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From: yourdime@outlook.com

SALEM, Ore. — Oregon has long been known as a mecca for high-quality
marijuana, but that reputation has come with a downside: illegal growers
who offer huge amounts of cash to lease or buy land and then leave behind
pollution, garbage and a drained water table.

Now, a bill passed by the Oregon Legislature seeks to tackle that by
making the landowners themselves responsible for the aftermath. The bill
also prohibits the use of rivers or groundwater at the illegal site, as
well as criminalizes seizing the identity papers of migrant workers who
tend the plants or threatening to report them for deportation.

Under the bill, local governments are authorized to file a claim of lien
against property used for illicit marijuana, if the owner doesn’t pay for
the cleanup.

A leader of the state’s cannabis and alcohol regulatory agency has said
southern Oregon is to marijuana what Bordeaux is to wine. But the state
faces challenges on two fronts: The regulated industry has a glut of
product that has slashed prices and profit margins, and there has been
huge growth in illegal pot farms operating under the guise of growing
hemp, which became legal nationally in 2018.

After passing the Senate and House, the House Speaker Dan Rayfield signed
the measure Wednesday, over the objections of some Republicans. Democratic
Gov. Tina Kotek is expected to sign it next week.

“This is just an assault on property rights here in the state of Oregon,”
GOP Sen. Dennis Linthicum said on the Senate floor.

But Sen. Jeff Golden, of Ashland, said property owners should know
something is amiss when they are “approached at the beginning of the
growing season with requests to lease their property for tens, sometimes
hundreds of thousand dollars for a single year.”

Witnesses have described backpacks with thousands of dollars in cash being
handed over to landowners and getting numerous offers to buy.

“We pay CASH and offer a fast close,” says one letter received by a
landowner last year, one of three offers.

Jackson County Sheriff Nathan Sickler told lawmakers that after police
raid illegal pot farms, neither landowners nor the suspects make efforts
to remove the cheaply built greenhouses, known as “hoop houses,” latrines,
and other debris, including plastics and chemicals.

“Frankly, it's an eyesore for our community, with no means to deal with
it,” Sickler said.

Some two years ago, the ideal growing conditions began attracting criminal
gangs from Mexico, Russia and other countries, police said. Thousands of
hoop houses cropped up and police were overwhelmed, nailing only a
fraction of the sites. Workers at these farms often live in squalid
conditions and use open latrines, and they are sometimes cheated out of
their pay.

Due to persistent police raids, which netted over 100 tons of illegal
marijuana across the state last year, the grow sites have become smaller
and more dispersed. For example, on Thursday, Josephine County Sheriff's
deputies and other officers raided a property in Cave Junction and
destroyed about 2,000 marijuana plants and 100 pounds of processed
marijuana.

Landowners who have been intimidated and suffered environmental damage
from illegal grow sites are applauding the bill.

“At least most of the landowners knew what they were doing was wrong. I
believe this measure will help to stem the tide,” said Jack Dwyer, who has
a house near the community of Selma. In 2021, Dwyer said a large illegal
grow site nearby siphoned all the water from a creek that runs through his
property, causing it to run dry.

Christopher Hall, who works to engage the public in water stewardship,
said the bill shows that Oregon officials understand the problem of large-
scale illicit cannabis operations and are committed to solving it.

The illicit sites “not only turn streams into gravel roads but also lead
to serious human rights violations and dumping of trash, sewage,
chemicals, and other waste into ditches, riparian areas, and streams," he
said.

The Senate approved the measure before GOP senators began a walkout on May
3 over Democratic measures on abortion, gender-affirming care and gun
safety. The House passed the marijuana bill on a 53-3 vote on May 31. The
bill will now go to Kotek to sign into law, taking immediate effect.

"The governor supports cracking down on illegal cannabis operations that
have been prevalent in southern Oregon,” said Elisabeth Shepard, Kotek's
spokesperson.

https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/marijuana/oregon-illegal-pot-
pollution-hold-landowners-responsible/283-465d73ca-9ccf-40f8-9cd3-
a1f2ac15344a?ref=exit-recirc

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