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About Columbia Gorge news. (The Dalles, OR) 2020-current | View Entire Issue (June 23, 2021)
INDEX Lyle alumnus Joey Nelson models resilience — A3 Classifieds B7-8 Gorge Local: In Business A12 History B6 Kidspace B14 Obituaries A7,9 Opinion A4-5 Police Logs B4 Public Notices B9-11 Senior Living B3 Sports A13-15, B12-13 What's Happening B5 Sports — A13-15, B12-13 Under Canvas hearing delay — B12 Weather Hot weather to stay awhile - pack sunscreen. Marginal to slight chance of thunder- storms Tues. 108 on Sat. HRVHS graduate headed to Stanford on full ride — A8 Columbia Gorge News HOOD RIVER | THE DALLES | WHITE SALMON Wednesday, June 23, 2021 Volume 2, Issue 12 $1.00 Chlorine shortage closes TD pool Annie Jr. Alana Lackner ■ By Columbia Gorge News Live theater returned to The Dalles over the weekend with performance of Annie Jr., presented by The Dalles Civic Auditorium’s Civic Kids Spring production. Above, Annie (Tenley Taylor), at center stage, celebrates her adoption Christmas with her fellow orphans and her adopted family. More photos online and B14. Additional performances are next weekend, 7 p.m. June 25 and 2 p.m. June 27. Photo courtesy Flora Gibson Dalles, according to the Facebook post, meaning their holding tank is full, whereas the NWC Aquatic Center was expecting their delivery THE DALLES — The Northern June 16. As such, their holding tank Wasco County Aquatic Center is empty. Additionally, the Hood in The Dalles will be closed until River pool is smaller and uses less further notice pending a liquid chlorine, according to the post. chlorine delivery. The closure of the NWC Aquatic The Dalles is one of many Center means that swimming les- cities in the Pacific Northwest to be affected by regional chlorine sons and meets are canceled until shortages. According to a post on further notice. As dates of lessons the NWC Aquatic Center Facebook arrive, the aquatic center will issue page, the liquid chlorine manu- refunds, but is holding off in case supplies arrive before start dates. facturer they use experienced an The center has been able to explosion on June 1. According to a press release by Northern Wasco schedule some deliveries from County Parks and Recreation, this sources such as janitorial supply disruption in chlorine production companies, according to the post. However, it will not be as much as has caused suppliers to ration they would usually get, so they plan their stock, which means cancel- to reserve opening for weekends ing deliveries to services that are considered “non-essential,” such as and the hottest days of the summer. According to the post, NWC swimming pools. Currently, the pool in Hood River Parks and Recreation has no estimate of when they will receive is still open. This is because they another full shipment of chlorine. just received a delivery before be- ing cut off at the same time as The Second solar farm planned Jacob Bertram ■ By Columbia Gorge News complete by the planning depart- ment, but said she has “all the info I need to start the review process.” Aurora Solar obtained land Aurora Solar is planning for development of a second solar farm leases with private landowners and Washington Department of in the Bickleton area of Klickitat Natural Resources on a 1,728-acre County. tract of land between Bickleton According to an application and Roosevelt, according to the submitted through the Klickitat application. A portion of the leased County Planning Department, the subsidiary of Portland-based ener- land overlaps with the Big Horn gy company Avangrid Renewables Wind Facility, owned by another Avangrid subsidiary. According to is proposing the construction of a 100-megawatt solar energy facility, the application, current use of the titled Bluebird Solar Project, within land includes agriculture, range- the county’s Energy Overlay Zone land, undeveloped open space, and (EOZ). wind energy facilities. Klickitat County Planning The application reveals that the Director Mo-chi Lindblad empha- company is planning for use of sized that the application, obtained 1,638 acres of the land to install an array of solar panels, inverters, a by Columbia Gorge News, has collector substation, access roads, not yet been reviewed or deemed and a transmission line connecting the substation to an existing line at the Big Horn Wind Facility. The company plans to review wheth- er the project site would require installation of a maintenance building or if they could use an existing structure on the Big Horn Wind Facility site, according to the application. Through connection of the transmission line between the proposed energy facility and an adjacent existing wind facility, the project would supply its output to the larger energy grid through a Bonneville Power Administration- owned switchyard near the project area, the applicants note. According to the application, 12 homeowners live within three miles of the proposed project, including one a mile away from the project site. Because of the proposed project site’s location within the coun- ty’s EOZ, the applicant would be required to either provide infor- mation required in an expanded checklist or undergo an environ- mental