6A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 2017
Riverwalk: Port
experienced more
storm damage in 2015
than any other agency
Continued from Page 1A
local match covered by the
Oregon Business Develop-
ment Department’s Infrastruc-
ture Finance Authority.
One of the most noticeable
remnants of the 2015 storms
was a patch of locust trees just
east of the Maritime Museum
leaning over the Columbia
after waves reached over rocks
and scoured out portions of the
waterfront. After finishing the
city’s work, Big River started
the museum’s property.
“We attempted to save all
the trees that we could,” said
Dave Pearson, deputy director
of the museum.
Several trees were taken
out and will not be replaced.
Pearson said Big River is
expected to finish work today,
after which the museum will
replant the grass and clean the
area up.
As a private nonprofit,
the museum was not allowed
reimbursement by FEMA like
public agencies. Pearson said
the museum was offered a
U.S. Small Business Admin-
istration loan, but decided to
finance the project in-house.
“It was expensive, but less
than the city’s” project, Pear-
son said. “It was significant for
us.”
Bigger projects
The Riverwalk work rep-
resented a smaller portion of
the $257,000 in claims the
city had with FEMA for storm
damage.
A hillside along Pipeline
Road eroded near a city water-
line along Little Bear Creek
during the 2015 storms. The
City Council approved repair-
ing the slide with rock armor-
ing, but the National Marine
Fisheries Service, which has to
sign off on projects affecting
a nearby fish-bearing stream,
did not provide a permit.
Harrington said FEMA is
now consulting with the fish-
eries service on alternative
ideas to fix the slide area. The
work, which needs to wait
until no fish are present, will
take place between July and
the middle of September.
Harrington said FEMA has
taken on the challenge of inter-
facing with other government
agencies that have a say in
local projects, but is now fac-
ing delays because of disaster
claims from this past winter.
Biggest project
The Port of Astoria experi-
enced more storm damage in
2015 than any other agency,
with claims for several areas
of damage rising into the mil-
lions of dollars. The agency
is still in the process of filing
claims with FEMA.
One of the hardest-hit areas
was around the face of Pier
2, the only repair project for
which Port Executive Direc-
tor Jim Knight said he has
received an engineer’s esti-
mate on. “Our estimate for
those repairs is $5.4 million,”
he said.
The estimate forms the
basis of a claim the Port will
send to FEMA seeking reim-
bursement for 75 percent of
repair costs. The Port recently
secured a $1.5 million Con-
nect Oregon VI infrastructure
grant to act as the local 25 per-
cent match.
WORLD IN BRIEF
Associated Press
House sends bill to Trump
blocking online privacy rules
WASHINGTON — Congress has sent President Donald
Trump legislation that would kill an online privacy regulation,
a move that could eventually allow internet providers such as
Comcast, AT&T and Verizon to sell the browsing habits of their
customers.
The Federal Communications Commission rule issued in
October was designed to give consumers greater control over
how internet service providers share information. But critics
said the rule would have stifled innovation and picked winners
and losers among Internet companies.
The House voted 215-205 to reject the rule. The Senate had
already voted to the block it.
The vote is part of an extensive effort that Republicans have
undertaken to void an array of regulations issued during the
final months of Democratic President Barack Obama’s tenure.
But the vote was closer this time with 15 Republicans siding
with Democrats in the effort to keep the rule in place.
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Republicans
put profits over the privacy concerns of Americans.
“Overwhelmingly, the American people do not agree with
Republicans that this information should be sold, and it cer-
tainly should not be sold without your permission,” Pelosi said.
“Our broadband providers know deeply personal information
about us and our families.”
Internet companies like Google don’t have to ask users’ per-
mission before tracking what sites they visit. Republicans and
industry groups have blasted that discrepancy, saying it was
unfair and confusing for consumers.
Undoing the FCC regulation leaves people’s online informa-
tion in a murky area.
Immigration agents round up 84
in Alaska, Washington, Oregon
SEATTLE — Immigration agents rounded up 84 people —
including 60 with criminal records — during a three-day opera-
tion in Washington, Oregon and Alaska, authorities said Thursday.
The operation ended Monday and targeted criminals resid-
ing in the U.S. illegally, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforce-
ment’s Seattle field office said in a statement.
It was the region’s biggest immigration roundup in recent
memory. Last summer, agents arrested 19 people in a similar
sweep in northwestern Washington state.
Those arrested included 77 men and seven women from 12
countries, the vast majority of them from Mexico. Nineteen
had drunken driving convictions, and 14 had been convicted of
assault, sex offenses or domestic violence. Some will be pros-
ecuted for illegally re-entering the country while the rest face
deportation proceedings.
Thirteen of the arrests were made in Washington County.
VW to pay over $157M to settle
emissions claims by 10 states
DETROIT — Volkswagen is paying more than $157 million
to 10 states to settle environmental lawsuits over the company’s
diesel emissions-cheating scandal.
The company says the money will go to Connecticut, Dela-
ware, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania,
Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. All 10 states follow Cal-
ifornia’s clean air standards.
The settlement covers 3-Liter six-cylinder diesel engines and
is separate from a $603 million agreement reached last year with
44 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico that covered 2-liter
engines.
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