Salem News: Council criticizes Varian’s new cleanup plan

City councilors are criticizing Varian’s latest plan to clean up its contaminated site, saying it appears that the company has chosen some methods “primarily to save the responsible parties money.”

In comments that they unanimously approved this week, councilors referred to some of Varian’s proposed solutions as “business as usual” and said they were “alarmed” by how long the treatments will take to get rid of the toxic chemicals.

Read the full article here.

Behind the scenes: I was grateful to be able to draft the text of the letter and to workshop it in a Public Services Committee meeting, where the Public Services Committee recommended to the full Council that we sign on to the letter as drafted. Read the full letter below.