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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2016
EPA regional
head didn’t
see What’s
Upsteam as
‘legal issue’
VOLUME 89, NUMBER 41
WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM
$2.00
New life for old
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
Turn to UPSTREAM,
Page 12
Reclaimed lumber from barns,
outbuildings popular among
renovators and woodworkers
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
S
UVER, Ore. — Staring up into the innards of
a partially dismantled grain elevator, decon-
struction expert Steve Marlega could barely
contain his enthusiasm.
Though much of the wood in the roughly
70-year-old structure was too insect-damaged to be
reclaimed, the massive old-growth timber beams sup-
porting its frame were in superb condition.
“I’ll tear this whole thing down just for those,” said
Marlega, project manager for Northwest Reclaimed
Wood, a deconstruction fi rm.
While the old Pacifi c Seed grain elevator in
Suver, Ore., was no longer useful to its
current owner, the Wilbur-Ellis farm
supply company, lumber from the
structure will live on in various
forms.
Like the wood from ancient
barns and other outdated and
dilapidated agricultural build-
ings around the region, it will
be turned into furniture and
used in home renovations by
people who value its unique
heritage.
“History is huge. You don’t
want it to just die,” said Danuta
Burris, co-owner of Salem Sal-
vage, a reclaimed wood company
that buys material from Marlega.
Danuta Burris of Sa-
lem Salvage puts the
finishing touches on
a table made from
reclaimed wood at
the company’s yard
in Salem, Ore. Old
wood from barns and
other farm buildings
is popular among
woodworkers and
home renovators.
‘A big thing’
People often prefer to use lumber that was milled
at about the same time as their older homes were built
because it fi ts better aesthetically and dimensionally,
she said.
Such lumber is also used as a decorative element in
newer homes, Burris said. “Barn wood is a big thing
right now. Everybody wants that barn wood look.”
Dismantling an old barn or grain elevator is
much more time-consuming and complicated than
simply bulldozing it or setting fi re to it. The added
care is necessary to extract the valuable lumber in-
tact, said Marlega. “You can’t get it by knocking it
over.”
In some cases, quickly demolishing or burning
down a structure simply isn’t safe or practical. The Pa-
cifi c Seed grain elevator, for example, was too close to
other buildings and a railroad track.
Turn to WOOD, Page 12
Photos by Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press
Darell Braman of Northwest Reclaimed Wood, a deconstruction company,
dismantles a grain elevator in Suver, Ore. Old wood from barns and other farm
buildings is popular among woodworkers and home renovators.
Big wheat crop fails
to yield big payday
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
Good growing weather bol-
stered wheat yields this year
compared to 2015, but growers
aren’t seeing the growth in their
wallets.
Washington’s winter wheat
production this year topped 130
million bushels, up 46 percent
from 89 million bushels har-
vested in 2015, according the
USDA National Agricultural
Statistics Service.
Spring wheat production
was 27 million bushels, up 18
percent over last year.
“It was a perfect year for
growing wheat, with the excep-
tion of falling numbers,” said
Mary Palmer Sullivan, vice
president of the Washington
Grain Commission.
Many farmers are seeing
lower prices due to low falling
number, a test run by grain ele-
vators for starch damage.
Turn to WHEAT, Page 12
Capital Press File
Though the amount of wheat harvested is up across
most of the Pacifi c Northwest compared to last year, low
prices are cutting into this year’s farm income.
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41-2/#16
The Environmental Pro-
tection Agency’s top North-
west offi cial asked What’s
Upstream last year to not sin-
gle out farmers as responsible
for Puget Sound pollution, but
he also reassured the group’s
leader that spending EPA
funds on the advocacy cam-
paign wasn’t a “legal issue,”
according to newly available
EPA records.
The records, released in
response to a Freedom of In-
formation Act request by the
Capital Press, shed new light
on the depth of concern some
EPA staff members had about
the legality of What’s Up-
stream, led by Swinomish In-
dian tribe environmental poli-
cy director Larry Wasserman.
The campaign sought in-
creased regulation of agricul-
ture to improve Puget Sound
water quality.
The campaign collapsed
in April as some federal law-
makers charged the EPA with
funding malicious and illegal
lobbying activities. The EPA’s
inspector general is auditing
the spending, and the Wash-
ington Public Disclosure
Commission is investigating
whether What’s Upstream
broke state law by failing to
report lobbying activities.
According to the just-re-
leased records, What’s Up-
stream had the attention of
wary EPA staff members for
several years, particularly af-
ter Wasserman proposed in
2013 using EPA funds to push
a ballot initiative to restrict
farming near waterways.
The tribe dropped the pro-
posal, but continued to pursue
a lobbying campaign with the
help of Seattle fi rm Strategies
360.
As lower-level EPA offi -
cials were exploring in 2015
whether Wasserman’s sin-
gle-minded focus on regulat-
ing agriculture was grounds
for cutting-off funding, Was-
serman requested a meeting
with Region 10 Administrator
Dennis McLerran.
According to EPA notes of
the July 16, 2015, conference
call, Wasserman, joined by
tribe attorney Nate Cushman,
told McLerran that he didn’t
think the EPA could legal-
ly withdraw a grant already
awarded to the Northwest In-
dian Fisheries Commission to
fund “public outreach.”