June 8, 2018
CapitalPress.com
Rapid snowmelt causes
stream forecasts to drop
Controversial Oregon dairy
retains bankruptcy protections
Capital Press
YAKIMA, Wash. —
Rapid snowmelt in Wash-
ington’s mountains and low-
land flooding in May have
switched streamflow forecasts
for the rest of the summer from
a surplus to a deficit.
A month ago, above-nor-
mal streamflows were forecast
for May through September.
Now below-normal flows are
forecast for June through Sep-
tember by the National Weath-
er Service River Forecast Cen-
ter in Portland.
The upper Yakima Basin
is expected to be at 62 to 72
percent of normal flow for
June through September and
the lower Yakima at 59 to 71
percent.
“That’s not good news,
but everyone should be fine
because of full Yakima res-
ervoirs and soil moisture is
good,” said Scott Pattee, water
supply specialist of the Wash-
ington Snow Survey Office of
the USDA Natural Resourc-
es Conservation Service in
Mount Vernon.
While the Natioinal Weath-
er Service Climate Prediction
Center estimates above nor-
mal temperatures and below
normal precipitation — hot
and dry — for Washington for
June, July and August, there
should be enough water for
irrigators and everyone else,
Pattee said.
Basins with no reservoir
storage, such as the Wenatchee
and Entiat, should be OK un-
less the summer becomes ex-
cessively hot and dry, he said.
The five mountain reser-
voirs serving 464,000 acres in
and around the Yakima Basin
were at 99 percent of capacity
and 111 percent of average on
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
EO Media Group
The Lost Valley Dairy outside Boardman, Ore. A judge has decided against lifting bankruptcy protec-
tions for the controversial dairy farm, which means it won’t be forced to liquidate the herd.
terminated because the dairy
wasn’t paying its debts and
had violated quality standards
more than 60 times by supply-
ing milk with high bacteria
levels.
The bank also claimed
that Lost Valley Farm is out
of compliance with its “con-
fined animal feeding opera-
tion” permit, which regulates
wastewater, despite a settle-
ment with the Oregon Depart-
ment of Agriculture.
Correcting
wastewater
management problems at the
dairy will require expensive
remediation, such as empty-
ing and rebuilding manure
lagoons, at a cost of nearly
$400,000 that’s not in the
company’s budget, according
to Rabobank.
Te Velde’s “substance
abuse problem” also weighs
against his continued oper-
ation of the dairy, since his
“half-baked, slapdash ap-
proach” to complying with
wastewater regulations is
“just the latest manifestation
of his drug problem,” the
bank said in court papers.
In court documents, te Vel-
de disputed the contract with
Columbia River Processing
was terminated, saying that
“my special counsel and I
continue to assert there is a
scheduled, valid, executory
contract and we are prepared
to litigate any act by CRP to
discontinue receiving our
milk product.”
It’s true that ODA has
threatened to “hold a contempt
hearing” due to alleged viola-
tions of the dairy’s wastewa-
ter settlement, but the facility
will comply with regulations
by spreading wastewater on a
forage crop to increase open
capacity in its manure lagoon,
he said.
Te Velde also claimed
he will soon begin work on
lining another lagoon and
upgrading a wastewater con-
veyance system but “there is
no immediate danger of the
lagoons overflowing.”
While acknowledging his
drug problem, te Velde said
he’s enrolled in a “recovery
program” and will return to
residential treatment for up to
three months once his busi-
ness operations are stabilized.
“It should be noted that
while Rabobank has pointed
out my substance abuse prob-
lem, it does not contend that I
have cheated, lied or stolen,”
he said.
June 5, according to the U.S.
Bureau of Reclamation.
Chris Lynch, a bureau hy-
drologist, said he anticipates
full water supply for junior
and senior water right holders
in the Yakima Basin.
May’s rapid snowmelt
has pushed the “storage con-
trol date” forward to between
June 11 and 20, he said. That’s
when outflows from the five
reservoirs, totaling 1,065,400
acre-feet of water, are greater
than inflows to the point that
drawdowns start. It was June
29 last year.
Yakima River flow at Park-
er, below Union Gap, was at
11,000 cubic feet per second
through May 21 but dropped
to 900 by June 3, he said.
“That’s a steady decline
showing we’ve lost most of
the snow. Flow is now stabiliz-
ing,” he said.
Pattee said statewide snow-
pack is now 97 percent of nor-
mal. But he said the number
is almost meaningless since
there’s virtually no snow left
below 5,000 feet elevation.
Peak flooding is over and
the Okanogan and Columbia
rivers will begin dropping in
the next couple of weeks, he
said.
