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Multnomah County Commissioner Susheela Jayapal is pushing Portland City Commissioner Dan Ryan to ban the use of leaded gasoline at Portland International Raceway in North Portland—and, perhaps, to get rid of the racetrack altogether.
“I believe we should collectively work toward the goal of banning the use of leaded gasoline at PIR,” Jayapal wrote to Ryan, the city’s parks commissioner, in an Oct 2 letter. “A ban would undoubtedly reduce lead exposure and be responsive to years of advocacy by concerned North Portland residents.”
Jayapal’s letter followed a Sept. 7 meeting convened by state Rep. Travis Nelson (D-North Portland) about the use of leaded gasoline at the racetrack. At that meeting, Ryan said he would request research and testing on the lead fumes by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. A top aide to Ryan, T.J. McHugh, says he’s spoken both to Jayapal’s office and to Nelson’s since then about funding an air quality study.
In an Oct. 24 email to Ryan and Jayapal, Nelson’s chief of staff AmyBeth Altenhofen wrote that the estimated cost of an air quality study is $81,000. “Does the city or county have funding for this study?” she queried.
McHugh says Ryan, Jayapal and DEQ are in discussions about “who can fund it.”
But Jayapal says she’s unsure what another study would accomplish.
“At this point, knowing that there’s no safe level of lead exposure for children, and also that there isn’t a way to test for the effects of cumulative exposure over time, I’m not sure what additional testing that’s being proposed will add to the picture,” Jayapal tells WW. “I think we should begin phasing out the use of leaded fuel at PIR and work with the neighborhood on developing additional innovative uses for the property.”
Her Oct. 2 letter suggests that such uses might not include auto racing. “[Parks] should also engage community members in developing alternative, innovative uses for the PIR property—uses that might generate revenue, and that would be more consistent with our values,” she writes.
It’s unusual for a racetrack to be located so near to a residential neighborhood as PIR is to Kenton. WW examined the impacts of the raceway on nearby residents—including the use of leaded gasoline—in a 2020 cover story. More recently, The Guardian tackled the subject, focusing on the health risks posed by lead fumes.
Jayapal’s wrote in her Oct. 2 letter to Ryan that recent testing, which found that lead levels at the track weren’t high enough to present immediate health risks, had “substantial limitations.”
Jayapal is rumored to be eyeing election to Oregon’s 3rd Congressional District, a firmly blue seat currently occupied by Democrat Earl Blumenauer. Blumenauer on Monday afternoon told WW that he would not seek reelection next year. If Jayapal does run for the seat, it’s likely she will campaign heavily on reducing the impacts of climate change, as Blumenauer has for decades.