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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2016
Oregon behind on food inspections, increasing disease risk
By ANDREW SELSKY
Associated Press
SALEM — Rodents,
insects and microscopic bac-
teria: All these hazards can
exist in food and where it is
stored, and it is up to the Ore-
gon Department of Agriculture
to ensure they’re not there.
But the department’s Food
Safety Program, which is
charged with carrying out
inspections of dairies, gro-
cery stores, food processors
and other establishments, has
a backlog that could cause
an increase in dangerous and
even fatal illnesses, Oregon’s
secretary of state said in an
audit published on Tuesday.
The Food Safety Program
is responsible for regulating
more than 12,000 food safety
licenses in Oregon. The audi-
tors found that, as of October,
2,841 licenses were overdue
for an inspection by more than
three months.
‘Seven dead mice were still
locked in snap traps ...’
part of a 28-page report, citing a scary
scenario at a Portland grocery store
Scary scenario
The 28-page report cites
a scary scenario that was dis-
covered during an inspection
in one locale.
In June 2015, two food
safety inspectors found hun-
dreds of rodent droppings scat-
tered throughout a grocery store
in Portland, the report said.
“Seven dead mice were
still locked in snap traps ...
During a later visit, the inspec-
tors found thousands of insects
on glue traps and dead insects
visible inside wrapped pack-
ages of lettuce. This time, the
rodents spotted were alive; one
stuck to a glue trap behind the
bread display, another running
near the front of the store,”
said the audit from Secre-
tary of State Jeanne P. Atkins
office. The inspectors closed
and condemned the store
until the problems could be
resolved.
The audit pointed out that
not all violations are so obvi-
ous, and that health hazards
could come from an establish-
ment failing to properly sani-
tize a food preparation area or
storing food at an improper
temperature — which could
allow bacteria to grow — or
not labelling allergens like
peanuts.
Contaminated food
Each year, 1 in 6 Ameri-
cans gets sick from contami-
nated foods or beverages, the
Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention says. The CDC
estimates that of the roughly
48 million people who get sick
from a foodborne illness each
year, 128,000 are hospitalized
and 3,000 die.
The backlog of inspec-
tions in Oregon was “caused
by an increase in the num-
ber of licensed businesses ...
and an inspection staff busy
with other duties,” said the
audit, which is accessible via
the secretary of state’s web-
site. It recommended the agri-
culture department use stron-
ger management practices,
improve use of data and use its
resources more strategically.
“Inspectors are also spend-
ing significant amounts of time
on duties that are not related to
inspections, such as attend-
ing training courses in special-
ized license types or answer-
ing customer questions on the
phone,” the audit said.
It noted that the Food
Safety Program has a contract
with the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration to conduct
some of their inspections in
exchange for reimbursement.
It recommended doing fewer
FDA contract inspections.
Lisa Hanson, acting direc-
tor of the state agricul-
ture department, wrote in a
response that the department
will implement the report’s
recommendations.
The audit stressed that
adhering to food safety regula-
tions is crucial to minimize the
risk of contamination, and that
it’s up to food safety inspectors
to make sure those regulations
are followed.
Parks: Many of the projects can
be completed in one to five years
Continued from Page 1A
American heritage, a bridge
below the water-treatment plant
to complete the loop, and a bet-
ter boat ramp for dory launch-
ing at Tolovana State Park,
with accompanying wheelchair
access to wet sand.
Many of the projects can
be completed in one to five
years, while others could take
up to 10 years.
City parks provide oppor-
tunities
for
interpretive
signs on ecology, history,
water treatment, archaeol-
ogy and tsunami preparation,
according to the master plan
information.
Though not considered a
No. 1 priority, a potential plan
for a multiuse path parallel to
U.S. Highway 101 could con-
nect Tolovana to midtown.
The trail would provide a safer
and less hilly route for pedes-
trians and cyclists, separate
from traffic on the S-curves.
Another possible project
could be converting Tolovana
State Park to city ownership,
moving its aging restrooms by
the beach and making further
enhancements.
Tolovana State Park “could
be a gem for the city,” Otak
senior planner Glen Bolen
said. “The journey to the
beach could be a journey, not
just a parking lot.”
A small bathroom near the
bottom of the stairs leading to
Haystack Rock is another pos-
sible project that could bene-
fit Haystack Rock Awareness
Program volunteers and visi-
tors, Bolen said.
Options
were pre-
sented at
the city’s
parks and
trails master
plan open
house.
Lyra Fontaine
The Daily
Astorian
Dam: Fulton wants CREST to be transparent regarding the removal
Continued from Page 1A
the organization. “I think
we need an agency like that
in the county, but we need a
well-governed agency,” he
said.
Commissioner John Raichl
said any direction to CREST
should go through the group’s
council of governments. “If
this issue rises to the level
you (Fulton) seem to feel it
has, I would think we’d exer-
cise the right to request a meet-
ing (of the CREST council) be
called,” he said.
Mushen agreed to call for a
special meeting of the council
if needed, but said any request
for information should come
from Warrenton.
“It seems like we’re car-
rying water for Warrenton,”
Mushen said.
Fulton said he wants
CREST to be transparent
regarding the controversial
dam removal project.
Dam backlash
CREST provides technical
assistance and research to local
governments and derives most
of its budget overseeing fish
and wildlife habitat restoration
projects in the Columbia River
estuary paid for by the federal
Bonneville Power Administra-
tion. Bonneville is required to
offset the negative impacts of
its hydroelectric dam system
on the Columbia and Snake
rivers.
CREST, the Skipanon
Water Control District and the
city had agreed on a $1.2 mil-
lion project to remove the dam
and provide the city with a sin-
gle-lane bridge for emergency
access over the Skipanon
River. The project would have
been financed by the Bonne-
ville Power Administration to
help improve salmon passage
and water quality.
The plan drew the ire of
some residents and business
leaders in Warrenton, who
claim CREST and the water dis-
trict downplayed the flood risk
of the project. CREST with-
drew from the project after the
Warrenton City Commission
voted not renew a deal with the
task force and the water control
district for the bridge.
Fallout
At a Port Commission
meeting last month, Warren-
ton businessman Pat O’Grady
brought a fact-finding report
for the city of Warrenton
written by Portland attorney
Akin Blitz. O’Grady claimed
the report as vindication of
the criticisms of CREST. He
called on the Port Commis-
sion to ask CREST to release
all communication on the
dam, and between CREST
and the Port’s administration,
and cease all business with
the group until the records
are produced. Later that meet-
ing, Fulton voiced support for
O’Grady’s request.
Fulton is a wetlands spe-
cialist for Warrenton Fiber.
The company is owned by
Warrenton’s Nygaard family,
which has opposed the dam
removal project and has been
critical of CREST.
As a Port commissioner,
Fulton was the agency’s rep-
resentative on CREST’s coun-
cil of local government rep-
resentatives. He was replaced
by Mushen shortly after
the CREST council’s chair-
man, Clatsop County Board
of Commissioners Chairman
Scott Lee, questioned whether
Fulton was representing the
Port or his employer. The crit-
icisms were related to alleged
behind-the-scenes maneuvers
by Fulton and his employer to
foil the dam project.
Blitz’s report concluded the
city should take control of the
dam from the water control
district for flood protection or
as an asset to be removed later
for wetland mitigation cred-
its. The report raised ques-
tions about CREST’s motives
and whether the task force
engaged in public corruption
or civil rights violations, but
the attorney has said he made
no conclusive findings about
CREST.
An attorney for CREST
called Blitz’s report “extremely
careless” and asked Warren-
ton to stop making damaging
comments or risk legal action.
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