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CapitalPress.com November 18, 2016 Audit finds Oregon food inspection logjam As of October, auditors found 2,841 licenses were overdue for an inspection by more than three months By ANDREW SELSKY Associated Press SALEM (AP) — Ro- dents, insects and micro- scopic bacteria: All these hazards can exist in food and where it is stored, and it is up to the Oregon Department of Agriculture to ensure they’re not there. But the department’s Food Safety Program, which is charged with carrying out inspections of dairies, gro- cery stores, food processors and other establishments, has a backlog that could cause an increase in dangerous and even fatal illnesses, Oregon’s secretary of state said in an audit published on Tuesday. The Food Safety Program is responsible for regulating more than 12,000 food safe- ty licenses in Oregon. The auditors found that, as of October, 2,841 licenses were overdue for an inspection by more than three months. The 28-page report cites a scary scenario that was dis- covered during an inspection in one locale. In June 2015, two food safety inspectors found hun- dreds of rodent droppings scattered throughout a gro- cery store in Portland, the report said. “Seven dead mice were still locked in snap traps ... During a later visit, the in- spectors found thousands of insects on glue traps and dead insects visible inside wrapped packages of lettuce. This time, the rodents spot- ted were alive; one stuck to a glue trap behind the bread display, another running near the front of the store,” said the audit from Secretary of State Jeanne P. Atkins office. The inspectors closed and condemned the store until the problems could be re- solved. The audit pointed out that not all violations are so obvi- ous, and that health hazards could come from an estab- lishment failing to properly sanitize a food preparation area or storing food at an im- proper temperature — which could allow bacteria to grow — or not labeling allergens such as peanuts. Each year, one in six Americans gets sick from contaminated foods or bev- erages, the Centers for Dis- ease Control and Prevention says. The CDC estimates that of the roughly 48 million people who get sick from a foodborne illness each year, 128,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 die. The backlog of inspec- tions in Oregon was “caused by an increase in the number of licensed businesses ... and an inspection staff busy with other duties,” said the audit, which is accessible via the secretary of state’s website. It recommended the agricul- ture department use stronger management practices, im- prove use of data and use its resources more strategically. “Inspectors are also spending significant amounts of time on duties that are not related to inspections, such as attending training courses in specialized license types or answering customer ques- tions on the phone,” the audit said. It noted that the Food Safety Program has a con- tract with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to con- duct some of its inspections in exchange for reimburse- ment. It recommended doing fewer FDA contract inspec- tions. Lisa Hanson, acting di- rector of the state agricul- ture department, wrote in a response that the department will implement the report’s recommendations. The audit stressed that adhering to food safety regu- lations is crucial to minimize the risk of contamination, and that it’s up to food safety inspectors to make sure those regulations are followed. Farmers offer comments on Columbia-Snake River System By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press SPOKANE — Some wrote by hand. Others wrote on a computer. Some had friends write it down word-for-word. Still others will send an email or a letter outlining their thoughts on the Colum- bia-Snake River System. The public has many op- tions to tell the federal gov- ernment about the river sys- tem, and all of them were on display in Spokane during one of 15 scoping meetings to help the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and Bonneville Power Administration collect comments for an environmen- tal impact statement on the dams on the rivers. “We’re asking the public to come in and look at what we’ve outlined, which is how we currently operate,” said Rebecca Weiss, program co- ordinator for the corps. “Is there something else that we’re missing in the system that’s important to you that you want us to look at?” The meeting drew farmers and ranchers, as well as crit- ics of the river system and its dams. The dams are on track to achieve 96 percent average dam survival for young spring chinook and steelhead and 93 percent for young sum- mer-migrating fish, according to the BPA. The river system has the most fish since Bonneville Dam was built in the 1930s, according to the Pacific Northwest Waterways Asso- ciation. In 2014, more than 2.5 million adult salmon and steelhead passed the dam, set- ting new overall record levels since counts began in 1938. The sockeye, fall chinook and coho posted record