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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 5, 2015)
New play opens tear ducts A horse tale in eastern Oregon OPINION • 4A PAGE 5A 143rd YEAR, No. 26 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5, 2015 ONE DOLLAR Feds release draft environmental UHYLHZRI2UHJRQ/1*SURMHFW Draft recommends steps to protect environment, ensure safety The Federal Energy Regu- latory Commission, which re- leased the draft review this week, WARRENTON — Oregon is still completing an assessment LNG’s $6 billion terminal and of how the project might impact pipeline project would cause ad- threatened or endangered species verse impacts to the environment, and critical habitat. a draft environmental review has But the draft is an important found, but most could be reduced benchmark in the decade-long if the energy company takes steps drive for the project, which in- WR PLQLPL]H KDUP WR ¿VK DQG volves a terminal along the Ski- wildlife habitat and water quality panon Peninsula in Warrenton and uses adequate safety features and an 87-mile pipeline from in design and operation. Washington state through Co- By DERRICK DePLEDGE The Daily Astorian lumbia, Tillamook and Clatsop counties. Oregon LNG would export natural gas from Canada and the Rocky Mountains in the United States to foreign markets, likely in Asia. The energy company could also potentially import natural gas to the Portland metropolitan area. (QYLURQPHQWDOLVWV ¿VKHU- men and residents in Warrenton and Astoria who oppose Oregon LNG will likely tear through the document in search of potential defects that could stall or block the project. Public comment on the draft is open until early October. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has set a timetable IRUFRPSOHWLQJWKH¿QDOHQYLURQ- mental impact statement on the project by February. 5LYHUWUDI¿FMREV LNG marine carriers, accord- ing to the draft, would increase VKLSWUDI¿FLQWKH/RZHU&ROXP- bia River by about 125 vessels a year. But the draft found that the terminal would not impact mari- nas and described security zones as a minor inconvenience given the size of the river. &RQÀLFWVEHWZHHQ/1*FDU- riers and other ships in the feder- Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian Ted Messing, left, of Brownsmead, and Josie Peper, right, of Astoria, hold signs protesting an Oregon LNG project outside of the Warrenton Community Center in January. al navigation channel, the draft found, could be avoided through proper coordination and should QRW VLJQL¿FDQWO\ LPSDFW YHVVHO WUDI¿FDORQJWKHULYHU The draft also recognized concerns from the public and the state Department of Fish and Wildlife about the potential dis- UXSWLRQWR¿VKLQJEXWFRQFOXGHG See LNG, Page 10A Alcohol, drugs LQÀXHQFH in fatal crashes 6WDWHFODUL¿HV highway data By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian Jeff Keightley, owner and operator of Astoria Fishing Charters, takes a family from Hinckley, Minn., to go fishing for salmon from the Port of Astoria’s West End Mooring Basin. 3RUWEXR\VPDULQD Port Commission votes to raise marina and parking rates By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian T he Port of Astoria esti- mates the agency has lost more than $500,000 over the past two years on the opera- tion of marinas on the west and east ends of Astoria that have generously low rates and a long waiting list. With the Buoy 10 summer salm- RQ¿VKHU\KDYLQJNLFNHGRII6DWXU- day, the Port Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to support across-the-board marina rate and parking hikes staff estimate will net the agency an additional $181,000 annually. “The operations on the piers are subsidizing the marina,” Port Operations Manager Matt Mc- Grath said during a presentation late last month to the Port Com- mission with Marina Manager Janice Burk. McGrath and Burk presented a staff report saying the Port lost more than $195,000 in the 2013-14 ¿VFDO\HDURQRSHUDWLRQRIWKHPD- rina, while budgeting a $318,000 ORVVODVW¿VFDO\HDU 3D\WRÀRDW McGrath and Burk’s report list- ed the Port as behind most regional ports when it comes to annual and monthly average moorage rates, adding rates haven’t been updated in several years. “We’re in a pretty prime loca- tion, and what