V o l. 71
N o . 31
SA N D Y O R E G O N THURSDAY. JULY 30. 1981
(USPS 481-180»
Single Copy 20 ’
Landfill problems being investigated by county
by MICHAEL P. JONES
Post Correspondent
Since spring, residents along the San
dy and Zigzag rivers have complained
about fill m aterial, which they claim
w ill impact the natural resources and
future environment, being dumped into
the riv e rs ’ floodplains
The two prominent fills, located
behind lioodland Construction Co and
the Mt Hood Lions Club in Wemme and
behind the service station in Rhododen
dron. contain d irt, stumps and sod
which witnesses claim comes from the
excavation site of the new Hoodland
Service D is tric t’s sewage treatment
plant.
According to Greg Hess 1er, a resident
near the site at Wemme, “ It has been a
tremendous landfill that has been in the
process of being filled for the last three
years He said that its use has been in
creased as a dumping since for ’ d irt
and garbage since last fa ll."
Hessler said he has observed large
quantities of cement, tires, mattresses,
oil filte rs and old metal being covered
with d irt, rock and cement
He said the Wemme fill p a rticu la rly
bothered him because it interfered with
a creek that flows almost all year He
added th a t d u m p in g has e ith e r
destroyed or severely disturbed the
water-loving plants which play a m ajor
role in the ecology of the floodplain
area
“ I ’ve seen Great Blue Herons in
habiting the area over th** years, as
well as beaver and deer But now, I'm
afraid this swampy area that has been
used by the w ild life for so long, has
been severely im paired And w hy9 To
make more land for people," Hessler
said
Approximately 1.300 yards of fill
m aterial has been dumped over the em
bankment at the Wemme site on pro
perty owned hy W illiam Steinbarger, of
the Hoodland Construction Co., and the
Mt Hood Lions Club It also covers an
“ unvacated" Clackamas County road
Evidence exists that erosion of the
bank has littered it with pieces of
asphalt, old gasoline cans and concrete
A large one ton drain tile lays in the
middle of the now shallow creek
Nearly 12.000 yards of fill m aterial
has been dumped on the floodplain of
the Zigzag R iver at Rhododendron on
property which tax records show is be
mg purchased by Steven Sweitzer of
Hoodland and N orm an Swan of
Gresham The fill also extends on to the
property of the Snowline Motel
According to D om inic M ancini,
Clackamas County planning director,
such fills would require a “ floodplain
development' perm it None are on file
for the two locations
July 16, this reporter accompanied
W alter Cate of the Code Compliance
Division on a site visit to the fills Two
additional fills were discovered, as well
as passible locations near Lolo Pass
Road, M ille r Road and the Salmon
R iver Road
Cate identified another fill at the
junction of Highway 26 and Grouse
Lane, ow ned by Ray Thornberg, which
he estimated to be more than 600 yards
Cate said, “ Of all the fills, the one
that w ill cause the least environmental
problems is the Thornberg fill They
need to get a grading p e rm it." he said,
"and then solve the water problems
since it s in a seasonal drainage area."
The la ndfill site at Wemme, Cate
said, shouldn t present much of a pro
blem “ after they've taken out the g a r
bage, debris and organic fill, and com
pacted it "
He said that since it is a broad
floodplain, it can lie propertly dealt
w ith
The Rhododendron fill is "d iffe ren t
s to ry ," Cate said, because it is filled
down on a bench on the rive r's northern
bank. “ This fill has the greatest poten
tia l for environmental dam age," he
said
" I f there is a problem with d irt going
down the riv e r," he said, “ it's w ith this
fill The Zigzag has high water fluctua
tions It's a sm all stream and that
means problems ”
Jay Massey, D istrict fish biologist lo r
the Department of Fish and W ildlife,
echoed Cate’s concerns He said his of
fice w ill study the potential impact of
fill on the stream 's fish habitat which
could be affected when the d ir, erodes.
Property owner Sweitzer said he
didn’t know tha, there as anything
wrong He said he had gi\ en permission
to the Hoodland Service D istrict to
dump d ir, from it sewage treatment
plant, but "w asn't aware that it would
be this much "
" I t ’s happened T hat’s all I can say
now , said Sweitzer “ There's nothing I
can do about it now, except shut it oil
I'll just have to stop them from dump
mg and deal with it ”
L ate said he has notified Steinbarger.
