Green Morning

At a Breakfast for the Environment, the Center lauds the “heroic” work of Bart & Lindell Haggin, and lays out the path ahead for the Spokane River and other regional environmental challenges.

By Tim Connor
To know Spokane Riverkeeper Rick Eichstaedt is to love him for the way he throws himself into things, like churning whitewater, or a good legal argument. This morning he was throwing himself into a short slide show as part of his presentation to a large room full of local dignitaries and environmentalists when the slide projector didn’t, well, work, at least not at first.

Uh oh.

Smoothly, he resisted the urge to lead an audience that included Mayor Mary Verner, State Sen. Lisa Brown, City Councilman Richard Rush, and council members-elect Jon Snyder and Amber Waldref, in spirited songs.

“Of course there are technical difficulties,” he announced as nothing but the terror of malfunction was coming out the lense. “All right. I could tell an amusing story or something, but I’m kind of on the spot.”

And it was at this point, with the dread of dead air and the possibility of seeing the Spokane Riverkeeper tap dancing at sunrise, that a woman at a back table saved the day by yelling out:

“What happens at Dirty Martinis, stays at Dirty Martinis!”

This was a clear reference to the Center’s fun-filled, annual Spokane River fundraiser which, in the run-up to next year’s Dirty Martini’s events, is obviously being very well promoted via word of mouth.

But seriously….

Peter Grubb, the regionally-renowned river outfitter and newest Center for Justice board member, opened the event this morning by announcing, among other things, that Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., will be visiting Spokane on May 20th of next year to promote the work of the Spokane Riverkeeper and other area Waterkeepers.

Peter was followed by Mike Chappell, who heads the new Environmental Law Clinic at Gonzaga Law School and who talked about his experiences for the past ten years working with Waterkeeper organizations in California.

What drew him in, Chappell said, is the way the Waterkeepers work. “It’s a bottom up model. It requires active participants in the community, active members, and people to get involved not just from a legal standpoint, but to have eyes and ears out on the water.”

The Center for Justice has brought new perspective and fresh air into this town. Before the Center for Justice was established, it seemed to me that there was one dominant public perception and it was hard to fight that, hard to question that, hard to have a different point of view. It was as if a thumb was on the scale. And though you knew something was right in your heart, it was hard to express that. That’s what the Center for Justice has done. It’s changed the equation.–Councilman Richard Rush, at this morning’s breakfast gathering.

The highlight of today’s event were the testimonials and recognition for Bart and Lindell Haggin, the north Spokane couple whose names have become not just a signature on Spokane-area environmentalism but on a host of other progressive social and civic issues they’ve spoken to and written about over the years.

“For me,” said the Center’s Chief Catalyst Breean Beggs, “this is a couple and two human beings who really embody what the Center wants to do as an organization. What I mean by that is they are really smart, and really know the right answers and how to solve the world’s problems. And, yet, rather than simply be outraged at what happens in the world every day, they just dig in to their friends, their neighbors and every community group that you can imagine and they try to make a difference. And they do it with an olive branch and try to collaborate with people. They know a simple truth that a lot of people who are so passionate are still learning, which is that you just can’t out-argue someone, or out-lawyer them, you have to change their hearts and minds.”

Bart and Lindell were given a photographic print from noted Spokane-based nature photographer Charles Gurche.

Both spoke to commend the Center for its work, something Bart said was irresistible.

“Breean said we didn’t have to make a statement,” he said. “But most people in Spokane probably figure that the most dangerous place in town is between me and a microphone.”

Councilman Richard Rush and Mayor Verner also spoke and lauded the Center’s work and the Haggins’s contributions.

“The Center for Justice has brought new perspective and fresh air into this town,” Councilman Rush said. “Before the Center for Justice was established, it seemed to me that there was one dominant public perception and it was hard to fight that, hard to question that, hard to have a different point of view. It was as if a thumb was on the scale. And though you knew something was right in your heart, it was hard to express that. That’s what the Center for Justice has done. It’s changed the equation.”

Mayor Verner drew laughter when she followed Rush by saying that, to her, it was really refreshing “to come into a room and be welcome because you’re a lawyer.”

She spoke about the Spokane River being the “heart of Spokane” and the manifestation of “the legacy that all of us are going to leave behind.” She referred to Spokane historian Bill Stimson’s account of how difficult it had been for the city to overcome the original establishment resistance in Spokane to building a sewage treatment plant, to end the massive dumping of raw sewage directly into the Spokane River.

“And those struggles haven’t ended,” she said. “We still have those struggles today and I’m so much looking forward to working with Councilman Rush and new council members Snyder and Waldref because we still have folks who don’t want us to clean up that river.”

The Mayor also used her sense of humor in addressing the conspicuous fact that the Center is often bringing lawsuits against the city she presides over. She approached the subject by talking about her earlier work with the Spokane Tribe and how that experience prompted her to go to law school to address the power imbalances that the Tribe was confronting in conflicts with other, well-lawyered entities.

“So when it’s the Center for Justice that is taking a position that is opposing the City of Spokane–not that that ever happens–(laughter) I appreciate you and I appreciate that the Center for Justice is a watchdog for the public interest in this community. We need you as a public watchdog and I’m proud to be a contributor to the Center for Justice. I believe for our democratic system to function well, we need the Center for Justice in Spokane.”

In his presentation, Rick talked about the various environmental challenges still facing the river and the Spokane area, including key land use battles such as a major federally funded road expansion northeast of Spokane, in Bigelow Gulch, that’s threatening wetlands and aesthetic values prized by residents on Orchard Prairie. Making his case for protecting and cleaning up the Spokane River, he discussed and showed slides to highlight the threats posed by key pollutants such as phosphorous (that causes algae and toxic algae growth, and low dissolved oxygen) and toxic PCBs that accumulate in the river’s fish.

“We even have problems with pollutants that we don’t have standards for,” he added. “There’s a toxic flame retardant known as PDBE. Well, not only do we have the highest levels of PDBE in the state, we have amongst the highest levels [in the river] in the country. So, although it’s a beautiful resource, it needs some attention, and each and every one of us to help solve the problem.”

–CFJ