FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2017
VOLUME 90, NUMBER 35
WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM
$2.00
BIOFILTER
Putting worms, microbes to work
Dan Wheat/Capital Press
Manure water, left, becomes clean irrigation water, right, in the BIDA system. The clean water is a dark tea color from wood shavings in the fi lter.
A young Washington dairy farmer and a Chilean civil
engineer use unique system to treat wastewater
By DAN WHEAT
Area in
detail
Capital Press
R
Turn to BIOFILTER, Page 12
Ephrata
281
Moses
Lake
283
90
Potholes
Res.
COLUMBIA
N.W.R.
26
Othello
Royal City,
Wash.
24
bia
lum
Co
Austin Allred’s
is the largest
BIDA dairy
system in the
world, capable
of handling
200,000 gallons
per day.
28
OYAL CITY, Wash. — Austin
Allred doesn’t think of him-
self as an innovator. But at 27,
he operates the only dairy in
Washington state and just the
third in the nation using a unique low-energy
biological fi lter that turns manure water into
clean irrigation water.
He does it with a system based on mil-
lions of worms and microbes.
After leaving the primary solids sep-
arator, manure wastewater fl ows into the
biofi lter of wood shavings, worms and
microbes. Within four hours the worms
and microbes have removed most of the
nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium from
the water, allowing it be used as irrigation
water.
243
24
240
U.S.D.E.
HANFORD
SITE
Ri
ve
r
N
Capital Press graphic
Dan Wheat/Capital Press
From left, Mai Ann Healy and Alex Villagra of BioFiltro, and dairyman Austin
Allred with the new BIDA system.
Some wolves may have become ‘habituated’ to eating cattle
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
Tracks indicated the 500-pound
calf churned 150 feet up a slope,
leaving blood splattered on four
logs, before going down in a pile of
Meacham Pack wolves.
There wasn’t much left when a
ranch hand found the carcass Aug.
19, perhaps two or three days after
the attack. Most of the calf had been
devoured, except the vertebrae with
ribs, pelvis and tail still attached.
The calf’s lower jaw and contents
of its rumen were nearby.
It was the pack’s fourth con-
fi rmed attack within a week, all
on livestock grazing on a 4,000-
acre private, forested pasture in
the Sheep Creek area of Umatilla
County. The producer asked ODFW
to take “lethal control” against the
Meacham Pack as allowed under
Phase 3 of Oregon’s wolf manage-
ment program.
The rancher wanted them all
dead. The wildlife agency autho-
rized killing two of them, an incre-
mental approach it had taken earlier
in August with Wallowa County’s
Harl Butte Pack, which attacked
livestock eight times since July
2016.
In that case, ODFW quickly shot
two adult Harl Butte wolves, then a
third and fourth in the days that fol-
lowed as it appeared the pack was
still going after calves.
The Oregon Cattlemen’s Asso-
ciation argued that ODFW’s ap-
proach was a waste of time. Even
with four dead, the Harl Butte Pack
consisted of six adults and three
growing pups – a 33-pound pup
was unintentionally trapped, then
released unharmed, as ODFW pur-
sued the adults.
The Meacham Pack, meanwhile,
had seven members at the end of
Turn to WOLVES, Page 12
Onion industry scrambles to rebuild damaged facilities
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
NYSSA, Ore. — The Ida-
ho-Oregon onion industry’s
rebuilding efforts following
the heavy damage to storage
and packing facilities caused
by this year’s harsh winter
are in full swing and going
well.
But with the main onion
harvest set to begin about
mid-September, some onion
growers and shippers say
they won’t be ready in time.
“There are defi nitely peo-
ple who are delayed,” said
Shay Myers, general man-
ager of Owyhee Produce, an
onion grower-shipper com-
pany in Nyssa, Ore.
About 60 onion storage
sheds and packing facili-
ties in the Treasure Valley
of Idaho and Oregon either
collapsed or sustained major
damage under the weight of
several feet of snow and ice.
Owyhee Produce lost four
storage sheds. Its packing fa-
cility was damaged but con-
tinued operating.
Turn to ONIONS,
Page 12
An excavator clears
onions damaged
when a storage build-
ing in Nyssa, Ore.,
collapsed under the
weight of snow and
ice in January. The
onion industry lost 60
buildings during the
winter and is racing to
rebuild in time for this
Sean Ellis/Capital Press File year’s main harvest.
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