4 CapitalPress.com Friday, September 24, 2021 Water from NE Oregon data centers reused for farms Amazon has two campuses built, two more on the way By GEORGE PLAVEN Capital Press UMATILLA, Ore. — The tiny city of Umatilla, Ore., and the internet giant Amazon have come up with a unique use for the cool- ing water from the company’s massive server farms. They are using it irrigate the region’s other farms — the kind that grow crops. Perched along the Columbia River in northeast Oregon, Uma- tilla is a haven for irrigated agri- culture where farmers grow every- thing from hay and wheat to high-value potatoes, onions, car- rots and melons. In 2009, Amazon broke ground on its first campus of data centers in Umatilla. Data centers are large warehouses filled with computer servers. All the information gath- ered by websites like Amazon and Facebook is stored in the server farms. Amazon was attracted to the Columbia Basin, in part, by the availability of clean water that could be used in cooling systems The cooling water from Ama- zon is piped to an irrigation canal run by the West Extension Irriga- tion District, which serves 10,400 acres of farmland. The project broke ground in 2019, with roughly 7 miles of pipe that run from the data center campuses to a new headworks on the district’s canal at the northeast end of the city. From there, the water flows about 1,200 feet allowing it to mix with the district’s water Wikimedia pumped directly from the Colum- Umatilla, Ore., and Amazon have built a system for using cooling bia River, diluting any excess water from the internet giant’s server farms to irrigate the region’s salts and reaching a suitable pH farms. level before it can be used for irrigation. for all those servers. A single data Stockdale said the infrastruc- Both the city and Amazon center consumes between 250,000 began pondering ways they could ture cost a little more than $5 mil- and 1 million gallons of water per reuse the water, adding benefit for lion. So far, Amazon is the only customer on the new system, day in the warmer summer months, the community. when outside temperatures can top The answer, they decided, was though that could change with 100 degrees. to deliver the water to the same future developments. Water deliveries began in 2020. That water is still mostly clean farmers that have powered Umatil- This year, Stockdale estimated they once it comes out the other end, la’s economy for decades. “To take this new age technol- provided enough water for farmers said Umatilla city manager Dave ogy and sort of marry it to our tra- to grow an additional 1,000 acres of Stockdale. With two data center campuses ditional roots, especially in Uma- crops, all with existing water rights. “Technically, it’s the city’s now online and another two being tilla which has always been an built, Stockdale said it didn’t make agricultural community ... in real- water in the irrigation district’s sense, nor was there capacity, to ity, they actually worked out in canal,” Stockdale said. “If a farmer treat all that mostly clean water at a great symbiotic relationship,” wants access to additional water, Stockdale said. they have additional water capac- the city’s sewer plant. ity available to them through this system.” The value of agriculture in arid Eastern Oregon grows exponen- tially with water. Dryland wheat grown without irrigation yields roughly $100 per acre. Adding 1 acre-foot of water increases the crop’s value to $500 per acre. Add 3 acre-feet of water, and farms can earn up to $5,000 per acre growing higher value specialty crops. An acre-foot covers an area about the size of a football field with 1 foot of water, or about 325,851 gallons. As more data centers come online in the coming years, Stock- dale said the city is examining other potential uses for the water in addition to irrigation, such as repairing wetlands in the area for wildlife. “We continue to look at ways to be good environmental stew- ards of our resources,” Stockdale said. A spokesperson for Ama- zon Web Services said the proj- ect is the first of its kind in Ore- gon and for the company, and the goal is to increase water reuse at its northeast Oregon data centers to 100%. WDFW quits search for cattle-attacking wolf pack By DON JENKINS Capital Press The Washington Depart- ment of Fish and Wild- life has stopped searching for wolves attacking cattle in the Kettle River Range, the fourth time the depart- ment has failed to cull the Togo pack after saying it would try. Two Fish and Wildlife biologists, aided by one working radio collar in the pack, spent parts of three days looking for wolves. On the second day, one employee shot at a wolf, but missed. Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Staci Leh- man said Sept. 15 that the pack went to a different area. Although the depart- ment can’t be certain, wolves may have moved in response to the search, she said. The department has not confirmed any depre- dations by the pack since Aug. 17, two weeks prior to the department call- ing off the search. “At this point, we’re not actively going out,” Lehman said. State Rep. Joel Kretz, who represents north- east Washington, called the department’s fail- ure “another broken promise.” “I’m seeing the same things from the same peo- ple and I’m seeing the same results,” he said Thursday. Ferry County sheriff’s wildlife deputy Jeff Flood said that Fish and Wild- life didn’t set traps or use a helicopter and quit too soon. Flood said the depart- ment’s “half-hearted” operation belied prom- ises the department made to step up its efforts if ranchers stepped up theirs to break the cycle of wolf-livestock conflicts in the Kettle River Range. “There’s tremendous distrust up here, and frus- tration,” Flood said. “All the time, the ranchers are told to do more and more. When it comes time for the department to do something, they don’t do it.” Flood said the wolves have not moved away from cattle. The pack — five adults and four pups — continues to harass cattle, scattering and sep- arating cow-calf pairs, he said. “How can the depart- ment pull off this magic trick — shoot their gun once and the wolves run away?” Flood asked. “How can they have such great luck doing that, but our range riders chas- ing them like jack rabbits don’t?” Lehman said the department won’t talk about its tactics. The Togo pack started a pattern of attacking cat- tle in the fall of 2017, according to Fish and Wildlife. The department killed one wolf in 2018, but otherwise has been unsuccessful in four other tries. The department desig- nates the Togo pack ter- ritory a “special focus area,” the only one in the state, because of the number of attacks on livestock. The designa- tion raised expectations on ranchers to use more range riders and try other non-lethal ways to pre- vent depredations. The Togo pack again crossed the threshold for lethal control Aug. 17 by attacking a third calf in 30 days. The attacks occurred on private and public lands and to cattle belonging to three differ- ent ranchers. Fish and Wildlife said all three employed non-lethal deterrents, and Director Kelly Susew- ind authorized the depart- ment on Aug. 26 to kill one wolf or two wolves. The department said the order was in place until Sept. 26 or until wolves were killed, whichever came first. By Aug. 31, the depart- ment had stopped trying to remove wolves. Scott Nielsen of the Cattle Producers of Wash- ington said the depart- ment’s decision was “outrageous.” “It definitely looks to us like a very limited effort,” said Nielsen, who organizes the cattlemen’s state-funded program to prevent conflicts between wolves and livestock. Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press Nate Kazemier, whose family owns a dairy farm, started the Rickreall Meat Co. to sell ground beef. Oregon dairy diversifies into direct marketing ground beef RICKREALL, Ore. — Lackluster demand at live- stock auctions has convinced the owners of an Oregon dairy farm to directly sell the ground beef from its culled cows to the public. Last month, Nate Kaze- mier, whose family owns Rickreall Dairy, started the Rickreall Meat Co. and has already sold 500 pounds of ground beef to visitors. Culled cows are sent to a slaughter facility a half- hour away in Carlton, Ore., and the meat is sold at the dairy, though Kazemier plans to find wholesale gro- cery and restaurant buyers as well. “It makes great ground beef because we (use) the whole cow,” he said. “All the steaks and stuff are in it, and that makes it really lean and flavorful.” The dairy usually gets about 20-30 cents a