build advocacy for changes in statewide guidelines by supporting grassroots partnerships on local toxics issues. OTA reaches out through sponsorships and organizational assistance to community-based groups who are opposing local environmental destruction and public health threats. The OTA Board of Directors chooses among requests for fiscal support from community groups by evaluating the project’s potential to involve affected residents and create public support for fundamental changes in toxics use policy.

See the Oregon Toxics Alliance web site