Oregon construction sites went quiet Monday, shopping boulevards were deserted and Alaska Airlines shut down all flights out of Portland as another day of wildfire smoke blanketed the state.
Health authorities urged businesses that operate outdoors to send their workers home, and many did. But some – farm laborers, utility crews and factory workers, among others – stayed on the job in atrocious atmospheric conditions.
“People are still choosing to come because they’re afraid of losing that day of work,” said Reyna Lopez, director of Farmworkers & Latinx Working Families United in Woodburn. She said the wildfires, arriving in the middle of harvest season, create an impossible conundrum for farmers and laborers alike.
“They’re still out there right now, making sure Oregonians have food on their tables,” Lopez said. She sent a letter to Gov. Kate Brown and other public officials Friday, urging them to speak out about protecting workers.
Oregon Occupational Safety and Health, Oregon OSHA, issued a notice at the end of the day Friday “urging employers to stop or delay outdoor work activity” while the air remains hazardous and in places where wildfire evacuation orders are in effect. But the state stopped short of issuing an order, and OSHA said Monday it is unlikely to do so this week.
Mary Sawyers, spokeswoman for Washington County Public Health, said her agency has been urging workers to stay home but acknowledged “there are some people who may not have a choice.”
“We have no enforcement power over that,” she said. “But that’s what we’ve been telling people.”
Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality again rated air across much of the state as “hazardous” Monday, with air quality scores among the very worst in the world after last week’s wildfires incinerated more than 1 million acres. The state warned unhealthy air will persist at least through Thursday.
The air quality index in the Portland area was near 400 Monday afternoon, well above hazardous levels. In parts of the state, such as the town of Mill City close to the wildfires, the index topped 500.
“We are really urging people to stop work outdoors when the air quality index reaches unhealthy levels,” the Oregon Health Authority’s Gabriela Goldfarb said on the governor’s daily wildfire briefing Monday. Brown said the Oregon National Guard will distribute 250,000 N95 masks to agricultural workers and tribes across the state.
It’s not clear how many businesses are continuing to operate outdoors, or in settings where they are exposed to bad air. Outdoor construction has been largely shut down in the Portland area, according to Wayne Chow, political director for the Oregon State Building and Construction Trades Council.
“We definitely don’t want our members to be working in these conditions at all. With the air quality levels so high, it’s just dangerous,” Chow said.
Construction workers typically aren’t paid when they’re not working, though. So Chou said the smoke shutdowns are straining families who were already suffering from the coronavirus recession, or who had fled their homes when authorities issued wildfire evacuation notices last week.
“It’s a tragedy and it’s impacting us all across the board,” Chow said.
Portland's Southeast Division Street was blanketed with wildfire smoke and nearly deserted Monday afternoon -- except for Shawn Wallace, whose construction site was shut down because of bad air quality. He shared a treat with his dog at Salt & Straw.Mike Rogoway/The Oregonian
Construction job sites on Southeast Division Street in Portland were vacant Monday afternoon and the normally bustling street was nearly deserted. One couple sat outside the PDX Sliders restaurant, enjoying a late lunch.
Further up the street, construction manager Shawn Wallace shared some ice cream with his dog after the smoke shut down his job site at Portland International Airport. Wallace said the operation follows state guidelines.
But he said he spends a lot of time around campfires in the outdoors and didn’t mind the smoke.
“This doesn’t even register for me. I see it in a different light,” Wallace said. “I would not put me in the normal category.”
-- Mike Rogoway | mrogoway@oregonian.com | twitter: @rogoway |
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Oregon wildfire smoke shuts down outdoor work for many, but ‘there are some people who may not have a choice’ - OregonLive
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