DailyAstorian.com // TUESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2017
145TH YEAR, NO. 27
ONE DOLLAR
Astoria
opposes
oil train
project
Terminal proposed for
Port of Vancouver
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Astoria Ferry Group Co-President and Treasurer Cindy Price takes a look inside the wheelhouse of the Tourist No. 2. The
organization is hoping to raise funds to restore the vessel, which used to operate as a ferry in Astoria beginning in 1924.
TAKING
WATER
The Astoria City Council on Mon-
day night joined other cities along the
Columbia River in opposing
a proposed oil terminal proj-
ect, but only after City Coun- MORE
cilor Bruce Jones did some
reading and rewrote the INSIDE
Astoria
resolution.
Environmental
advo- finalizes
cacy group Columbia River- hotel
keeper and local activists had tax hike
asked the council in July to Page 3A
adopt a resolution against the
Tesoro Savage terminal project proposed for
Washington’s Port of Vancouver, saying
it threatens the health of the Columbia
River estuary. They said the project could
“dramatically increase” the danger of an oil
spill.
See OIL TERMINAL, Page 4A
Ferry project needs
$100,000 by October
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
E
xcitement abounded a year ago when the
Tourist No. 2, a ferry that between 1924
and 1966 shuttled residents between
Astoria and Megler, Washington, prior to the
Astoria Bridge, pulled into the 17th Street
Dock.
Organizers with the newly formed non-
profit Astoria Ferry Group wanted to turn the
93-year-old ferry into the waterborne version
of the Astoria Riverfront Trolley.
A year later, beset by the challenges
of fixing up the Tourist No. 2 into a mod-
ern passenger-carrying vessel, Astoria Ferry
has issued an ultimatum to the community:
Raise $100,000 and recruit more boat-savvy
board members by the end of September, or
the dream will set sail.
“We need to make some real progress on
maintenance issues toward the certificate of
inspection in order for us to have the confi-
dence of the public that we’re doing the right
things, that we’re following a good process
and that we’re making some headway,” said
Astoria City Councilor Cindy Price, a board
member.
The vessel’s next quarterly insurance pay-
ment of $2,200 is due in October. Price said
ABOVE: The Astoria Ferry Group is trying to raise funds to restore the Tour-
ist No. 2, shown here docked near Tongue Point, and return the vessel to
service as a tourist attraction. The boat was brought back to Astoria last
year. BELOW: Astoria Ferry Group Co-President Dulyce Taylor admires a
photo of Tourist No. 2 Capt. Fritz Elfving that still hangs in the vessel.
AP Photo/Matthew Brown
Activists are fighting oil-by-rail projects
because of environmental risks.
Gearhart
transit
plan gets
green light
Highway 101 at center
of city’s 20-year goals
See FERRY, Page 4A
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
Hunter, shellfish project leader
with the Oregon Department
of Fish and Wildlife, said the
discovery was a “red flag”
since these shellfish don’t
hold on to the toxin the way
razor clams do. In the past two
weeks, Washington state has
seen levels of pseudo-nitzs-
chia, the diatom that can pro-
duce domoic acid, rise, fall and
rise again in the ocean.
The data collected from the
mussels is concerning, but the
species of pseudo-nitzschia
that produces domoic acid can
be present in the water and not
producing any toxins.
“I’m not ready to say, ‘Hey,
panic!’ but certainly we’re
Katie Frankowicz/The Daily Astorian
GEARHART — With the goal of
identifying future transportation needs
and opening the door to grant funding, the
City Council has a transportation system
plan.
The goal is to anticipate growth and know
how to deal with it, City Planner Carole Con-
nell said.
“There will be more demand placed on
the city, and this is a program for us to deal
with that,” Connell said.
At the top of the list is the reconfiguration
of U.S. Highway 101. Planners want to pro-
vide greater turning safety and connectivity
between the east and west sides of the road-
way and reduce bottlenecks and traffic jams.
Additional projects listed in the plan aim
to facilitate tsunami evacuation, infrastruc-
ture improvements, pedestrian walkways
and to ensure that new development com-
plies with the city’s goals.
With one exception, city councilors and
Mayor Matt Brown approved the two-vol-
ume plan, which presents a blueprint for the
city’s transportation systems through 2040.
See TOXIN, Page 4A
A razor clam on the beach near Fort Ste-
vens State Park.
See GEARHART, Page 9A
Toxin levels finally drop in razor clams
Researchers
still concerned
by data points
By KATIE
FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
Levels of a harmful marine
toxin dropped in Oregon and
Washington state’s razor clam
populations this summer after
remaining above state thresh-
olds for most of the season, but
fishery managers aren’t sure
what September could bring.
Even as levels of the toxin
have gone down, Oregon fish-
ery managers recorded domoic
acid in mussels in July. Matt
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