View full size

A mystery group opposed to Oregon's potential ban on plastic checkout bags appears to be "polling" across the state, warning of "bag police" and of bacteria and lead in reusable bags.

On Monday, a marketing company called Charlie Plybon at his home in Newport to conduct the poll, Plybon said.

That wasn't the savviest choice: Plybon is Oregon field coordinator for the

, one of the groups backing a ban on single-use plastic checkout bags the Legislature will consider this year.

He took lots of notes.

Plastic bags

The group also called a city of Portland manager at home Monday evening. He declined to be named since the city considered its own bag ban in the past and may do so again.

Both men said the callers told them they were calling for an independent opinion poll, but then asked questions clearly slanted against a ban. The callers said they could not disclose their client.

Plybon said the caller asked him to choose whether the Legislature should protect the economy, build jobs or ban plastic bags.

"Bag police" pursuing Oregonians was another common theme, he said, as was the notion of harmful contaminants in reusable bags.

The questions also suggested grocers would make millions in profits by charging 5 cents for a paper checkout bag.

"It was pretty entertaining," Plybon said, "and sad at the same time."

Ban backers figure the calls foreshadow the rhetorical battle to come. If the Legislature cracks down on plastic checkout bags, Oregon would be the first to ban them statewide.

But three of the main groups opposing bans -- the

the

and the

-- said they had not commissioned the poll.

The bag coalition is busy battling bans in California, said Stephen Joseph, the coalition's attorney. Ban opponents say environmental drawbacks of plastic bags are greatly exaggerated.

"We're not involved in Oregon," Joseph said. "We've got a handful to deal with in California."

polled nationally in December, but not recently, said J. Justin Wilson, a senior research analyst with the center.

That poll found that 56 percent of Americans are not "at all aware" that their reusable grocery bags may contain lead and bacteria, says the center, which includes food industry companies among its donors.

Bag bans limit consumer choice and unfairly single out a particular product, instead of targeting those who litter bags, Wilson said.

"Consumers should be able to choose among all these things without having the hilarious demonization that has occurred around the bag issue," Wilson said.

Ban supporters say a bag ban would reduce litter, cut plastic pollution in rivers and the ocean and benefit Oregon's paper bag makers. It would also reduce frequent and costly jam ups of the huge sorters sifting through curbside recyclables, which aren't supposed to include bags but often do.

The purpose of the calls isn't clear. Campaigns sometimes do widespread "push polling" to try to sway voter opinions.

They can also make a smaller set of calls to try to gauge the effectiveness of different negative messages.

Last summer, ban opponents accused the city of Portland of conducting its own pro-ban push polling, complete with leading questions.

This year, state

, D-Beaverton, is spearheading an effort to ban

.

His proposal, backed by grocers and environmental groups, would bar the bags by November and require at least a nickel charge on recycled paper checkout bags.

Retailers who don't comply could face a maximum $250 civil penalty. The proposal would not penalize shoppers who use plastic bags.

Contamination in reusable bags is a hot topic of late. Studies by The Tampa Tribune newspaper and others have found high lead levels in some reusable plastic bags.

In November, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., asked for a federal investigation into lead in reusable bags following the newspaper's series. Schumer also called for a ban on reusable bags containing lead.

Last year, researchers backed by the chemistry council reported that reusable bags can harbor bacteria.

Consumer Reports' online "Safety Blog" said the threat was overblown.

"A person eating an average bag of salad greens gets more exposure to these bacteria than if they had licked the insides of the dirtiest bag from this study," said Michael Hansen, senior staff scientist at Consumers Union.

Hansen did advise carrying meat, fish and poultry in disposable bags, which the Oregon proposal would allow.

Andrea Cantu-Schomus, spokeswoman for the Oregon Secretary of State's office, said it's too early for the polling calls to fall under campaign finance and reporting laws.

--