Otis is an unincorporated community in Lincoln County, Oregon, United States, a half mile north of Otis Junction on Oregon Route 18. It is near the Salmon River. According to USA Today, in 2005 the Otis area had a population of about 3,000. Otis post office was established in 1900 and was named after Otis Thompson, nephew of Archibald S. Thompson, the postmaster. U.S. Route 101 used to pass through Otis until a curvy and hilly section of road was rerouted in the 1960s. Otis Junction is at the intersection of the former terminus of Oregon Route 18 and the former alignment of U.S. 101. The Sitka Center for Art and Ecology has an Otis mailing address but is located nearer to the coast on Cascade Head. The Otis ZIP code, 97368, also covers the community of Rose Lodge. Today Otis and Otis Junction are considered synonymous. Otis made the national headlines in 1999 and again in 2004, when it was announced that the town was for sale for $3 million. The news stories describe the Otis Café and other amenities that are at Otis Junction; it is unclear if the 193 acres that were for sale included the land in Otis proper. Owner Vivian Lematta's grandfather bought the land from descendants of the Siletz Indians for $800 in 1910. Lematta left Otis in 1957. Included in the sale were the gas station and mini grocery store, a Pronto Pup corn dog stand, two houses, an empty 25-stall horse barn, a helicopter storage shed, a garage, a Grange hall, the Otis post office, the Otis Café, an auto-repair garage and 190 acres of farmland. Part of the land was used for raising cattle and part was undergoing timber conservation.

What is toxic tort law?

Toxic Tort cases involve people who have been injured through exposure to dangerous pharmaceuticals or chemical substances in the environment, on the job, or in consumer products -- including carcinogenic agents, lead, benzene, silica, harmful solvents, hazardous waste, and pesticides to name a few.

Most toxic tort cases have arisen either from exposure to pharmaceutical drugs or occupational exposures. Most pharmaceutical toxic injury cases are mass tort cases, because drugs are consumed by thousands of people, many of whom become ill from a toxic drug. There have also been many occupational toxic tort cases, because industrial and other workers are often chronically exposed to toxic chemicals - more so than consumers and residents. Most of the law in this area arises from asbestos exposure, but thousands of toxic chemicals are used in industry and workers in these areas can experience a variety of toxic injuries. Unlike the general population, which is exposed to trace amounts of thousands of different chemicals in the environment, industrial workers are regularly exposed to much higher levels of chemicals and therefore have a greater risk of developing disease from particular chemical exposures than the general population. The home has recently become the subject of toxic tort litigation, mostly due to mold contamination, but also due to construction materials such as formaldehyde-treated wood and carpet. Toxic tort cases also arise when people are exposed to consumer products such as pesticides and suffer injury. Lastly, people can also be injured from environmental toxins in the air or in drinking water.

Answers to toxic tort law issues in Oregon

In certain kinds of cases, lawyers charge what is called a contingency fee. Instead of billing by the hour, the...

Because of the health problems caused by lead poisoning, the federal Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction...

Property owners may be liable for tenant health problems caused by exposure to environmental hazards, such as...

In general, mass tort cases involve a large number of individual claimants with claims associated with a single...