Other June through Sep-
tember streamflow forecasts:
Columbia River at Grand
Coulee Dam, 93 percent of
normal; Columbia River at
The Dalles, 89 percent of nor-
mal; Snake River below Low-
er Granite Dam, 83 percent of
normal; upper Columbia (Ket-
tle, Colville, Similkameen,
Okanogan and Methow rivers)
range from 68 on the Kettle
to 104 percent of normal
on the Coville; central Co-
lumbia (Chelan, Entiat and
Wenatchee rivers) 80 per-
cent of normal.
By DAN WHEAT
Decision effectively
forestalls a forced
liquidation sale
of cattle herd
A controversial Oregon
dairy won’t be forced to auc-
tion off its cattle and will in-
stead seek to sell the animals
together with the facility and
land.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge
Fredrick Clement has decided
against lifting bankruptcy pro-
tections for Lost Valley Farm
of Boardman, Ore., effective-
ly forestalling a liquidation
sale sought by Rabobank, the
dairy’s main creditor.
Rabobank sought to fore-
close on the herd to repay
some of the $67 million it had
loaned to the dairy, but owner
Greg te Velde filed for Chap-
ter 11 bankruptcy, automati-
cally protecting against such
actions while he restructures
debt.
His bankruptcy filing can-
celed a liquidation auction of
Lost Valley Farm’s cattle in
April, but Rabobank has since
argued the dairy shouldn’t be
shielded from foreclosure be-
cause it’s being mismanaged.
Rabobank argued that Co-
lumbia River Processing, a
subsidiary of the Tillamook
County Creamery Coopera-
tive, had terminated its con-
tract to buy milk from the
dairy and would cease accept-
ing it after May 31.
Patrick Criteser, Tilla-
mook’s CEO, submitted a
declaration the contract was
3
Capital Press was unable
to reach an attorney for Rabo-
bank.
Riley Walter, an attorney
representing te Velde, said
he wouldn’t characterize the
judge’s decision as a victory
but simply a recognition that
lifting bankruptcy protec-
tions now would be prema-
ture.
“It’s the way Chapter 11
should work,” Walter said.
“The debtor is entitled to a
reasonable breathing spell to
get his house in order.”
Rising milk prices bode
well for the dairy’s finances,
as every $1 increase in price
per hundredweight translates
to a $130,000 boost in its
monthly revenues, he said.
Te Velde’s request to hire
a real estate broker to market
the Lost Valley Farm property
is still pending, but he contin-
ues to believe the operation
is worth more if it’s not sold
piecemeal, Walter said.
The broker would try to
sell the property and cattle for
$109 million, according to a
court document.
“I don’t think it’s true he
will sell at any price, but he
will sell if he gets his price,”
Walter said.
Intermodal shipping facility plan moves ahead in Nyssa
Capital Press
A well-known Oregon
flour mill wants a federal
judge to declare it can use
a gluten-free label without
paying a nonprofit group
for certification.
Gluten is a protein found
in wheat and other grains to
which some people have an
intolerance that causes di-
gestive problems.
Bob’s Red Mill Natural
Foods of Milwaukie, Ore.,
has filed a lawsuit claim-
ing the Gluten Intolerance
Group of North America
asserted trademark rights in
a “GF” gluten-free symbol
that’s similar to a logo used
by the company.
The nonprofit sent a
letter to Bob’s Red Mill
alleging consumers may
be “confused into think-
ing GIG has certified your
product as satisfying its
gluten-free standards, even
though GIG has not,” the
complaint said.
Bob’s Red Mill should
either stop using the logo
or become certified by the
nonprofit, the letter said.
The lawsuit claims it’s
“somewhat puzzling” that
GIG has taken this position
because the U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office considers
the GF symbol as “merely
descriptive,” which means
the nonprofit “has no right
to exclusive use of that
mark.”
More than 100 glu-
ten-free products are sold
by Bob’s Red Mill, which
has “built a separate facility
with specialized machin-
ery” for such products and
targeted consumers seeking
to avoid gluten for three de-
cades, the complaint said.
While there is no federal
standard for “gluten-free,”
the company only uses such
labels for products contain-
ing fewer than 19 parts per
million of the substance,
according to the lawsuit.
Bob’s Red Mill is seek-
ing a “declaratory judg-
ment” that it’s not required
to pay for certification or
cease using the GF logo,
which would “require the
withholding from store
shelves of millions of dol-
lars’ worth of product,”
the complaint said. “At a
minimum, complying with
GIG’s demand would re-
quire a significant redesign
and marketing process.”
The company has also
asked the judge to declare
the GF trademark unen-
forceable and to enter an
injunction prohibiting GIG
from claiming that oth-
ers may not use a similar
symbol.
Capital Press was unable
to reach Sarah Bottorf, the
nonprofit’s executive direc-
tor who sent the letter, for
comment.
Gluten
Intolerance
Group of North America
took in about $3 million,
most of it derived from
“program service revenue,”
during 2016, the most re-
cent year for which its tax
information is available.
