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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 20, 2015)
10A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2015 INTO THE RIVER Samples show what the Port puts in the Columbia By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian On a rain-soaked day in early January, the Port of Astoria’s Per- mit and Projects Coordinator Rob Evert gathers his bottles and goes Oregon Department of Environ- mental Quality. Evert and other Port staff gather runoff during storm events throughout the year, send them to a third-party laboratory and relay the results to DEQ, which re- quires the data to ensure the Port’s stormwater management system is adequate to control pollutants. “The permit reads that it needs to be the worst possible condi- JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian Robert Evert, permit and project manager for the Port of Astoria, finishes collecting stormwater samples Monday near Pier 3. The Port of Astoria submitted a plan to the Department of Environmental Quality to install a biofiltration system to treat storm runoff before it enters the Columbia River. Port: Central treatment system is better at controlling runoff Continued from Page 1A made with the Northwest En- vironmental Defense Center and Columbia Riverkeeper, which legally challenged the existing stormwater permits in 2007 and 2008 as not be- ing stringent enough to protect water quality under the Clean Water Act. The permit revi- Then come vegetative swales with rushes, sages and other appropriate plant life to before the treated stormwater - oyster, crab and/or other shells to help remove metal. Shells have a high concentra- tion of calcium carbonate, which when released into water helps absorb and precipitate metals. Similar measures have been used by the Port of Seattle to capture metals from stormwater at Seat- tle-Tacoma International Airport and from highway overpasses. The Port’s plan includes in- stalling signs along the Astoria Riverwalk to explain to pass- ers-by how the stormwater sys- tem cleans water. The plan still needs to be OK’d by the DEQ, which issues permits, and the DSL, which JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian Bottles of storm runoff water sit on rocks along Pier 1 as Evert collects a final sample. owns the land where the Port pro- poses to place its system. Whether the proposed system is successful depends on tests after it becomes operational by summer 2016. Higher standards The Port is not alone. By the end of 2014, 175 of the 817 industrial stormwater per- mit-holders were moved into the Tier II designation and had to start improving treatment of their runoff, said Water Quality Manager Ron Doughten with the DEQ. The higher standards stem from an agreement the DEQ Neawanna: Facility remains embroiled in a U.S. District Court case against its former employees Continued from Page 1A care facilities in Oregon. “They’re all at risk of losing their license at any time,” Oace said. “We have not made any decision to — or expressed any attempt to — remove (Neawanna’s) li- cense to operate.” Such a decision would depend on the severity of the deficiency, Oace said. All of the deficiencies not- ed in the 2014 surveys were documented as isolated in- cidents, and very few were determined to have actually caused harm to a resident. In response to the Sep- tember findings, however, Neawanna hired the Port- land-based Frontier Manage- ment shortly thereafter as its new management company, replacing Westmont Living, based in La Jolla, Calif. Frontier was “asked to step in and help move Neawanna forward,” said a Frontier employee who wished to remain anony- mous. The “drastic” change “shows a good faith effort on the part of the provider to come into compliance,” Oace said. “We’re encour- aged and hope that they’re headed in the right direc- tion.” Complaints and allegations The deficiencies recorded in Neawanna’s inspections appear to be small-scale lapses largely relating to how the facility tracks its patients’ conditions and ad- ministers their medications. But they reflect the gen- eral allegations of seven of Neawanna’s ex-employees who claim, in sworn affida- vits with the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries, that ‘They’re all at risk of losing their license at any time.’ — Cory Oace manager of the community-based care licensing unit that oversees Neawanna speaking of the nearly 500 community care facilities in Oregon they witnessed Neawanna occasionally mistreating its residents. Neawanna, along with Westmont Living, remains embroiled in a U.S. District Court case against its for- mer employees, who allege in a civil suit that the busi- ness engaged in wage theft, discriminated against its workers based on age, race and sex, and may have un- lawfully terminated them for blowing the whistle on its practices. In 2014, state Adult Pro- tective Services investigat- ed six separate complaints against Neawanna while the facility was under Westmont Living’s management. Three of the complaints were deemed unsubstantiat- ed; that is, no wrongdoing appears to have occurred. One of the substantiated complaints — a failure to administer ordered medica- tion — resulted in exposing a resident to potential harm. Another — a failure to fol- low a care plan — prevent- ed a resident from receiving needed lotion on a sore. And the sixth — a failure to provide a resident with prescribed narcotic medi- cations when the resident moved to another facility — had caused the resident unreasonable discomfort for several days. “This failure is a violation of