or near-re- cord runs, including Snake River stocks. The dams on the Snake River do not block ac- cess for fish. Paul Gross, a farmer with the Spokane Hutterians in Reardan, Wash., wanted to know more about water con- trol for three pump sites on the Spokane River. “Any time they change the elevation, it affects us,” Gross said. “The price of wheat is half of what it was two years ago. We’re already below the cost of production, so any time you make it harder for me, I’m just going to go broke faster.” It’s important for farm- ers and ranchers to contrib- ute comments, said Colfax, Wash., rancher Tom Kammer- zell, a commissioner for the Whitman County port district. “This is up close and in- timate to everybody in this region, and affects us more than anybody,” Kammerzell said. “You can make a deci- sion, but you can’t make it without all the facts, not the cherry-picked facts.” Deadline to comment is Jan. 17. Two webinars will be offered at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Pacific Time Dec. 13 on the project website, http://www. crso.info/. Following are the remain- ing meetings: • Nov 21: Holiday Inn Ex- press & Suites, Pasco-Tri Cit- ies, 4525 Convention Place, Pasco, Wash. 4-7 p.m. • Nov. 29: The Grove Ho- tel, 245 S. Capitol Blvd., Boi- se, Idaho. 4-7 p.m. • Dec. 1: Town Hall Great Room, 1119 8th Ave., Seattle, Wash. 4-7 p.m. • Dec. 6: The Columbia Gorge Discovery Center, River Gallery Room, 5000 Discovery Drive, The Dalles, Ore. 4-7 p.m. • Dec. 7: Oregon Conven- tion Center, 777 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Port- land. 4-7 p.m. • Dec. 8: The Loft at the Red Building, 20 Basin St., Astoria, Ore. 4-7 p.m. ‘Frivolous’ lawsuit costs Oregon rancher $13,700, judge rules Congratulations Sharon & Brenda! By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press Sharon Livingston 2016 Agriculturist of the year Matthew Weaver/Capital Press Hal Thomas with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers speaks with farmer Mike LaShaw of Rock- ford, Wash., about navigation on the Columbia River during the Nov. 14 scoping meeting in Spokane. An Oregon livestock pro- ducer must pay $13,700 to the Oregon Department of Agri- culture for filing a “frivolous” lawsuit against the agency, a federal judge has ruled. U.S. Magistrate Judge John Acosta found that ODA is entitled to collect attorney fees from William Holdner, a rancher in Columbia County who filed a complaint claim- ing he’s not subject to state water quality regulations. Before his problems with water quality regulations be- gan, Holdner raised about 500 cow-calf pairs on his property. Holdner was repeatedly cited by ODA for pollution violations on his property. He was found guilty of felony Brenda Frketich 2016 Ag Connection Award water pollu- tion charges in 2012 and sen- tenced to five days in jail and $300,000 in penalties. In re- William sponse, he Holdner claimed to be exempt from state and feder- al water regulations, arguing that ODA had abused its pow- er in regulating his operation under the Clean Water Act. In 2009, 2012 and 2015, Holdner filed lawsuits arguing that his “land patent” prohib- ited the enforcement of water regulations on his property, but those claims were all re- jected by federal judges. In light of the past rul- ings, Holdner’s claims in the most recent case “could not LEGAL LEGAL CHERRY AVENUE STORAGE 2680 Cherry Ave. NE Salem, OR 97301 (503) 399-7454 Sat., Dec. 3rd • 10 A.M. • Unit 64 - Kristin McDonnell • Unit 98 - Mark Schuler • Unit 179 - John Codner Cherry Avenue Storage reserves the right to refuse any and all bids PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 87 Notice is hereby given that the following vehicle will be sold, for cash to the highest bidder, on 11/28/2016. The sale will be held at 10:00am by legal-47-2-4/#4 COPART OF WASHINGTON INC 2885 NATIONAL WAY, WOODBURN, OR 2008 GRATD DANE TRLR VIN - 1GRAA06258B701973 Amount due on lien $1,455.00 Reputed owner(s) RELIANCE EXPRESS INC Legal-47-2-4/#4 4 be considered viable at the time they were filed,” since he “had clearly been warned any additional complaints at- tacking the legality of defen- dants’ regulation of Holdner’s livestock operation would not succeed,” Acosta said. Because the complaint was “frivolous, unreasonable or without foundation,” ODA’s attorneys are entitled to recov- er their fees, the judge said. However, Acosta did not grant the full $23,800 the state’s lawyers sought in court filings and reduced the amount by more than $10,000 because some of the hours billed by the state were dupli- cative, among other reasons. In 2014, Holdner was pro- hibited from owning cattle af- ter being convicted of animal neglect, which resulted in a sentence of five years of pro- bation. LEGAL CHERRY AVENUE STORAGE 2680 Cherry Ave. NE Salem, OR 97301 (503) 399-7454 Sat., Nov. 26th • 10 A.M. • Unit 37 - Elizabeth or James Shoemaker • Unit 196 - Debra Ireland Cherry Avenue Storage reserves the right to refuse any and all bids legal-46-2-4/#4 Kirsch Family Farms 47-2/#8 ROP-47-2-4/#7