In 2017, the nonprofit
filed a lawsuit over the GF
trademark against organi-
zations affiliated with Ja-
mie Oliver, a famous chef,
which was dismissed earlier
this year subject to an undis-
closed agreement.
Ore
.
ho
Ida
30
Weiser
26
Payette
Malheur County Development
MALHEUR
Ontario
Corp. secured access to some
52
Vale
state funding for the long-planned
201
Ri
Treasure Valley Reload Center.
Ma l h e
Construction could begin as
20
20
Nyssa, Ore.
26
soon as spring 2019 on the
R
truck-to-rail loading facility north
.
Lake
of Nyssa, Ore. The project is
Owyhee
N
seen as a major financial
10 miles
benefit to local onion farmers.
95
Idaho
Ore.
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
95
84
e
Flour mill files
‘gluten-free’ lawsuit
Ore.
Sn a k
Capital Press File
Bob’s Red Mill founder Bob Moore describes testing procedures in
the company’s gluten-free production area.
Malheur County Develop-
ment Corp. recently signed an
initial contract with the Ore-
gon Department of Transpor-
tation, enabling the county to
access up to 5 percent of $26
million earmarked for a long-
planned intermodal, truck-to-
rail loading facility north of
Nyssa.
“That is a start, and it gets
us on the map for intermodal
movement,” Malheur Coun-
ty Economic Development
Director Greg Smith said.
“No doubt we are going to be
making investments for years
to come, but this gets us start-
ed.”
Called the Treasure Valley
Reload Center in planning
documents filed last Decem-
ber with the Oregon Trans-
portation Commission, it’s
viewed as benefiting farmers.
Many of the area’s onion ship-
pers, for example, pay to truck
their products more than 200
miles to a Wallula, Wash., re-
load facility.
“It’s heaven-sent,” said
Paul Skeen, president of
the Malheur County Onion
Growers Association.
Having multiple transpor-
tation modes available nearby
will be a big benefit, he said.
Truck availability has been
tight partly because of new
rules for drivers, he said.
Planned inter-
modal facility
gets funding
Area in
detail
v er
Capital Press
ur
By BRAD CARLSON
Alan Kenaga/Capital Press
“We are going to measure
our success by how well this
serves our local industry,”
Smith said.
State funding is from Or-
egon Lottery-backed bonds.
Malheur County must spend it
on project-specific planning,
engineering,
construction
and equipment. The funding
was part of the Oregon Leg-
islature’s 2017 transportation
package.
Smith said having initial
state money in hand bodes
well as the county competes
for other funding sources
such as discretionary grants
through the U.S. Department
of Transportation’s Better Uti-
lizing Investments to Lever-
age Development program.
State Sen. Cliff Bentz,
R-Ontario, said getting the
initial funding is “very im-
portant” because it reflects
ODOT’s finding that the proj-
ect is meeting requirements. It
was one of four projects fund-
ed in 2017 using the state’s
Connect Oregon program re-
quiring projects move through
a step-by-step process show-
ing they are properly managed
and progressing.
The state funding is “a
huge vote for Oregon’s east-
ern edge,” he said.
Bentz said the reload fa-
cility would save significant
expense for local onion grow-
ers while making eastern Or-
egon more competitive with
onion-growing areas such as
eastern Washington and parts
of South America. The rail in-
dustry also stands to gain local
cargo volume.
Smith said another mile-
stone for the reload center will
be submitting a final proposal
to ODOT for approval. That
is due Sept. 27. Final engi-
neering planning, construc-
tion budgeting and contractor
hiring will follow the depart-
ment’s final approval.
Construction could begin
as soon as spring 2019, he
said.
The facility will be de-
signed to match demand with
affordability requirements,
yet accommodate expansion
as needed later, Smith said.
The three-parcel, 400-acre
site on the east side of High-
way 201 includes a planned
industrial park and room for
connecting to a Union Pa-
cific Railroad main line via
easements for rail spurs and
sidings.
Smith said the reload fa-
cility could consist of a tilt-
up concrete structure with a
truck staging area, and bays
and cross docks set to enable
incoming product to go di-
rectly onto rail cars or stored
temporarily.
“We are designing the fa-
cility in such a way to where
private industry could locate
adjacent to our facility and
be able to utilize rail ser-
vice and/or temporary stor-
age from their building into
ours,” he said.
Weekly fieldwork report
Item/description (Source: USDA, NASS; NOAA)
• Days suitable for fieldwork (As of June 5)
• Topsoil moisture, surplus
• Topsoil moisture, percent short
• Subsoil moisture, surplus
• Subsoil moisture, percent short
• Precipitation probability
(6-10 day outlook as of June 5)
Ore.
Wash.
Idaho
Calif.
6.9
0
56%
0
51%
6.7
3%
19%
3%
14%
4.9
37%
5%
31%
8%
6.8
0
75%
0
55%
Normal/
33-40% below
33% above/
Normal
Normal/
33-40% below
40% below/
Normal