2A — THE OBSERVER
D AILY
P LANNER
FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 2020
LOCAL
Study: Removing dams would prove costly
By Matthew Weaver
TODAY
Capital Press
Today is Friday, Jan. 10,
the 10th day of 2020. There
are 356 days left in the year.
PORTLAND — A new study finds
the costs to farmers and the region’s
economy if the four dams on the lower
Snake River were removed would aver-
age roughly $76 million a year.
That equals as much as $2.3 bil-
lion over the next 30 years, according
to the study, which was commis-
sioned by the Pacifi c Northwest
Waterways Association.
Some of the estimated costs in the
form of higher expenses for farmers
and others would be for building
and maintaining roads,
railroad facilities and
storage facilities. The
overall impact on the
region’s economy is also
factored in.
Meira
“Rather than an
opinion poll, this study
relies on existing data. ...,” associa-
tion executive director Kristin Meira
told the Capital Press.
The association commissioned
economic consultants FCS Group to
develop the study to offset misin-
formation about the value of the Ice
Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little
Goose and Lower Granite dams to
the region’s economy.
The association wanted to provide
a full picture of the impacts that
would be felt if the dams were
removed, particularly in the trans-
portation sector, Meira said.
The study doesn’t include the cost
of breaching the dams.
Information in the study comes
from government agencies, commod-
ity commissions and ports.
“We don’t create new data here,”
Meira said. “We simply evaluate the
data and determine what it means
for the Northwest if the dams were
to be removed. ... This is actual data
with regard to the value of com-
modities that move and how much
transportation costs.”
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
On Jan. 10, 2016, David
Bowie, the chameleon-like
star who transformed the
sound — and the look — of
rock with his audacious
creativity and his sexually
ambiguous makeup and
costumes, died in New York.
ON THIS DATE
In 1776, Thomas Paine
anonymously published his
infl uential pamphlet, “Com-
mon Sense,” which argued
for American independence
from British rule.
In 1863, the London
Underground had its begin-
nings as the Metropolitan,
the world’s fi rst under-
ground passenger railway,
opened to the public with
service between Paddington
and Farringdon Street.
In 1967, President Lyndon
B. Johnson, in his State of
the Union address, asked
Congress to impose a sur-
charge on both corporate
and individual income taxes
to help pay for his “Great
Society” programs as well
as the war in Vietnam.
That same day, Massachu-
setts Republican Edward
W. Brooke, the fi rst black
person elected to the U.S.
Senate by popular vote,
took his seat.
In 1984, the United States
and the Vatican established
full diplomatic relations for
the fi rst time in more than a
century.
In 1994, President Bill
Clinton, attending a NATO
summit meeting in Brus-
sels, Belgium, announced
completion of an agreement
to remove all long-range
nuclear missiles from the
former Soviet republic of
Ukraine.
CORRECTION
The Observer ran an
incorrect name in the Dec.
29, 2019, feature, “Imbler
cold case excites La Grande
writer.” Union County Sher-
iff Jesse Alden Breshears in-
vestigated the 1927 murder
of John Mayfi eld in Imbler.
The Observer sincerely
regrets the error.
LOTTERY
Megabucks: $1 million
14-16-25-33-37-42
The Associated Press fi le photo
The Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River near Pomeroy, Washington. A new study fi nds that the costs to
farmers and the region’s economy if the four dams on the lower Snake River were removed would average
roughly $76 million a year.
According to the study:
• Removing the Snake River locks
would cause diesel fuel consumption
to increase by nearly 5 million gallons
per year as barges were replaced by
less effi cient trucks and railroads.
Carbon emissions would increase by
more than 1.2 million tons a year, the
equivalent of putting 181,889 more
passenger cars on the road.
• Transportation and storage costs
for wheat, the dominant crop in the
region, would likely increase from 40
cents per bushel to 60 to 80 cents per
bushel with dam breaching, accord-
ing to the study. That would cost the
region’s farmers an additional $18.9
million to $38.8 million a year.
• Expansion and maintenance
of highways, railroads and grain
elevators would cost more than $1.6
billion. At least 201 additional unit
trains and 23.8 million miles of ad-
ditional trucking would be needed
annually.
Barges produce fewer emis-
sions than any other form of cargo
transportation, Meira said. The
association found the carbon impacts
of shifting to trucks and rail “pretty
stark.”
“It’s hard to picture being con-
cerned with climate change and be-
ing in favor of dam breaching — they
just don’t go together,” she said.
County suspends new local right-of-way rules
By Dick Mason
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The
Union County Board of
Commissioners suspended a
new right-of-way ordinance
Wednesday after repre-
sentatives of two utilities
expressed concerns.
“We want to study it
further,” said Paul Anderes,
chair of the county board.
The ordinance, which took
effect in December, charges
utilities $500 per application
for projects along the right-
of-way of county roads. The
charge for a noncommercial
application is $100. The pre-
vious fees were $40 for both
utilities and non-commercial
users.
Steve Vincent, Oregon
regional business man-
ager for Avista Utilities, and
Mike Pommarane, director
of operations for Oregon
Electric Cooperative, were at
the Wednesday meeting and
spoke against the ordinance.
Vincent said the local law
appears to confl ict with Or-
egon Revised Statue 785.010,
which authorizes utilities
to construct, maintain and
operate utility facilities along
public roads free of charge.