pound for culled cows, while direct-marketing the ground beef fetches about 80 cents per pound after expenses, Kazemeir said. “More than doubling our margin on cer- tain animals is worth the effort.” The company charges $6 apiece for one-pound packages, which are vacu- um-sealed and frozen. Kaze- mier is considering includ- ing them in a food box delivery program that spe- cializes in blemished or mis- shapen food items. “This fits that mold pretty well because it’s old dairy cows,” he said. So far, the company has relied on buzz gener- ated on social media and from motorists who drive by advertisements near the dairy. “We’re off to a pretty good start for just putting two signs on the highway,” said Louie Kazemier, Nate’s father. A culled dairy cow typ- ically yields about 300 pounds of ground beef and the dairy sells up to 700 cows per year at auction, so the meat operation has room to grow. Ground beef from the dairy’s cows already proved popular last year, when the company celebrated its 30th anniversary by giving away food to 450 families early in the coronavirus epidemic. Eventually, Rickreall Meat Co. would like to build its own slaughter facility on-site, which would face a lower regulatory burden because the dairy is already permitted to process solid and liquid waste, Nate Kaze- mier said. At this point, construct- ing such a plant would be prohibitively expensive but the company is hopeful that state and federal programs may reduce that cost or pro- vide financial assistance, he said. For now, the company is focused on exposing cus- tomers to its ground beef, Kazemier said. “The goal is to put out a good quality product to get our name out there.” The dairy is currently getting paid about $15 per hundredweight for its milk, which is about $2 below the cost of production due to high feed costs, said Louie Kazemier. “This is all about trying to stay in business because milk marketing isn’t doing us any favors,” he said. “This is one other way we’re looking to diversify.” By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press LEGAL PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 87  Notice is hereby given that the following vehicle will be  sold, for  cash to the highest bidder, on 09/27/2021.  The sale will be held at 10:00am by  COPART OF WASHINGTON INC  2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR  2019 HYUN ELANTRA 4DR VIN = 5NPD74LF7KH452621 Amount due on lien $1435.00  Reputed owner(s) BRENDA L GONZALES HYUNDAI MOTOR FINANCE CORP LEGAL PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 87  Notice is hereby given that the following vehicle will be  sold, for  cash to the highest bidder, on 09/27/2021.  The sale will be held at 10:00am by  COPART OF WASHINGTON INC  2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR  2017 HONDA CIVIC 4DR VIN = SHHFK7H2XHU403692 Amount due on lien $1435.00  Reputed owner(s) S NARANJO-PEREZ & A KLUTZ JPMORGAN CHASE BANK NA LEGAL PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 87  Notice is hereby given that the following vehicle will be  sold, for  cash to the highest bidder, on 09/27/2021.  The sale will be held at 10:00am by  COPART OF WASHINGTON INC  2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR  2014 TOYOTA SIENNA VAN VIN = 5TDYK3DC1ES524085 Amount due on lien $1435.00  Reputed owner(s) TIFFANY & JOSHUA FLANAGAN TOYOTA MOTOR CREDIT CORP LEGAL PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 87  Notice is hereby given that the following vehicle will be  sold, for  cash to the highest bidder, on 10/04/2021.  The sale will be held at 10:00am by  COPART OF WASHINGTON INC  2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR  2017 HONDA CIVIC 4DR VIN = 2HGFC2F78HH545678 Amount due on lien $1535.00  Reputed owner(s) EDUARDO PANCHO MARTINEZ WELLS FARGO AUTO LEGAL PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 87  Notice is hereby given that the following vehicle will be  sold, for  cash to the highest bidder, on 10/04/2021.  The sale will be held at 10:00am by  COPART OF WASHINGTON INC  2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR  2011 NISSAN LEAF 4DR VIN = JN1AZ0CP8BT004224 Amount due on lien $1555.00  Reputed owner(s) UNITED AUTO SALES LLC LEGAL PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 87  Notice is hereby given that the following vehicle will be  sold, for  cash to the highest bidder, on 10/04/2021.  