WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2019 ❚ SILVERTONAPPEAL.COM
PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK
Silver Falls to get new hiking trail in 2022
Zach Urness Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
Visitors to Silver Falls State Park will have a new
way to enjoy the park’s waterfalls beginning around
2022.
Officials said an improved recreation site is being
planned for the north side of the park that includes a
hiking trail, waterfall viewpoint and parking area.
The first phrase of a larger project, the roughly $2
million development is intended to offer a new recrea-
tion hub that helps spread out the 1.2 million annual
visitors.
“We’re pretty excited about it,” Silver Falls park
manager Guy Rodrigue said. “The intent is to provide
an experience similar to what visitors see at the very
popular South Falls area, but on a smaller scale and on
the north side.”
The goal is to begin construction in 2021 and finish
by 2022 for the centennial of Oregon’s state park sys-
tem.
The new site would be a redevelopment of the cur-
rent North Falls Day-Use group campsite and nature
play area, located just off Highway 214, past the North
Falls Trailhead, on the side closest to Silverton.
“Few people go there now because it’s so discon-
nected from the rest of the park,” Rodrigue said.
“There’s a lot of opportunity to take this under-utilized
area and turn it into something pretty special.”
The plan is to expand what’s now a tiny parking lot,
add bathrooms and build a new viewpoint of the 136-
foot North Falls with a trail that connects to the Trail of
10 Falls.
The hope is to breathe new life into an area that fea-
tures a nature play area for kids while taking pressure
off South Falls and the North Falls Trailhead, which
both get overwhelmed during the summer months,
Rodrigue said.
The group campsites are expected to remain at the
site for now, but would likely be moved in the future,
The view from behind North Falls at Silver Falls State
Park. ZACH URNESS/STATESMAN JOURNAL
See FALLS, Page 2A
READYING THE FEAST
Groups object
to permit
for Covanta
incinerator
Tracy Loew Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
Cari Sessums, left grabs a mixed pan of dressing as Ruth Sessums, right, works on mixing the
remaining pans of dressing Tuesday, as they prepare for their 14th annual Thanksgiving
Community Dinner at their restaurant in Stayton. The Covered Bridge Cafe' has been serving the
meal for no charge to those in the community in need since 2006. The meal is served Nov. 27,
starting at 3:30 p.m. and goes until 8 p.m. KELLY JORDAN/STATESMAN JOURNAL
Pet services give hospice
patients peace of mind
Volunteers take care of animal
companions while sick humans
focus on their health
Capi Lynn
Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
Nikki the longhair Chihuahua was noticeably thin
with a cast on her hind leg and almost no hair when
she was rescued.
She was nurtured back to health and grew to trust
people again in what should have been her forever
home, but then her adoptive mom became sick.
Her mom worried, as her health declined, how the
sweet but timid dog would manage transitioning to a
new home. Nikki couldn’t come with her when it came
time to move into an adult foster care home, so she
turned to Willamette Valley Hospice’s Pet Peace of
Mind program for help.
The program turned to its network of local rescue
groups, and a volunteer with Savin’ Juice stepped for-
ward.
Carol Gonzales not only provided a foster home for
Nikki, but agreed to take the pooch for regular visits
with her person, who was relieved to see Nikki in good
hands.
The woman eventually died, and Gonzales adopted
Nikki.
Not all transitions go so smoothly, but hospice staff
Charlie Arnold, 66, visits with his cat, Amethyst,
after a volunteer brought her back home following a
grooming appointment earlier this week. Willamette
Valley Hospice’s Pet Peace of Mind program ensures
hospice patients, like Arnold, have the support they
need for their animal companions, making sure pets
get to grooming and vet appointments, so patients
can focus on their health. ANNA REED/STATESMAN
Increased particulate matter
JOURNAL
and volunteers understand how knowing a beloved
pet is cared for makes a difference in end-of-life qual-
ity for terminally ill patients.
Willamette Valley Hospice’s pet program is being
singled out for its success collaborating with local
See PETS, Page 3A
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Nine health and environment groups have asked
Oregon regulators to deny a proposed air pollution
permit renewal for Covanta Marion, Oregon’s only
garbage incinerator.
The groups, led by Oregon Physicians for Social
Responsibility, object to proposed increases in
greenhouse gas and particle pollution limits for the
facility near Brooks, just north of Salem.
They say the state doesn’t require enough testing
to ensure neighboring communities, including Keizer
and Northeast Salem, are protected from toxic sub-
stances.
And they worry that an accidental fire, like those
that have happened at two other Covanta facilities in
the past few years, could contaminate nearby prop-
erties.
“Scientific and policy review indicates that the Co-
vanta Marion waste-to-energy municipal trash in-
cinerator represents a substantial short- and long-
term risk to the public health,” the groups wrote in a
32-page letter to the state Department of Environ-
mental Quality.
Covanta spokesman James Regan called the op-
position “misguided.”
“This plant deals with societal issues,” he said.
“We have to dispose of household waste. We have to
deal with medical waste. This plant does it respon-
sibly.”
Covanta Marion has burned most of Marion Coun-
ty’s trash for the past 35 years, producing about 13.1
megawatts of energy per day. It also accepts out-of-
state medical waste.
The permit renewal comes as Covanta officials
warn the plant could close next year.
During the 2019 Legislative session, Covanta
pushed for a bill that would designate garbage burn-
ing as renewable energy, allowing the company to sell
credits for clean energy production. Company offi-
cials said that, without that extra revenue, the plant
would be forced to close.
The bill failed, but Covanta plans to try again dur-
ing the February 2020 session.
The permit renewal also comes just before Oregon
launches its Cleaner Air Oregon initiative, which will
evaluate health risks to people living near the state’s
biggest polluters.
Covanta is among the first group of companies
that will be examined. Its review is expected to begin
in April 2020, said Dylan Darling, a DEQ spokesman.
That review could require modifications to the
new permit.
The incinerator’s air pollution permit expired in
April 2017. It’s legal for companies in Oregon to oper-
ate with expired permits if they file a renewal appli-
cation on time, which Covanta did.
A public comment period on the proposed permit
closed earlier this month. In addition to the advocacy
groups, 12 individuals submitted testimony outlining
concerns, and 125 people signed a petition objecting
to the proposal.
One person wrote in support of the proposed per-
mit.
QEAJAB-07403y
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Under the proposed permit, the emissions limit for
small particulate matter, or PM 10, will increase from
14 to 16 tons per year. The limit for fine particulate
matter, or PM 2.5, will increase from 12 to 16 tons per
year.
Regan said the company emits only about a third
of the small and fine particulate matter currently al-
lowed, both by weight and concentration.
But DEQ officials said results of tests of Covanta’s
emissions over the past 10 years show the facility’s
potential to emit small and fine particulate matter is
higher than previously determined.
Small and fine particulate pollution pose the
greatest risk to health, according to the U.S. Environ-
See INCINERATOR, Page 2A