determines value is need,” McGrath said last month, explaining that there is a waiting list of more than 100 vessels trying to get in to the Port’s marinas, an- other testament to the need to ad- just rates. The Port Commission’s vote Tuesday will increase rates at marinas across the board, includ- ing: • 50 to 100 percent increases for annual 30- and 50-amp electrical hookup, plus the metered usage; 8 percent to two-thirds increases in monthly recreational electric rates; 5 to 38 percent increases in monthly commercial electric hook- ups; and 40 to 230 percent increas- es in daily electric hookup rates. Increases fall heavier on 50-amp hookups. • 20 to 35 percent increases in annual moorage rates per foot; and 20 percent to two-thirds increases in monthly rates, with sharper in- creases for commercial passenger vessels. • An increase of monthly live aboard boater fees from $35 to $50. See MARINA, Page 10A Alcohol or drugs were an influ- ence in about 30 percent of fatal crashes in Clatsop County over the past decade. Of the 68 fatal crashes in the county between 2004 and 2014, 21 had alcohol or drugs involved. The Oregon Department of Transportation clarified the crash data with The Daily Astorian Tues- day, after the influence of alcohol or drugs appeared to be omitted from data shared with the newspa- per for a report on fatal crashes last Friday. Lou Torres, an ODOT spokes- man, explained the department uses numbers associated with var- ious crash causes. Drugs and alco- hol is listed as “O9,” which was not found in the data. Torres said the designation was not found be- cause the department now classi- fies drugs and alcohol in its own category. “I discovered that our data sec- tion changed the category on re- cording alcohol and drug caused crashes,” he said. “There is no lon- ger an ‘09’ category.” A total of 77 people were killed from the 68 crashes in Clatsop County. The 21 crashes involving drugs or alcohol killed 23 people. U.S. Highway 101 saw the highest number of fatalities with 22 from 20 accidents, six of which involved drugs or alcohol. U.S. Highway 30 had 21 deaths from 19 accidents, with five crashes involv- ing drugs or alcohol. The ever-changing cannabis industry: A grower’s perspective Putting out quality products key to creating robust, thriving grow operation By KATHERINE LACAZE EO Media Group SEASIDE — From an in- house closet grow dedicated to one patient, then a garage and now a three-room Seaside workshop, cannabis grower Eric Saucedo stands at the forefront of the local market. A longtime marijuana cul- tivator, he and his two partners recently transferred their grow operation in an effort to make WKH EXVLQHVV PRUH RI¿FLDO VH- cure and professional. His end goal is to provide D ¿UVWUDWH SURGXFW WR WKH OR- cal area and around the state. “We’re hoping to set ourselves apart with our quality and our variety,” he said. A Seaside resident, Saucedo, 32, began growing medical mar- ijuana several years ago. “As VRRQDV,ÀRZHUHGWKH¿UVWSODQW my interest just kept growing,” he said. He quickly developed DNQDFNIRULWFRQ¿UPHGZKHQ he entered some of his strains in VWDWHFRPSHWLWLRQVDQGZRQ¿UVW place for his “The White” strain. That sense of accomplish- ment, knowing he could create a quality product, drove him “to keep going and keep getting a little bit bigger and a little bit better,” he said. Early this year, for logistical and security purposes, he and his partners transferred their op- eration to its own space. Break- ins posed not only a constant threat but actually occurred a few times at Saucedo’s resi- dence. Additionally, the partners were gearing up for an antici- pated merge of the medical and recreational cannabis industries and the accompanying rules and regulations. He considers his operation still relatively small; he and his partners have other jobs for in- FRPH $OO RI WKHLU SUR¿W IURP growing cannabis has been spent on startup costs and to prepare their facility to meet the structural and security regula- tions it will have to when they In 2010, Sea- side resident and cannabis producer Eric Saucedo took first place with “The White” strain and second place with his “OG Kush Abusive” strain at the Oregon Green Free Sixth An- nual Oregon CareGrowers Cup. See GROWER, Page 3A Submitted Photo