resident rights, is considered neglect of care and constitutes abuse,” ac- cording to the findings. However, that number of complaints is “not uncom- mon,” Oace said, which “is not to say that the goal isn’t zero.” “We have lots of facil- ities that have more, we have lots that have less.” The plaintiffs in the civ- il suit — Wesley Cordova, a former cook; Elodia Gon- zalez, a former caregiver; Lynzee Johnson, a former medical technician; Kylee Lunsford, a former medical technician; Amy Patterson, a former medical technician; Matthew Perry, a former dishwasher; and Michealyn Schroeder, a former resident services director — also claim in their affidavits that Neawanna ignored unsan- itary conditions, created a hostile work environment and allowed sexual harass- ment to occur. They have retained lawyer Michael Ross, of Slater Ross Attorneys in Portland. Slat- er is handling the plaintiffs’ allegations as a single claim against Neawanna and West- mont Living. David Silke, of the Seattle-based Gordon & Rees LLP, represents the de- fendants. The seven are still seek- ing economic damages, liq- uidated damages, noneco- nomic damages of $100,000 per plaintiff, equitable relief, pre- and post-judgement in- terest and costs, disburse- ments and attorney fees. Attempts by the EO Me- dia Group to reach Westmont Living were unsuccessful. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency made in its general permit for industrial stormwa- ter discharges. Possibly the biggest advan- tage of the Port’s plan for a cen- tral treatment system is better controlling its runoff. “It would eliminate a num- ber of those outfalls and consol- It would actually be the outfall from the bioswales and the ga- bions — it would be the treated outfall,” said Evert, who also predicted a dramatic reduction of suspended solids and metals going into the river. Jan. 5 at the edge of Pier 1, just past the log yard where Astoria Forest Products loads millions of board feet of timber onto out- going ships using log trucks and front loaders. Evert scrambles down a rock plastic pipe coming out under- neath Pier 1, one of four outfalls of water into the Columbia he samples along the central water- front. The Port also monitors three outfalls at North Tongue Point. He’s doing one of the quarter- ly samples required for pH bal- ance, copper, lead, zinc, iron, alu- minum, oil, grease and suspended solids. The Port gathers samples eight times a year to test for cad- mium, nickel and chromium; and two times per year for arsenic, in- secticidal DDT, E. coli and poly- chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) often used in electrical equipment. The consequences for missing the monitoring goals are serious. The DEQ issued the Port a civil penalty of $22,581 late last year for failing to monitor certain pol- lutants in the Gateway District and at North Tongue Point. The 2013 for missing the monitoring requirements. “It’s almost a little bit of the honor system,” said Evert, who sends his samples to the lab within 24 hours, and the discharge mon- itoring reports to DEQ. When there’s an issue, he said, he goes upstream, sees if internal house- keeping at the Port can solve the issue. And if the above-average pollutant readings continue, then comes the situation the Port’s in with the DEQ, creating a new stormwater treatment plan. “With the stormwater and the industrial wastewater rules, it focuses on the aquatic life,” said Evert. “What’s interesting about that, for instance, is in Puget Sound, you cannot turn on the tap and discharge tap water into Puget Sound, because the water quality is not good enough. “The permittees, the agen- cies, are striving toward a level of cleanliness of that water that’s going back into the river, back into the Sound, back into the bay, that’s better than the quality of water we’re drinking. Is that reasonable? Yes. Is that realistic? Sometimes a challenge.” The Environment Protection Agency estimates that runoff from impermeable surfaces com- prises 30 percent of water pollu- tion. “It’s based on the facility, but copper and zinc are very com- mon,” said Water Quality Manag- er Ron Doughten with the DEQ. Copper, even at very low levels, smell and sense danger, while - lecting on gills. They come from various sources, including brake pads, tires, motor oil and galva- One of the Port’s biggest sources of pollutants, like many other ports, is its boatyard. Since 1992, said Evert, there have been 38 boatyards shut down in Wash- ington and Oregon because of stormwater regulations. Port Commissioner Bill Hunsinger was also spot on, he added, when he talked about the 1,100 trucks per log ship adding to the problem, along with all the other vehicles regularly criss- crossing the Port’s waterfront. Be- yond the Port, there’s runoff from the roads, roofs and other sources in the city that contribute to the An advantage of a new storm- water system DEQ recently man- dated the Port create by summer 2016, Evert said, will hopefully concentrate the agency’s storm- water in one outfall, which is treated before it goes into the Co- lumbia River. “Advertising in Coast River Business Journal really does work!” Est. 1980 ANDREW MARC 239 N . H em lock • C an n on B each • 503.436.0208 My shop was featured in the December 2014 CRBJ and I also placed a display ad in that issue. Wow, did we have a great response to both! I’m very happy with the feedback and results and have decided to advertise monthly in CRBJ. Sandra Ward Owner, Cannon Beach Leather Ads that work. Contact Wendy Richardson or your sales representative today about all your advertising needs 503-791-6615