impact statement, such as site-specific studies for impacts re- lating to habitat and wildlife, roads, cultural resources, and grading and stormwater management. A SEPA (State Environmental Policy Act) checklist would also be required under state law. The county planning director would be responsible for approval or denial of the EOZ application, under county code, and has the See SOLAR, page 6 Wastewater improvements near completion Jacob Bertram ■ By Columbia Gorge News BINGEN — The Bingen Wastewater Treatment Plant im- provement project is nearly com- plete, with about a month to go on the rest of the updates planned for the plant, which services the cities of Bingen and White Salmon. Approved last year, the improve- ments include the addition of a few components, as well as replace- ments and maintenance of old components which have degraded over decades of use. “This is a good thing for both Bingen and White Salmon,” said Bingen Mayor Betty Barnes. The improvements should allow for 20 years of use into the future and expand capacity for future gradual growth in the two cities. Crews from TEK Construction, Inc., are preparing to install the remaining pieces of the improve- ments project, such as a recircula- tion pump, which would complete the addition of what is called a bio-selector, an instrument that will help to control the process of mixing bacteria into the wastewa- ter within the oxidation ditch — a large, racetrack looking structure that mixes sludge with the waste- water. Within the sludge is oxy- gen-starved bacteria, which, when mixed in with wastewater, feast on the oxygen found in the wastewater delivered to the plant. The process, known as aeration, provides for rapid growth of the bacteria and allows for an easier and more thor- ough separation of the water and the bacteria as they get run through clarifiers. Warm Springs fire at 0% containment Alana Lackner ■ By Columbia Gorge News WARM SPRINGS — A fire burn- ing on the Warm Springs reser- vation is currently at 0% contain- ment and had burned 6,200 acres as of press time on Monday. According to a press release from the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, dry conditions, high temperatures and high winds could contribute to the spread of the fire, dubbed S-503. There is currently a level 2 “Get Ready” evacuation order for Walters Corners and Pine Grove, both in south Wasco County near Highway 26, as well as residences west of the intersection of Back Walters Road and Kelly Springs, which are at a level 3 “Go Now” evacuation order as of Saturday. Javin Dimmick, Warm Springs Wildland Fire public information officer, said that the weather has provided challenges, especially as temperatures rise and the humid- ity drops, but they have received more reinforcements in fighting the fire. “We are continually getting more resources in, which is good,” he said. The fire was initially report- ed at 4:57 p.m. on Friday, June 18, Dimmick said. The cause of the fire is unknown and under investigation. The official containment level and size of the fire will be updated at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. daily. Official updates can be found on inciweb. nwcg.gov, while both official and community-provided updates can be found on the Columbia Gorge Wildland & Fire Information Facebook Page. Additional updates to this de- veloping story will be available at columbiagorgenews.com. Treatment plant operator Tom Hons stands outside his office at the Bingen Wastewater Treatment Plant on Marina Way. The plant, he said, "works not only for treating sewage, but for treating people." Jacob Bertram photo Once the water is separated from the solids, it then runs through a disinfection process done through ultraviolet light shining through the water, and then runs off into the Columbia River. The solids are collected and stored in tanks where they enter a drying process that lasts between three and four months, culminat- ing in a nitrogen compound that is collected and spread in a field in central Klickitat County. “The water we send out to the river is really, very clean,” plant operator Tom Hons said in an inter- view last Friday. Hons, along with fellow opera- tor James “Buck” Buckland, have worked to ensure operation of the plant runs 24 hours a day. At the end of the month, Hons will be retiring from his job at the plant, marking more than three de- cades of working to ensure Bingen and White Salmon’s wastewater coming into the plant leaves in a clean and pollutant-free fashion. The improvements project marks the second major upgrade he has seen at the plant since his entry into the field; in 1996, the Bingen Wastewater Treatment Plant upgraded its plant to include the current larger oxidation ditch as well as the UV disinfection compo- nent, which replaced the previous component that used chlorine to clean the water — “much better for the fish,” said Hons. Along with the bio-selector, most recent improvements to the wastewater system include a more See PROJECT, page 2 Contact Us at 541-386-1234 541-296-2141 delivery: Subscribe@gorgenews.com news tips: News@gorgenews.com place an ad: Sales@gorgenews.com Stay connected Facebook.com/columbiagorgenews Twitter.com/gorge_news