DailyAstorian.com // WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 17, 2016
144TH YEAR, NO. 34
BLUE HIGHWAY
ONE DOLLAR
Conservation
groups sue
to protect
salmon
Warm water in
Columbia and Snake
rivers could be deadly
By JES BURNS
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Cars are seen parked on the beach near Del Ray Beach Recreation Site on Monday in Gearhart.
Homeowners say traffi c on
the beach ‘out of control’
Conservation groups have announced
plans to sue the U.S. Environmental Protec-
tion Agency. They say the agency isn’t doing
enough to protect salmon from high water tem-
peratures on the Columbia and Snake rivers.
Warm water can be deadly for salmon.
Just last year, 250,000 sockeye died on the
Columbia because of high temperatures.
The EPA started addressing the issue
more than a decade ago, but that process
stalled.
Miles Johnson of Columbia Riverkeeper
said he hopes the lawsuit will jump-start fed-
eral efforts to lower river temperatures.
“We want the EPA to take a holistic
approach, to look at all the sources of tem-
perature. But when EPA did that between
See SALMON, Page 10A
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
A
cherished right for Oregonians, or an
environmental and safety nuisance?
Homeowners in Gearhart and
Warrenton are taking their complaints
about unsafe drivers on the beach to local
and state offi cials. They want to see the elim-
ination, reduction or increased enforcement
of traffi c .
“Driving on the beach may have made
sense back in the days before Highway 101,
but by now we should know better than to
allow our natural areas to be desecrated by
this kind of use,” a group of Surf Pines home-
owners wrote the Oregon Parks and Recre-
ation Department offi ce in Fort Stevens.
The homeowners met with Clatsop County
Sheriff Tom Bergin and U.S. Rep. Suzanne
Bonamici at a Seaside town hall meeting early
this month to voice concerns about unsafe
driving, fi reworks and bad behavior .
“Our trails leading to the beach from our
neighborhoods are left with human and dog
feces, vomit, trash and toilet paper,” they
told offi cials. “Reckless and careless driving
abounds with cars and trucks spinning around
on the sand, attempts to drive up the trail-
heads, driving in the sand dunes and driving
through the tide pools. Many of these illegal
activities go on year round.”
Rich Landers/Spokesman Review
A fall Chinook salmon is shown after it
was caught on the Columbia River near
Desert Aire, Wash., in 2014.
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
Signage near the beach at Fort Stevens State Park.
High lead
levels at
schools
isolated
Fourth of July drama
“They felt the Fourth of July was out of
control,” Fort Stevens State Park Manager
Teri Wing said after meeting with residents.
“They wanted to fi nd out: ‘What do we do?
Who do we call? We don’t feel like there’s
anybody watching.’”
Bergin said closing the Clatsop County
beach to vehicles is an idea fl oated “every
other year or two.”
While the sheriff acknowledged enforce-
ment problems every Independence Day,
including this past one, closing off the beaches
would be a mistake.
Seaside School District
taking swift action
By LYRA FONTAINE
The Daily Astorian
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
See BEACH TRAFFIC, Page 10A
V ehicles are not permitted along the beach in Seaside.
‘It’s a very small group of people who complain. ...
They own these homes along the beach and want their own
private little walking space. It’s not going to happen.’
Tom Bergin
Clatsop County sheriff
PGA pro seeks Gearhart’s top spot
Brown sees role
to ‘calm waters’
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
GEARHART — PGA profes-
sional Matt Brown declared his
candidacy Tuesday for Gearhart’s
mayor to replace Dianne Widdop,
who announced her retirement early
this year.
Brown said his passion for the
city was developed growing up,
when he and friends enjoyed the res-
idential nature of the community,
walking on the Ridge Path — what
he calls “the soul of Gearhart” —
and shopping at the local grocery.
“I always knew Gearhart was a
residential community
and Pumpkin Ridge Golf
and we all loved it, but I
Club before returning to
didn’t know why,” Brown
his hometown in 2006,
said. “I learned about the
where he lives with his
comprehensive plan and
longtime girlfriend, Julie
learned Gearhart was
Visser, also a native.
designed to be a residen-
In July, as general man-
tial community. In com-
ager and PGA head pro-
munity planning, if your
fessional at the Highlands
city is not always plan-
Golf Club, Brown was
ning, outside infl uences
honored with a national
Matt
are going to plan the city
award as Merchandiser of
Brown
for you. That vision is
the Year.
always at risk.”
Beginning in 2006, Brown
Brown, 41, attended Gearhart served on the Planning Commission,
Elementary School, Seaside High including time as president. “When
School and Linfi eld College, where I fi rst got on the Planning Commis-
he graduated with a degree in busi- sion, the Planning Commission and
ness. As a PGA professional, Brown the City Council were at odds with
served at Astoria Golf & Country
See BROWN, Page 10A
Club, Bandon Dunes Golf Resort
SEASIDE — High lead levels were found
at a sink faucet at Seaside High School and
a hose at Gearhart Elementary School after
testing in June.
The two problem spots were among 39
locations tested for lead.
The sink faucet was at the Seaside High
School concessions stand and has since been
replaced, district maintenance supervisor
Glendon Ely said. The water is undergoing
retesting and results are expected in several
months.
The faucet was not used for drinking but
was tested because of potential food prepara-
tion or dishwashing use.
Above-limit lead levels were also found
in a hose in the Gearhart Elementary boiler
room. No action was needed because it
was a control sample,
Ely said. The water is
used to clean the boiler
room.
“I think we were
really relieved and sur-
prised at the results,”
Superintendent Sheila
Roley said at a dis-
trict board meeting
Tuesday.
The U.S. Envi-
Sheila
ronmental Protection
Roley
Agency recommends
schools collect 250 milliliter fi rst-draw sam-
ples of stagnant water from outlets used for
consumption, taking them out of service if
the lead level exceeds 20 parts per billion.
The trigger for treatment in a public water
system is 15 parts per billion.
See LEAD, Page 10A