SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 38, NO. 49
SECTION A
SEPTEMBER 8, 2017
$1.00
Polluted dirt
could move
through Keizer
traditional outlets, Keizer offi -
cials were unaware of the plan
to move the dirt through the
city until an article appeared
in the Statesman Journal in
July, with a deadline for public
comment looming, Sagmiller
said.
Nancy Sawka, a DEQ se-
nior project manager, said that
DEQ mailed out more than
200 public comment notices
and the exclusion of Keizer
Gridders roll
past Vikings
PAGE A11
was unintentional.
“I would have expected
that the developer or project
engineer contact us regarding
how their plan was going to
work. They aren’t under any
obligation to do that because
they aren’t getting a permit
from Keizer, but it would have
been nice to get the heads up,”
Sagmiller said.
DEQ offi cials and Keizer
representatives met on July 31
to discuss the matter, but Sag-
miller said she was hesitant to
put any faith in the commit-
ments made until she saw it in
writing. DEQ offi cials also ad-
mitted they hadn’t visited the
disposal site during the meet-
ing, but have done so since.
What is dieldrin ?
Dieldrin is the primary
concern in tainted dirt
the Oregon Department
of Environmental Qual-
ity could allow to move
through Keizer for dump-
ing in abandoned quarries
northeast of city limits.
Dieldrin is an insecti-
cide developed as an al-
ternative to DDT in the
1940s. It was used primar-
ily on fruit, soil and seed.
The U.S. Department of
Agriculture banned the
use of dieldrin in 1970, but
it is a legacy pollutant that
remains in the environ-
ment long after being in-
troduced.
Other pesticides – DDT,
DDD, DDE, aldrin, atra-
zine, chlorophyrifos and
diuron – are present in the
soil, but dieldrin is the only
one that exceeds health
standards. When as little as
a pound of dieldrin enters
the environment, the fed-
eral government’s National
Response Center (NRC)
must be notifi ed immedi-
ately. The NRC is operated
by the U.S. Coast Guard
and responds to environ-
mental contaminations.
After initial tests of 350
samples revealed the pres-
ence of dieldrin and the
14,000
trips
152,000
cubic yards
of soil
Northstar Development
dealing with the pesticide-
By ERIC A. HOWALD
contaminated dirt: moving to a
Of the Keizertimes
The Oregon Department of low-lying area of the property
Environmental Quality (DEQ) and capping it, which would
looked at several options for require ongoing monitor-
handling contaminated soil ing; treating the soil onsite to
reduce
con-
at the site of a
tamination;
residential de-
excavating it
velopment in
It will take
and moving it
Salem before
approximately to a landfi ll; or
deter mining
moving it to
that moving it
the quarry pits
to two aban-
for future con-
doned quarries
tinued agricul-
north of Keizer
tural use.
would be the
to move the
Moving it
best fi t.
to the quarries
The deci-
was the cheap-
sion
boiled
est option on
down to how
the board, but
the soil could
it had other
be
accessed
benefi ts, Sawka
by the pub-
said.
lic, said Nancy
“Even if the contaminated
Sawka, a senior project man-
ager with DEQ. The owners soil was capped (onsite), there
of the Northstar development, would always be a chance that
Granada Land Company, LLC, residents or children could
proposed several options for come in contact with the soil by
Polluted soil
departs here
Please see CITY, Page A9
DEQ decision hinged
on how the soil would
be used, not where
other pollutants, an ad-
ditional 10 were ordered
specifi cally for dieldrin
testing. The suggested limit
on dieldrin is .02 parts-
per-million (PPM). Tests
of 10 soil samples from
the development site in
last month revealed three
without dieldrin contami-
nation, six samples between
.02 and .08 PPM, and one
sample where the contami-
nation was nearly 10 times
the permissible level.
The report on the con-
tamination, supplied by
Multi/Tech Engineering
Services, Inc., suggests that
further testing is necessary
to determine the breadth
and depth of the affected
soil.
In addition to the soil
passing through Keizer
to the disposal site, Eliza-
beth Sagmiller, manager
of Keizer’s environmental
and technical division, said
continuing to use the soil
for farming could also be a
problem. Because dieldrin
breaks down slowly, it is
subject to biomagnifi ca-
tion, the process by which
toxic substances accumu-
late in larger amounts the
higher up the food chain
it goes.