Sweitzer. Thronberg and the Lions Club
that they have 30 days to get the
necessary perm its and comply with
county and state ordinances regarding
fillin g and grading in floodplain areas
He said the Arm y Corps ot Engineers
may be needed to help with riprappmg
the newly formed hanks along the pro
perty at Rhododendron to minimize any
environm ental damage. The other
sites, he said, can be corrected “ with
some work "
House bill
would allow
county money
A b ill amendment that would allow
Clackamas County to levy its entire $2 3
m illion sh e riff’s ‘A ’ levy has been ap
proved by the House Revenue C om m it
tee.
The amendment, which would allow
property tax levey elections in certain
cases when taxing districts have made
technical errors in calculatin levy
amounts, now depends on eventual
passage of HB 2175 The b ill modifies
the ‘A ’ and ’ B ’ ballots system adopted
by the 1979 Legislature.
The county over-estimated the size of
its A ’ levy last year when it was forced
to use its own population projections to
c a lc u la te it. It re ce ive d o ffic ia l
estimates from the state Department of
Revenue in December, a month after
the *A’ levy had been approved by
voters.
According to state officials, $365,000
should not have been included in the ‘A ’
levy and is not e lig ib le fo r its
homeowners’ property tax relief pro
gram That sum should have been in
cluded in the county’s $4 7 m illion ‘B ’
levy, passed by he voters in February,
they said
A tto r n e y
G e n e ra l
D ave
E rohnm ayer’s office has indicated in
form ally that the county w ill probably
not be able to levy the $365,000. accor
ding to existing state law, said Carole
B erggren, county budget analyst.
E ither a new law or special election
may be required
County commissioners have cried
foul play, because both the Department
of Revenue and the attorney general's
office approved the county’s estimates
before the November 1980 election.
They have vowed to fight the issue in
tax court if the crisis cannot be resolv
H r r t t g h u r . from ,h . Boring H r . D istrict ron.inom, mopping op
K r ^ w . , M .n o f.rio r.n g Co. .hnmghoo, ,Kc d .y Tuesday f. iio .in g
ro riy-m o rn in g blaze which „ „ n a iv e l y d o n rn g ^
ph
ed
The amendment approved last Tues
day by the House Revenue Committee
would allow the county to levy the
$365,000, but it would probably be con
sidered part of the ‘B ’ levy, according
to a tax analyst for the Legislature
by DAN DILLON
That would mean the sum isn't eligible
board feet of lumber they lost," he
Eire D istrict clean'd the scene at ap
fire
Hagar, was treated for smoke in
fo r state property tax re lie f, but
said The sawm ill collasped in the
proxim ately 3:15 p m Tuesday
With water in short supply a, the
A three alarm blaze early Tues
halation at Gresham Community
flames.
analysts estimate that homeowners w ill
The biggest problem, according to
scene, seven tankers hauled water to
Hospital and released
day morning nearly destroyed the
pay only an additional 1.7 cents per
Rykken said the fire was reported
Rykken, was the delay in the begmn
the scene from Sandy's Industrial
R
eedway
M
a
n
u
fa
c
tu
rin
g
Co
s
Seventeen pieces of apparatus
$1,000 valuation
by a passerby and by the time the
ing of the fire and the tim e it was
Park where engines were hooked up
saw
m
ill
and
lumber
yard
at
15370
were
used in the battle against the
first
firefighters
arrived
on
the
HB 2175 is expected to reach the
phoned in “ When we go, there, all
to hydrants to fill empty tankers
S E Orient Drive
flames Called in to assist the Boring
scene, the sawm ill was totally in
House for a vote sometime this week
we could do was control it from
E lames from the fire were visible
Bob Rykken, assistant fire chief
Eire D istrict were firefighters from
volved in flam es
E ig h ty three
Rep Ed Lindquist, D-Gladstone, in
spreading," he said “ If it had lx*en
up to 15 miles away “ The guys took
for
the
Boring
Eire
D
istrict,
said
the
the Sandy, Hoodland, Estacada,
firefighters from six fire districts
troduced the amendment to the com
the afternoon, with an east wind, we
a heck of a beating that were up
1:48 a m .
f ir e
c re a te d an
Happy Valley and Multnomah Coun
battled the blaze for nearly two
mi,tee last Saturday.
would have had a real problem "
there on the front lin e ," Rykken
“
u
n
o
ffic
ia
l"
loss
of
approxim
ately
ty
No io fire districts Clackamas
hours
before
it
was
contained
The
While the amendment received m a
The stillness of the nigh, air,
said
IhiO.ouo “ I don', know how many
County Eire D istrict 71 stood by a»
last firefighters from the Boring
jo rity support from the committee, the
however, was an asset in fighting the
One B oring fire fig h te r, R ick
the Boring main station
b ill co n ta in s some c o n tro v e rs ia l
m aterial which may slow its progress
through the Legislature, according to
Joyce Thorbeck. legislative assistant to
Lindquist
If the b ill does not pass, the county
may have to ask voters in September to
approve a $365,000 - money it though,
by MICHAEL P. JONES
home subdivision at Brightwood, had
She added that she and the En
fish or w ild life ," but admitted that
it already had
Post Correspondent
Those were concerns stressed by
also been ruled illegal due to improper
vironm ental Committee on S uitability
'somewhere down the line you have ,0
ECOS.
