REGION
THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2022
THE OBSERVER — A3
Commissioner: Nitrates in Boardman water a threat to life
suspects? Would we come
together to craft a message
of solidarity?”
BOARDMAN —
But Doherty said one
Morrow County Com-
voice was absent from that
missioner Jim Doherty is
meeting.
making the water pollution
“In my view, the greater
in his county a top priority.
community were the only
“The nitrate issue in the
ones not present then, nor
Columbia Basin has always at any time in the past,”
haunted me,” he said.
he said, “and I sur-
When he won
mised, potentially
election to the county
bearing the biggest
board fi ve years ago,
burden — that of real
he said he crafted a
and present health
list of goals, and the
concerns.”
nitrate problem was
He then set out
Doherty
on the list.
to test what resi-
“Shamefully that
dents were drinking
is where the ambition ended from the end results at the
relative to the work,” he
kitchen faucets.
said. “But in this occupa-
Tests results, residents
tion, the best time to have
deliver bleak picture
done something was years
The top responsibility
ago, the next best time is
of the local public health
now.”
When DEQ sent its
authority and the board of
notice about the whopping
commissioners, Doherty
port fi ne of $1.3 million
said, is public happiness
for nitrate pollution in the
and health. His fellow com-
upstream aquifer, Doherty
missioners gave the blessing
said that was a call of alarm for Doherty to spend some
he heard to his core.
resources for 100 expedited,
Discussion and a
if cursory, tests. Commis-
meeting ensued almost
sioner Melissa Lindsay even
immediately, he said, just as partnered with Umatilla
it had for the past 30 years.
County Commissioner Dan
“Was this regulatory
Dorran on a bi-county eff ort
overreach?” he recalled.
to secure a more long-range
“Who were the primary
eff ort.
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
EO Media Group, File
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality in January 2022
fi ned the Port of Morrow $1.3 million, alleging the port has applied
excessive amounts of nitrate-containing water to area farmland. The
port claims its wastewater violations were “unintentional” and had
minor eff ects on human health and the environment.
“I wasted little time
in reaching out to Ana
Pineyro, our Public Health
Emergency Preparedness
coordinator, who has helped
me in the past and shines
most brightly as a com-
munity outreach liaison,”
Doherty said.
“Morrow County is
approaching 50% Hispanic
representation and as such,
it is vital to have someone
like Ana who can bridge
that cross-cultural divide.”
They hit the streets with
test sample kits in hand,
knocking and walking.
“I was hopeful as the
fi rst small set of samples
were sent off to Kuo Testing
Labs in Umatilla,” Doherty
recalled.
The testing company
reported it would email the
results in the ensuing days,
he said, so a call from the
lab to his cellphone was a
bit of a surprise. He said
the lab technician explained
Kuo Testing is duty bound
to warn people to suspend
using any water when test
results show there is an
extreme and immediate
health concern.
“I sadly have received
that dreaded call for every
sample submitted,” Doherty
said.
The maximum level for
nitrates in water is 7 parts
per million, he said, and
shared the result of 25 sam-
ples. One sample was .33
ppm. The second lowest
was 8.24. The highest of
that lot was 51.22 ppm. The
average was 30.77.
The majority of the
homes tested had nitrate fi l-
ters, he said, albeit not gen-
erally the more expensive
ones that work, but instead
the more disposable, more
aff ordable variety.
More alarming, he
said, is what the residents
reported on a questionnaire
asking if they had expe-
rienced any of a short list
of nitrate-related health
concerns.
“For a small sample, 70
tests to date, I was quite
taken aback by the prev-
alence of persistent head-
aches, devastating cancers
and failed pregnancies,”
Doherty said. “This weighs
incredibly heavy on my
heart as I search my soul
and wonder if I had only
started earlier, could I have
made a diff erence in these
things.”
A hill worth dying on
Correlating responses
to the question with the
extremely high nitrate
results is almost impos-
sible. But Doherty said he
thinks it is “abundantly
fair to suggest that in those
numbers, the responses
we got could certainly be
attributed to the increasing
prevalence of high
nitrates.”
Policy making is about
assessing what issues to
address and how serious
they are, Doherty said.
And in this case, he said,
it’s about making a stand.
“This certainly is, ‘a
hill I am willing to die
on,’” Doherty said, “if only
that my friends and neigh-
bors don’t face that literal
peril.”
Doherty also touched on
environmental justice. He
said the very people who
provide the labor force for
the region are the same
people bearing the brunt
of the nitrate problem, yet
they have been “discarded”
from the environmental
discussions, and they must
have a voice in this.
“This is the missing
community,” Doherty said.
“This is a barrier that we
must eliminate.”