Luau at
Keizer
Rapids
PAGE A3
New Claggett
principal
PAGE A4
Lady Celt
returns to
pitch strong
PAGE A11
Please see DIELDRIN, Page A9
dig-
ging or
that the
soil could be
exposed during
outdoor projects or sub-
surface work,” she said.
It would require that ev-
ery home on the property
come with a deed restriction
notifying all future owners of
the dieldrin contamination
(see sidebar: What is dieldrin?).
While that might work fi ne for
immediate owners, the likeli-
hood of forgetting over time
makes it a problematic solu-
tion.
“This can result in people
being exposed to contamina-
tion in the future, often with-
out knowing about it. Espe-
cially for a site like this with
contamination over a large
area, with many different fu-
ture land owners, capping and
managing soil in place would
be very diffi cult to implement
and not as protective as remov-
ing it in a controlled manner
under DEQ oversight,” Sawka
said.
Sawka said the owners did
not look at alternative sites for
FIRST RESPONDER APPRECIATION PROGRAM
Keizer
Polluted soil
arrives here
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
The City of Keizer is ask-
ing for more information be-
fore the Oregon Department
of Environmental Quality
(DEQ) permits a contractor
to truck 152,000 cubic yards
of polluted soil through Keiz-
er.
“The city is not oppos-
ing the project, we just want
questions answered and to
make sure that our citizens are
protected and our neighbors
are protected,” said Elizabeth
Sagmiller, manager of Keizer’s
environmental and technical
division.
The main concern is the
presence of a pesticide called
dieldrin (see sidebar: What is
dieldrin?). The soil contains
several long-lasting pollutants,
but dieldrin is the only one
that exceeds health standards
for residential use. The current
plan is to haul the soil – in ap-
proximately 14,000 truckloads
– from a development site off
Hazelgreen Road Northeast
in Salem, west on Lockhav-
en Drive and then north on
Windsor Island road to fi ll in
two abandoned quarries. The
route travels near hundreds
of Keizer residences, directly
past three schools (Chemawa
Indian School, Whiteaker
Middle School and McNary
High School), and a block
away from Keizer Elementary
School.
Granada Land Company,
LLC, has already begun work
on a planned 500-home resi-
dential development at the
Hazelgreen site, known as
Northstar. Windsor Island
Company, LLC, which is
owned by the Zielinski Fam-
ily Trust owns the planned
disposal site at 6848 Windsor
Island Road North, which is
outside Keizer city limits. Visi-
tors to the development site
can see where several inches
of soil have already been re-
moved in the southeast corner
of the 150-acre development.
For now, the tainted soil is be-
ing stored on the site.
Despite public notices in
Private Farmland
City wants more info
before plan progresses
Ford wants to thank you for your service.
dumping the soil.
Aside from cost, each of the
possible solutions was scored
on: the effectiveness and pro-
tectiveness of the clean-up, the
long-term reliability, how dif-
fi cult or easily the plan could
be implemented, any risks as-
sociated with performing the
actions.
DEQ offi cials also paid at-
tention to the how the soil
would be used in the quarries
– for growing hazelnuts. To
that end, DEQ consulted the
Oregon Department of Agri-
Please see DEQ, Page A9
2017 F- 150
2017 SUPER DUTY
$
1,000
BONUS
CASH
*
3555 River Road N, Keizer
(503) 463 - 4853
www.skylineforddirect.com
ON TOP OF CURRENT OFFERS
*
First Responder Appreciation Cash exclusively for active members of an eligible First Responder Association. Special $1000 bonus cash limited to the purchase or lease of an eligible new 2017 model year F-150 or Super Duty (F-250 thru F-550) and must take delivery by October 2, 2017. Not
available on Raptor. $500 Bonus Cash available toward the purchase or lease of an eligible new 2016/2017/2018 Ford or Lincoln vehicle, some exclusions apply. Take new retail delivery from dealer stock by January 2, 2018. Limit of 5, for U.S. residents only. See dealer for complete details and eligibility.