notification
(ECUS 1 w ill “ fight on" because "they
give and take a little ’’
The Clackamas County Planning
want al the mountain residents to
"W e w ill w eigh the in v ita tio n
That meeting was postponed after it
Commission last week ruled that the
He realizes that he and his opposition cautiously." said Andna Cabral of
realize tha, we need to preserve this
was
learned
that
Bob
and
Judy
Decker
SECTION I
Boulder Creek hydro-electric project
have ,0 sit down and talk before the
las, refuge outside the city for all peo
ECUS She said tha, her organization
of Mt. Country Lane had no, received
Keeping Posted ........................2
hearing was illegal due to im proper
Boulder Creek project turns into a would evaluate the pros and cons of the
pie
to
enjoy
notification
It
was
also
discovered
that
Inside Business ........................3
n o tific a tio n of a d ja ce n t p ro p e rty
lengthy legal battle He has extended
conference with patience and “ no, rush
those property owners who were
Obituaries
4
owners
“ We re in the same spot as the
an
invitation to ECOS. the Sierra Club,
into anything, even on this short
notified, had no, received their notice
Senior Center News..........
5
w
ild
life
who
loves
the
wilderness
and
Gary N aylor. Clackamas County
the Oregon Department of Fish and
notice "
w ithin the 20 day tim e period required
E ditorials. Letters
.............. 6
untamed la n d ," she said “ W e re
planner, said last Thursday that his of
W ildlife and land-use attorney Ed
by Clackamas County ordinance
Sports. Recreation
......... 741
gradually jus, getting pushed off of it
fice had been notified July 22 at 2 30
Sullivan to meet and work out any pro
She said she would refer the invita
But no, after a fight ’’
p m by a "D octor H olm an," who com
blems they may have w ith his hydro
tion to Sullivan. ECOS's counsel, and he
Greg Fritz of the planning depart
SECTION II
plained of no, receiving a hearing
electric project.
w ill make the final decision on whether
men, blamed the problems on a com
The hydro-electric plant's developer,
Area News.................................... 1
notice A check of the records revealed
or no, to accept
p u te r at the tim e
N a ylo r said,
Steven
Sweitzer.
takes
a
different
tack
Around the County ...........
2
tha, possibly three other Io, owners
“ If they wan, ,0 lie environmentalists
however, the problem was human er
“ Somewhere along the line, someone
About People
3
Tomorrow . July 31. the Water Policy
were not notified.
and have a role in shaping this moun
ror
has to think p ra ctica l," he said " I f we
Hoodland Happenings .........
4
Review Board w ill conduct a public
"N o tifica tio n of property owners for
tain, fin e ." he said "B u , don', go tak
can't have nuclear or coal power, and it
Public Notices ........................... 8
hearing on the project A, issue w ill be a
a hearing is a very vita l part of the
ing sniper shots at me Let's sit down
Marthat Torson, a resident of Coun
we can't even have small hydro plants,
Home and Garden .....................10
p re lim inary perm it which, according to
and ta lk ."
syste m ,” N a ylo r said " I t ’s very
try Club I^ane who has played an active
then what can we use for our energy
Classified Advertising ........ 11-14
staff person Tom Kline, would allow
mechanical and repititious. bu, ye, im
role in the Boulder Creek hydro-electric
needs9"
Sweitzer wants ,0 show his opponents
Sweitzer up ,0 two years to study the
portant to those living w ithin 250 fee, of
controversy, said, " I t seemed like they
SECTION III
that he w ill ac, in good faith by in sta ll creek and the feasibility of the project
the said p ro p e rty."
were grasping for tim e because we
Sweitzer M id he is "an environmen
Television D ire c to ry .. Inside Tab
ing a fish ladder, replanting the logged
It would not allow any construction
Naylor added that another recent
really surprised them w ith all our peo
talist to some extent" and added " I
off area, m aintaining the road and
The hearing w ill begin at 10:30 a m.
hearing, involving a 192 unit mobile
pie and evidence against the project ”
wasn't going to do anything to harm the
clearing the creek of obstructions
at the Sandy Community Center
Early-morning blaze damages Orient Drive sawmill
Hydro project controversy heading to negotiation