Renovation of Eastern Oregon
District sett les retaliation lawsuit
Regional Airport terminal begins
By JAYSON JACOBY
Baker City Herald
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — Tem-
porary facilities arrived
at the Eastern Oregon
Regional Airport, Pend-
leton, on Thursday, May 5,
to begin the $3.9 million
terminal renovation project.
Commercial fl ights and
food services will continue
uninterrupted.
Airport Manager John
Honemann said one of the
project goals is to limit the
impact on airport services,
according to a press release
from the city.
“We are really excited
to begin construction, but
it was also very important
for us to make sure ser-
vices are uninterrupted,” he
said. “We’ve worked closely
with the restaurant and with
commercial air service to
keep everything open as
much as possible.”
The existing terminal
building is more than
70 years old. A federal
CARES Act — short for
the Coronavirus Aid, Relief
and Economic Security Act
— grant for airports will
fund replacing and updating
aging equipment, including
upgrades to heating, ven-
tilation, air conditioning,
electrical and plumbing sys-
tems, according to the press
release. It also includes ren-
ovating bathrooms and the
restaurant kitchen, as well
as cosmetic improvements,
such as paint, fi nishing and
fl ooring.
The Pendleton City
Council in February
selected McCormack Con-
struction Co. as the general
manager and contractor.
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Renovations at Pendleton’s Eastern Oregon Regional Airport on
Friday, May 6, 2022, require two trailers — one to provide service to
airline passengers and the other to house restrooms. The temporary
facilities soon will include ramps for access.
The entire project is
expected to last about eight
months, broken up into fi ve
phases to minimize impacts
on services.
Crews from McCormack
on May 5 began installing a
60-foot temporary terminal
and bathrooms. Those facil-
ities, next to the main ter-
minal, can be accessed
from the airport parking lot.
They will keep commercial
fl ights operating during the
construction.
Passengers will be
rerouted to the temporary
facilities sometime between
May 5 and May 19, when
construction begins inside
the terminal.
The city also reported
remodeling will not aff ect
air traffi c control services,
and airport administration
services will operate out of
the World War II hangar.
After installation of the tem-
porary facilities, adminis-
trative staff and tenants will
move out of the terminal.
During terminal con-
struction, in-terminal
access to Elvis’ Bar and
Grill, the restaurant at the
airport, will be closed,
but the front entrance
will remain open, and the
restaurant will continue to
operate.
In coordination with
Elvis’ Bar and Grill, the
time frame for the kitchen
and bathroom renovation
project has been identi-
fi ed as mid-September to
mid-December. The time-
line allows the restaurant
to remain open through
the Pendleton Round-Up
in September and then shut
down for renovations.
BAKER CITY — A
Baker City woman and
her daughter who fi led
a federal lawsuit against
the Baker School District
two years ago, claiming
that district offi cials retal-
iated against the daughter
after she complained about
alleged sexual harassment
by a Baker High School
volleyball coach, have set-
tled the suit out of court
and will receive $200,000.
The money comes from
the district’s “risk pool and
not out of district funds,”
according to a press
release.
Roberta Fast and her
daughter, Katrina, fi led the
suit in April 2020 in U.S.
District Court.
They contended that
the district violated a fed-
eral law prohibiting dis-
crimination in schools
— commonly known as
Title IX — as well as the
First Amendment and
Oregon law.
As part of the settle-
ment, both parties agreed
to a statement that the
school district released
Thursday afternoon, May
5. It reads:
“Baker School District
values its relationships with
students, families, staff and
the community. These rela-
tionships are critical to the
District’s eff orts to support
student safety. We thank
former District student
Katrina Fast for coming
forward and sharing her
concerns. The District
acknowledges the contri-
bution of Ms. Fast and her
eff orts to eff ect change
to protect others. Katrina
serves as an example of
how one person’s dedica-
tion can positively impact
a community. We are com-
mitted to protecting all stu-
dents in our District.”
The Fasts, who fi led the
suit in U.S. District Court
in Pendleton, were repre-
sented by Jennifer J. Mid-
dleton, a Eugene attorney.
The central charge in
the suit was that school dis-
trict offi cials kept Katrina
Fast, then a BHS junior, off
the varsity volleyball team
— she played on the JV
team as a junior in the fall
of 2019 — as retaliation for
her complaints about the
actions of head volleyball
coach Warren Wilson.
“While the district
has been advised not to
respond to specifi c alle-
gations, the district can
share that it disputes the
allegations in the com-
plaint and looks forward to
addressing and resolving
those claims through the
course of the litigation pro-
cess,” Mark Witty, school
district superintendent,
wrote in an email.
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