Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 19, 2016)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2016 State Legislature could pay schools back for lead testing public, but the rule doesn’t require actual testing. State agencies, including the education department and the Oregon Health Authority, have no authority to force school dis- tricts to test for lead in water, but that could change next year. Fund could start at $5 million By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau SALEM — Oregon public schools could be reimbursed for the cost of testing for lead in campus drinking water, under a proposal lawmakers will con- sider Friday. The proposal sets up a fund administered by the state Department of Education. School districts could submit invoices to request reimburse- ment for costs associated with lead testing between March and December of this year. The Legislative Fiscal Ofice has recommended that the Emergency Board approve the $5 million as a placeholder until state education oficials gain a better sense of how much school districts will request for reimbursement. The education department could submit a revised inancial request to the emergency board in December, if requests exceed $5 million, said Doug Wilson, a legislative iscal analyst. “It’s really a signal to dis- tricts that we are putting money aside for lead testing,” Wilson said of the recommendation. The Oregon Association of School Business Oficials con- ducted a survey of school dis- tricts this summer to try to esti- Mandate possible Hermiston School District A sink in the Hermiston School District that tested posi- tive for elevated lead levels has been shut off and tagged. The Legislature is working on a plan to reimburse schools for the cost of lead testing. mate the cost of testing. About 100 districts, representing about half of the state’s student population, responded. The $5 million igure is roughly based on those districts’ responses, Wilson said. That amount equates to about $35 for each lab test, including testing and a small amount to defray the cost of collection, he said. The amount doesn’t account for any expenses associated with miti- gation of lead contamination. Some larger school districts such as Portland and Beaverton used contractors to take water samples, which drove up the cost of testing, Wilson said. Testing urged Lawmakers pledged to provide some kind of inan- cial assistance to districts after the Oregon Health Author- ity and the education depart- ment asked districts to test for lead in school water supplies. The agencies recommended that schools identify sources of lead, stop access, com- municate results to staff, stu- dents, parents and the commu- nity and mitigate and repair the problem. The request for testing fol- lowed widespread media cov- erage of a scandal in Port- land Public Schools over lead in drinking water that went unreported. In August, the state Board of Education — at the behest of Gov. Kate Brown — approved a rule that requires school dis- tricts to submit a plan for test- ing for lead in water and other toxins in school environments and to report any results to the Lawmakers are considering legislation session that would require districts to test for lead in water and possibly other toxins, said state Sen. Michael Dem- brow, D-Portland. Dembrow and Rep. Alissa Keny-Guyer, D-Portland, spearheaded legis- lation in 2015 that required dis- tricts to test for radon. “At that time, we focused on radon because to be honest, we assumed there was test- ing already happening for lead and other things, but radon seemed like something people were just beginning to become familiar with.” “As we come to a better understanding of the multiple toxins in schools, we need to expand that,” he added. New York recently enacted a law requiring schools to test for lead by the end of Octo- ber, report results to the public and develop a plan for reducing exposure to the toxin, the Ore- gon Legislative Fiscal Ofice reported. The Capital Bureau is a col- laboration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. ODFW funding task force will recommend bottle, income tax By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE Capital Bureau SALEM — A task force convened to suggest new sus- tainable funding sources for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has settled on two rec- ommended options that each take the form of tax surcharges — one on income and one on beverage containers. The department is operating on a biennium budget of about $370 million. A third of that comes from hunting and ishing licenses, a third from the federal government, and the rest for various state funds. The agency has faced a growing cash low problem, according to a 2015 audit by the Secretary of State’s Ofice. The task force identiied an addi- tional funding need of $79.9 million per biennium, much of which would go to conserva- tion efforts, according to a draft of the task force’s report to the Legislature. Task force chair Mark Labhart will present the sur- charge ideas to two committees during the Legislature’s interim session this week. In a vote at its meeting Fri- day, the group was split in terms of prioritizing either of the sug- gested surcharges. Portland pot dispensary robbed Associated Press PORTLAND — Authori- ties are investigating reports of an armed robbery at a Portland marijuana dispensary. The Oregonian reported that police say multiple sus- pects were involved in the Sun- day night incident, and at least four had handguns. Oficers had arrived at Green Buds Dispensary to ind at least two people running away from the business. Police have made only one arrest and are still searching for other suspects. Police have not yet deter- mined what was taken from the dispensary. Last week, a security cam- era captured footage of a man who robbed the Freedom Mar- ket pot store in Longview, Washington. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife An Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist re- leases a sterile tiger trout into Diamond Lake to prey on invasive fish. A task force has recommended two possible sources of additional funding for the department. The suggested bottle tax would be 2.02 percent applied to the cost of a drink at whole- sale on those containers subject to the state’s bottle bill on Jan. 1. “This is intended to be applied to the cost of a bever- age, rather than as an addition to the beverage container redemp- tion deposit for those contain- ers subject to the bottle bill,” the draft report states. It’s estimated that the bottle tax could generate $61.5 million in revenue in 2017-19, as the tax would not take effect until Jan. 1, 2018, and $82 million in 2019-21, according to estimates prepared for the task force. ll Ca ime yt n A The other suggestion the task force is making would be a 0.7 percent surcharge on individual tax returns, with an exemption for people who earn less than $20,000 per year. The task force decided to leave open for discussion how to retain a “base” of Orego- nians who pay fees to hunt and ish; suggestions have so far included tax credits or exemp- tions for people who have hunting or ishing licenses. The income tax surcharge could generate $60 million in the 2017-19 biennium and $92.9 million in the 2019-21 biennium, according to esti- mates that were prepared for the task force. Those estimates take into account the possible exemptions for people earning less than $20,000 and people with ish and wildlife licenses. Jim Martin, a task force member and former ODFW employee, who now directs the Berkeley Conservation Institute at Pure Fishing, said Friday that the taxes would be “politically dificult,” but the task force had to communi- cate the idea that failing to ix the agency’s “broken” fund- ing model could undermine “Oregon’s livability and future economy.” In order for either sugges- tion to take hold, lawmakers would have to pass legislation or refer the matter to voters in the form of a ballot measure. The Capital Bureau is a collaboration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. Stephanie Gooch/For The Daily Astorian The whale washed ashore during the night. Apparently, it’s been dead for a while. Dead whale washes ashore in Arch Cape Cause of death is unknown By R.J. MARX The Daily Astorian FALCON COVE — Arch Cape residents and visi- tors reported a large whale stranded on a sandbank off- shore about 250 yards out Friday. As night fell, the humpback was driven by waves south- ward toward Falcon Cove. For more than two hours, the bloated carcass drifted closer to shore as the tide shifted. What had once been a blur on the horizon grew larger and larger. A handful of onlookers came out to view the beaching. They had recently witnessed a Japanese ishing boat from the tsunami wash ashore, but none remembered a whale. Hold- ing lashlights and cellphones, wading through tidepools, they tried to capture the image. Leslie Smith was watch- ing from a bluff before com- ing down to Cove Beach. “We could see it way out,” she said. “There were extremely long lippers.” “We’ve had baby orcas, but never a big bull like this,” Smith added, as her daugh- ter Lindsay Smith snapped a photo. Cape Falcon’s John Erben said, “We see a lot of whales. Most times they’re not loat- ing dead.” Gas could pose risk On Saturday, Seaside Aquarium General Man- ager Keith Chandler vis- ited the site. He said he had been notiied of the whale by the U.S. Coast Guard Friday morning, when the whale was about 4 miles offshore. “It’s been dead quite some time,” Chandler said. “Its tail has been rotted off.” The big bloat of the whale is gas built up inside, Chan- dler said. Does it pose a risk? Could it explode? “It could,” Chandler said. “They have in the past. Not R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian The bloated body is in- dicative of built-up gas in this humpback whale that washed ashore in Falcon Cove Friday. ‘It could (explode). They have in the past. Not saying it will, but it’s always a possibility.’ Keith Chandler Seaside Aquarium general manager saying it will, but it’s always a possibility.” Humpbacks are more uncommon than gray whales, Chandler said. “We get one every couple of years. We had one in Seaside last Jan- uary. There have been some live ones in the Columbia too.” As for what caused the whale’s death, “There was no smoking gun,” he said. Chandler said the tide could move the whale car- cass out of the cove and far- ther south. “If we can get to it, we’ll probably do a necropsy,” he said. “But one that has been dead this long — I don’t know how much we’re going to learn from it, because all the tissues are probably rot- ting away.” By late Saturday, the humpback remained ashore in Falcon Cove, but neigh- bors reported the whale had delated signiicantly. W e look forw a rd to seein g everyon e for ou r fifth a n n u a l Ra ce to the Ba r, S eptem ber 9 th, 20 17! Fre e as Est F ima t t es Jeff Hale P ainting • Residential • Commercial •Cedar Roof Treatments • Interior & Exterior Over 20 years local experience 503-440-2169 Jeff Hale, Contractor LICENSED BONDED INSURED CCB#179131 Th e Lo w er Co lu m bia H o spice Ad viso ry B o a rd w o u ld like to th a n k o u r spo n so rs, vo lu n teers a n d pa rticipa n ts w h o m a d e th e fo u rth a n n u a l “Ra ce to th e B a r” w ild ly su ccessfu l a n d a sto u n d in gly fu n ! S pecia l recogn ition to ou r spon sors a n d con tribu tors: NEWS TALK FOR THE COAST Pro viding live a nd lo ca l new s co vera ge every da y Y ou could see it ton igh t, rea d a bout it tom orrow or h ea r it live N O W ! GO LD • Colum bia M em oria l H ospita l • K lem p F a m ily D en tistry • D a n a n d Sue Stein • P a cific Coa st M edica l Supply • Area P roperties • CGC F in a n cia l • Cra ft3 • Astoria F orest P roducts • O ur L a dy of Victory/St. P eter th e F ish erm en Ca th olic Ch urch - Sea side w w w .ra ceto theba r.co m S ILVER • F ort George B rew ery • Subw a y • B a ysh ore An im a l H ospita l • L ektro • B rim Avia tion • CM H P rim a ry Ca re Clin ic • E n glun d M a rin e • P a cific P ow er • O regon Sta te B ridge Co. • U S B a n k • Colum bia River B a r P ilots • Colum bia B a n k • Sen a tor B etsy Joh n son • P roviden ce Sea side H ospita l • T eevin B ros. • T h e D a ily Astoria n • Autio Com pa n y • D M squa red • St. F ra n cis de Sa les Ca th olic M ission BRO N ZE • H ow a rd Cla rke a n d W en dela H ow ie • Sun dia l T ra vel • J&H B oa tw orks • O cea n Crest Ch evrolet • Ca ldw ell’s L uce-L a yton M ortua ry • O cea n View Crem a tion • B ussert L a w a n d Associa tes, L L P • Costco • Sa few a y • H om e D epot • F red M eyer