He said the “free of charge”
condition has been upheld by
the Oregon Court of Appeals
in two cases, one in 1984 and
another in 1994.
Vincent said Avista
Utilities asked the county
commissioners either to sus-
pend enforcement of its new
ordinance until it complies
with the state law or another
court hands down a ruling.
Pommarane asked the
board to clarify the new local
law.
“We want to support the
county and we also want to
understand what the ordi-
nance means,” he said.
Pommarane said clarifi ca-
tion was needed on on sev-
eral aspects of the local law,
including what impact it will
have on OTEC’s members,
who are also its owners. He
wants to know, for example,
how much the new ordi-
nance will affect costs, which
could affect the rates OTEC
members pay.
Per the county law, the
right-of-ways on Union
County roads run 30 feet
from the centerline on both
sides of the road. Pomma-
rane said OTEC crews work
almost every day in Union
County’s right-of-ways,
providing maintenance and
service to new members, and
the co-op conducts about
35 projects in right-of-ways
a year in the county. The
county’s law, he said, could
require OTEC to pay for a
$500 permit for any type
of work in a right-of-way.
Pommarane wants to know
whether this will the case.
Union County Public
Works Director Doug Wright
said the ordinance helps the
county protect the road and
the right-of-way because it
requires the submission of
plans to apply for permits,
and that allows the county
to know what work could be
going on in right-of-ways and
ensure it is done in a proper
manner.
The board of commission-
ers voted 3-0 to suspend
the ordinance. The board
late Friday morning held
an emergency meeting to
further discuss protecting
rights-of-way.
In another matter, the
board of commissioners
decided to delay voting
Hwy 30 Cannabis was closed.
“It was really tough. I felt
bad for them,” she said.
Portland attorney Leland
Berger, who represents Hwy
30 Cannabis and Lindsey,
said the Oregon Health
Authority’s investigation of
Hwy 30 focused on employ-
ees who were not follow-
ing rules and regulations.
Berger said Lindsey put a
lot of trust in her employees,
some of whom let her down.
Berger also said some may
be guilty of theft.
Those employees no longer
work for Hwy 30 Cannabis,
and Berger said Lindsey
is taking a more hands-on
approach to running her
business.
Berger described the settle-
ment, which was in in lieu of
a health authority hearing,
as similar to an out-of-court
settlement in a civil case.
Modie said the preliminary
fi ndings resulted in the imme-
diate suspension in November.
He added the settlement
agreement addressed the
suspension only and provided
the dispensary an opportunity
to resume operations. Modie
also said the state’s medical
marijuana program has no
additional information to
share because the investiga-
tion is ongoing,
whether to provide $6,000
to the Eastern Oregon Film
Festival this year. The board
made the motion at its Dec.
18, 2019, meeting after Chris
Jennings, director of the
annual fi lm festival, asked
the country to provide $7,800
to fund the event in 2020.
The county provided the fi lm
festival $3,500 in 2019.
The funding would come
from the county’s motel tax,
also known as its transient
room tax.
Anderes said he did not
want the commissioners
to vote on the motion until
the board conducts a work
session to set priorities for
how transient room tax
funding should be spent.
The commission will vote
on the motion for funding
of the Eastern Oregon Film
Festival at a regular meeting
following the work session.
Mega Millions: $80 million
25-40-41-52-56-21-x4
Powerball: $277 million
2-4-7-43-56-22-x4
Win for Life: Jan. 8
27-36-43-69
Pick 4: Jan. 9
• 1 p.m.: 5-9-3-8
• 4 p.m.: 9-0-1-0
• 7 p.m.: 1-4-1-9
• 10 p.m.: 1-2-8-9
Pick 4: Jan. 8
• 1 p.m.: 4-0-2-4
• 4 p.m.: 5-7-9-2
• 7 p.m.: 7-6-3-2
• 10 p.m.: 0-2-4-4
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
“In much wisdom is
much grief; and he that
increaseth knowledge
increaseth sorrow.”
— Ecclesiastes 1:18
Hwy 30 Cannabis
opens after closure
By Dick Mason
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Hwy 30
Cannabis is back in opera-
tion.
The Oregon Medical
Marijuana Program in
November 2019 ordered the
medical marijuana dispen-
sary at 1709 Adams Ave., La
Grande, to suspend opera-
tions. Owner Rona Lindsey
appealed, and the business
reopened Dec. 19.
Jonathan Modie, spokes-
person for the Oregon
Medical Marijuana Program,
said Hwy 30 entered into an
agreement with the Oregon
Health Authority, effective
Nov. 25, to lift the suspen-
sion.
“The dispensary was
found to be in compliance
with the terms of the settle-
ment agreement and the
emergency suspension was
lifted Dec. 18, 2019. Since
the dispensary entered into
a settlement agreement
regarding the emergency
suspension, the appeal was
withdrawn,” according to a
statement from Modie.
However, he also re-
ported the investigation that
prompted the suspension is
ongoing.
Lindsey said Hwy 30 has
received a positive reception
after the shutdown.
Many of her customers
traveled to Pendleton and
Ontario to get medical mari-
juana, she explained, while
THANK YOU!!
To our valued
friends and
customers for
all the years of
support.
The
Dayley Family
FAMILY
OWNED
La GRANDE
AUTO REPAIR
975-2000
www.lagrandeautorepair.com
Joe Horst
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