Jansson, environmentalist and preservationist, dies at 67

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Friends remembered the quiet, unassuming man this week, and wondered whether some of the organizations he was so much a part of could continue on after his death. Jansson would have turned 68 on July 26.

‘‘He was always looking for a way to make things better, not only for the environment but ultimately for the people,” Joe Anderson said.

Anderson, president of the St. Mary’s River Watershed Association, said he collaborated on several local projects with Jansson. He said it was often thanks to Jansson’s persistence and good manner that things got done.

‘‘He was like a dog on a bone, but he did it in a respectful way,” Anderson said. ‘‘He was a gentle soul.

‘‘His family did a lot for preservation in the county,” Anderson said.

Jansson lived at Mulberry Fields, a former plantation on the Potomac River south of Leonardtown. The property was put in a perpetual easement through the Maryland Environmental Trust by his parents. Mary and Holger Jansson, before their own deaths.

‘‘He held that together with his bare hands,” said Jack Witten. Jansson was last seen working outside at his home before his body was discovered two days later on Friday. An autopsy is being performed; no foul play is suspected.

Witten said he Jansson while organizing efforts to fight an oil refinery proposed in Piney Point in the 1970s. From this the Potomac River Association was born, a group Jansson would be a member of and eventually come to lead. ‘‘He gave it its scientific validity, really,” Witten said.

Witten is working on a biography of Jansson and said he plans to nominate him for a Congressional Medal.

Dudley Lindsley, a founding member and secretary of the Potomac River Association, said Jansson was a quiet, serious man who was ‘‘completely dedicated to the community.”

‘‘He can’t be replaced, but at least we can try to carry on” his work with the Potomac River Association and other organizations Jansson was involved with, Lindsley said.

‘‘I think the body of work he did on toxins and health issues is probably going to be his legacy,” said Bob Lewis. He said that Jansson worked to set standards that are used by industries, including adding folic acid, which helps reduce the chances of birth defects, to commercially baked breads. He also worked to end the spraying of harmful herbicides on national forest land in the West that was linked to miscarriages and birth defects.

‘‘Erik had a national and even an international presence in the grassroots environmental movement,” Lewis said.

He also studied the link between aluminum and Alzheimer’s disease, helped form the basis for labeling organic vegetables, and worked to stop causes of global warming.

Jansson perceived ‘‘what needed to be done to save ourselves from ourselves,” Lewis said. ‘‘What a great guy. What a great mind.”