February 13, 2015
CapitalPress.com
11
Washington
Wine grape crop sets record
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
Don Jenkins/Capital Press
Sen. Brian Dansel, R-Republic, listens to testimony Feb. 10
in Olympia on legislation he introduced that would require the
Washington Department of Ecology to test water before warning
livestock producers that they have the potential to pollute water.
Lawmakers move to
demand more upfront
proof of pollution
Rancher: We’re now
guilty until proven
innocent
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
OLYMPIA, Wash. — The
Washington Department of
Ecology strongly opposes
legislation that would require
it to test water before warn-
ing ranchers their cows might
be polluting a stream.
The agency wants to pre-
vent, not just react to water
pollution, DOE Special As-
sistant Kelly Susewind told
the Senate Agriculture, Water
and Rural Economic Devel-
opment Committee on Tues-
day.
“If we see a situation
that’s going to lead to pol-
lution, we want to act before
there’s a problem,” he said.
The committee took tes-
timony on Senate Bill 5584,
which would curb the DOE’s
longstanding policy of taking
action based on the “potential
to pollute.”
The bill’s sponsor, Sen.
Brian Dansel, R-Republic,
likened the policy to troopers
issuing tickets for the “poten-
tial to speed.”
Dansel’s bill would re-
quire DOE to conduct tests to
show water is being polluted
before ordering corrective
actions.
“If you like scientific test-
ing, this is a great bill,” he
said. “If there really is pollu-
tion taking place, we want to
know about it and fix it.”
Livestock producers have
long complained about the
DOE’s wide-ranging authori-
ty to enforce water pollution
laws and assume there’s trou-
ble ahead based on what reg-
ulators see.
“We’re guilty until we
can prove our innocence, by
somebody’s opinion,” Cat-
tle Producers of Washington
President Lee Engelhardt
said.
In a well-known case,
Columbia County rancher
Joe Lemire fought the DOE
all the way to the state Su-
preme Court, ultimately los-
ing an 8-1 decision in 2013.
The dissenting justice, Jim
Johnson, said the DOE’s
actions against Lemire were
extremely burdensome and
ignored his property rights.
Dansel’s
legislation
would revise the ground
rules. It faces an uphill
climb in the Democrat-
ic-controlled House. The
issue, however, got an airing
in the Republican-controlled
Senate agriculture commit-
tee.
Stevens County rancher
Scott Nielsen said producers
would welcome actual proof
that they’re harming water
quality.
“As a rancher, I have no
interest in sending pollution
down the creek,” he said. “If
we are, I want to know about
it.”
The Washington Cattle-
men’s Association and Wash-
ington Farm Bureau also
voiced their support for the
bill.
The DOE’s Susewind said
collecting incriminating wa-
ter samples would require
being in the right place at the
right time, since pollution
may be episodic rather than
ongoing.
The state Health Depart-
ment’s shellfish and water
protection director, Jerrod
Davis, said Dansel’s bill
would hurt the agency’s abil-
ity to protect shellfish beds
and water quality.
A lobbyist for the Sierra
Club and Puget Soundkeeper
Alliance, Bruce Wishart, said
Dansel’s bill would make en-
forcing water pollution laws
more expensive for the state.
DOE last year convened
an Agriculture and Water
Quality Advisory Committee
to talk about how to protect
water quality without harm-
ing producers. The commit-
tee includes representatives
from farm and environmental
groups. Ranchers told sen-
ators that the meetings have
yet to resolve differences.
KENNEWICK, Wash. —
Washington state’s wine grape
harvest set a record for the third
straight year with 227,000 tons
in 2014.
That’s up 8 percent from
2013 and was welcome news
released by the National Ag-
ricultural Statistics Service on
the eve of the industry’s annual
meeting at Three Rivers Con-
vention Center in Kennewick.
The Feb. 10-13 meeting of
the Washington Association of
Wine Grape Growers is second
only to the Unified Wine &
Grape Symposium in California
as the largest wine and vineyard
gathering in the nation.
Washington has been on an
upward trajectory of wine grape
production for years but dipped
to 142,000 tons in 2011 from
160,000 in 2010 due to a freeze.
The industry expects to con-
tinue to grow about 5 percent
annually in grape tonnage and
wine production, said Vicky
Scharlau, executive director of
WAWGG.
Dan Wheat/Capital Press
Drew Schick, cellar hand, rakes wine grapes from bin into crusher during
last November’s harvest at Icicle Ridge Winery, Peshastin, Wash.. Wine
grape and wine production continues increasing in Washington.
“It’s driven by premium
quality wines at great value,
which Washington does in
spades,” Scharlau said.
The state’s largest winery,
Chateau Ste. Michelle Wine
Estates, Woodinville, two years
ago projected 5 percent growth
annual growth, Scharlau noted,
saying the key is keeping grape
and wine production relatively
in balance with each other.