The sale will be held at 10:00am by  COPART OF WASHINGTON INC  2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR  2012 ACURA TSX 4D VIN = JH4CU2F65CC021033 Amount due on lien $1655.00  Reputed owner(s) SHELLY JOYCE AVERILL CENTRAL WILLAMETTE COMMUNITY C U LEGAL PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 87  Notice is hereby given that the following vehicle will be  sold, for  cash to the highest bidder, on 10/04/2021.  The sale will be held at 10:00am by  COPART OF WASHINGTON INC  2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR  2007 TOYOTA PRIUS 4DR VIN = JTDKB20U677632276 Amount due on lien $1515.00  Reputed owner(s) AUTOS OF PORTLAND LEGAL PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 87  Notice is hereby given that the following vehicle will be  sold, for  cash to the highest bidder, on 10/04/2021.  The sale will be held at 10:00am by  COPART OF WASHINGTON INC  2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR  2018 DODGE GRA 4D VIN = 2C4RDGCGXJR253573 Amount due on lien $1535.00  Reputed owner(s) HANNA ALLEN & BRANDEN WALTERS MECHANICS BANK LEGAL PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 87  Notice is hereby given that the following vehicle will be  sold, for  cash to the highest bidder, on 10/04/2021.  The sale will be held at 10:00am by  COPART OF WASHINGTON INC  2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR  2013 INFINITI JX35 LL VIN = 5N1AL0MM5DC320567 Amount due on lien $1535.00  Reputed owner(s) CASEY DIXON & JUAN MANZO TOYOTA MOTOR CREDIT CORP S261535-1 S261536-1 S261537-1 S261136-1 S261538-1 S261137-1 S261539-1 S261534-1 S261540-1 S261128-1 LEGAL PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 87  Notice is hereby given that the following vehicle will be  sold, for  cash to the highest bidder, on 09/27/2021.  The sale will be held at 10:00am by  COPART OF WASHINGTON INC  2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR  2014 DODGE CHARGER 4DR VIN = 2C3CDXCT2EH338054 Amount due on lien $1415.00  Reputed owner(s) JOSE & JOSE LEIVA TD AUTO FINANCE LLC S261130-1 LEGAL PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 87  Notice is hereby given that the following vehicle will be  sold, for  cash to the highest bidder, on 09/27/2021.  The sale will be held at 10:00am by  COPART OF WASHINGTON INC  2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR  2020 TOYOTA COROLLA 4DR VIN = JTDDPRAE2LJ043829 Amount due on lien $1415.00  Reputed owner(s) GEICO S261133-1 LEGAL PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 87  Notice is hereby given that the following vehicle will be  sold, for  cash to the highest bidder, on 10/04/2021.  The sale will be held at 10:00am by  COPART OF WASHINGTON INC  2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR  2018 HYUNDAI ELANTRA 4DR VIN = 5NPD74LF0JH327426 Amount due on lien $1535.00  Reputed owner(s) WILLIAM A CARR MARY SAADIQ S261125-1 LEGAL PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 87  Notice is hereby given that the following vehicle will be  sold, for  cash to the highest bidder, on 09/27/2021.  The sale will be held at 10:00am by  COPART OF WASHINGTON INC  2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR  2001 UTIL REEFER TRL VIN = 1UYVS35321U250405 Amount due on lien $1575.00  Reputed owner(s) UTILITY TRAILER SALES OF OREGON LLC S261126-1 LEGAL PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 87  Notice is hereby given that the following vehicle will be  sold, for  cash to the highest bidder, on 09/27/2021.  The sale will be held at 10:00am by  COPART OF WASHINGTON INC  2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR  2019 JEEP CHEROKEE 4DR VIN = 1C4PJMCB9KD141225 Amount due on lien $1535.00  Reputed owner(s) IOSIA F OFOIA NAVY FEDERAL C.U. S261127-1 LEGAL PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 87  Notice is hereby given that the following vehicle will be  sold, for  cash to the highest bidder, on 09/27/2021.  The sale will be held at 10:00am by  COPART OF WASHINGTON INC  2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR  2017 AUDI Q3 4DR VIN = WA1GCCFSXHR009063 Amount due on lien $1535.00  Reputed owner(s) LARRY H MILLER TOYOTA PEORIA