White varieties of wine
grapes increased 16 percent in
production in 2014 while red
varieties increased 1 percent,
NASS reported. White variet-
ies accounted for 53 percent of
production compared with 49
percent in 2013.
The largest variety, White
Riesling, also had the most
growth, up 26 percent to 50,500
tons. It represents 22 percent of
the crop.
Chardonnay is second at
43,800 tons and 19 percent of
the crop. Cabernet Sauvignon
was third at 42,200 and 19
percent. Merlot was fourth at
36,900 and 16 percent, accord-
ing to NASS.
Growers received an average
of $1,110 per ton for all variet-
ies in 2014, unchanged from
the previous year. Of all the
published varieties, Grenache
received the highest price per
ton at $1,674. The average Cab-
ernet Sauvignon price increased
$8 per ton from 2013 to $1,448
and the average Chardonnay
price was up $6 per ton to $922.
Growers received an average of
$799 per ton for White Riesling,
$3 more than in 2013. The av-
erage Merlot price per ton de-
creased $6 per ton to $1,180.
Washington is second only
to California in wine and wine
grape production.
Washington has 350-plus
growers, approximately 50,000
wine grape acres and more than
850 wineries producing 12.5
million cases of wine a year.
Winery revenue is estimated
at $1 billion annually by the
state wine commission.
Carlton Complex inspires fire reform bills
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
OLYMPIA — A House
committee Thursday heard
about the frustration and an-
guish of missed opportunities
to stop the Carlton Complex
from growing last summer
into the largest wildland fire
in state history.
The lightning-ignited blaz-
es burned 256,108 acres in
north-central Washington be-
tween July 14 and Aug. 25,
destroying 300 homes and
killing about 1,000 cattle. One
man died of a heart attack de-
fending his home.
Okanogan County Farm
Bureau President Jon Wyss
choked up as he recalled the
fire’s growing power. Early
on, residents asked permis-
sion to extend a fire line from
private property onto state
land. They waited 5 1/2 hours
before being turned down by
the Washington Department
of Natural Resources, he said.
“Could that line have
stopped it? Don’t know. But
you know what? It would have
been a good attempt to try,” he
said.
Such stories have spawned
four bills introduced by Reps.
Joel Kretz, R-Wauconda, and
Shelly Short, R-Addy.
The bills are intended to
give landowners and counties
a freer hand to jump on fires
breaking out on state land,
rather than waiting for DNR to
marshal forces.
Kretz said that large wild-
fires are always followed by
assurances from DNR that the
agency will learn and improve.
“I’ve heard it from their
predecessors and their prede-
cessors,” he said. “I haven’t
Dan Wheat/Capital Press
Timber is ready to be salvaged from the Carlton Complex Fire,
Oct. 16, west of Loop Loop Summit on Highway 20 between Twisp
and Malott, Wash., in this file photo. The Washington House is
considering four bills intended to give landowners and counties a
freer hand to jump on fires breaking out on state land, rather than
waiting for DNR to marshal forces.
seen enough progress.”
House Agriculture
and
Natural Resources Committee
Chairman Brian Blake, D-Ab-
erdeen, said after the hearing
he wants to combine policy
changes that have a chance of
passing into a single bill.
Legislation may run into
opposition from DNR and
the union representing DNR
employees. Department and
union representatives told the
committee they will work on
legislation, but did not support
the bills Kretz and Short intro-
duced.
Some lawmakers ex-
pressed concern that letting
landowners take the initia-
tive will result in lawsuits or
amateurish actions that make
fires worse.
Okanogan County rancher
Vic Stokes assured lawmakers
that landowners have experi-
ence battling blazes.
Washington fines fertilizer maker for air pollution violations
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
An organic fertilizer
manufacturer was fined
$32,000 Wednesday for re-
leasing too much pollution
into the air and not fixing
the problem, according to
the Washington Department
of Ecology.
Bellevue,
Wash.-based
Perfect Blend, which pro-
duces fertilizer from chicken
manure at a plant near Othello
in Adams County, failed one
air pollution test on April 16,
2013, and two tests Feb, 19,
2014, DOE spokeswoman
Brook Beeler said.
The February tests showed
the company releasing more
than twice the particulate
matter its allowed to under a
permit issued by DOE, Beeler
said.
The company said it will
appeal the fine to the state’s
Pollution Control Hearings
Board, but declined further
comment.
Beeler said inspectors saw
too much pollution coming
from the plant in 2013 and is-
sued an order to install equip-
ment to more effectively cap-
ture particle pollution. Perfect
Blend subsequently failed two
tests that measured particulate
matter coming from exhaust
stacks, she said.
The fines for the three
failed tests and for not com-
plying the order to correct the
problem totaled $32,000.
Beeler said DOE is work-
ing with Perfect Blend to
bring the company into com-
pliance with its permit.
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