THE MONTH OF NEWTS WEEKEND BREAK • PAGE 1C
145TH YEAR, NO. 149
ONE DOLLAR
WEEKEND EDITION // FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, 2018
Engineer says
he misjudged
train location
in fatal wreck
CITIZEN
MEDICS
TEAM COULD BE DEPLOYED
IN AN EMERGENCY
Derailment
near Tacoma
By SALLY HO
Associated Press
SEATTLE — An engi-
neer told investigators he
misjudged the location of
an Amtrak train before it
derailed near Tacoma on a
new high-speed route while
traveling at nearly 80 mph
— more than twice the
speed limit around a curve,
the National Transporta-
tion Safety Board disclosed
Thursday.
In an NTSB summary of
interviews with the engineer
and conductor on duty during
the deadly crash, the engineer
said he knew the curve with
a 30 mph speed restriction
was at milepost 19.8 and he
planned to start braking about
a mile before reaching it.
But he said he didn’t see
a marker at milepost 18 or a
nearby 30 mph speed warn-
ing sign. The engineer said he
then misinterpreted another
signal at the 19.8 milepost.
He said he applied the
Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Cannon Beach Police Chief Jason Schermerhorn looks over
emergency supplies stored in a facility near the community.
By BRENNA VISSER
The Daily Astorian
brake as soon as he saw a 30
mph sign at the start of the
curve, but the train derailed
seconds later as it entered the
30 mph zone and plunged off
an overpass and onto busy
Interstate 5.
NTSB board member
Bella Dinh-Zarr said days
after the wreck that the loco-
motive’s emergency brake
went off automatically and
was not manually activated
by the engineer.
The summary says the
engineer was qualified to
operate the train on that new
stretch of track and had com-
pleted at least seven obser-
vational trips and three trips
during which he operated the
train in the five weeks before
the derailment.
The fatal trip marked the
second time the engineer had
officially operated it going
southbound on the route.
The summary involved
interviews with the engineer
and conductor, which took
place about a month after
they suffered serious injuries
in the wreck.
See ENGINEER, Page 7A
Local author,
educator files for
state House seat
C
ANNON BEACH — Two years ago, a bud-
ding medical reserve corps in Cannon Beach
started with four orange tubs filled with basic
medical supplies and a couple of passionate
volunteers. Now, a few grants and a significant number
of donations later, the volunteer emergency preparedness
group has amassed more than 4,200 individual medical
items that can be distributed in an emergency.
Ousley is part
of progressive
outreach group
See MEDICS, Page 7A
By EDWARD
STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
Local college adviser and
author Melissa Ousley has
filed in the Democratic pri-
mary to replace state Rep.
Deborah Boone.
Boone, D-Cannon Beach,
announced this month she
would not run for an eighth
two-year term in state House
District 32. Tillamook
County Commissioner Tim
Josi, a Democrat, and Brian
Halvorsen, an Independent
from Rockaway Beach, have
also filed.
Ousley, 42, is an adviser
at Clatsop Community Col-
lege who lives in Warrenton
with her husband, Chris, the
Medical supplies are among the items stored near Cannon
Beach in the event of an emergency.
Melissa Ousley
Local author and educa-
tor Melissa Ousley is run-
ning in the Democratic
primary for state House.
dean of students at the col-
lege, and their twin 14-year-
old boys. She has a doc-
torate in higher education
and has worked in the field
for 15 years, previously as
a student services adviser
at Pima Community Col-
lege in Arizona and as a
researcher at the University
of Arizona.
See OUSLEY, Page 7A
Hotel unaware of oil tank that caused spill
Pier has had
several owners
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
Cannery Pier Hotel man-
agement says it was unaware
of a tank under one of its piers
that likely caused an oil spill
on the Columbia River last
week.
The Coast Guard said
Saturday that oil from the
4,200-gallon, 20-foot tank
probably caused the sheen
that was concentrated near
the hotel but extended 5 miles
along the river. The amount of
oil discharged and the exact
cause are still unknown.
“We didn’t know about the
tank until the oil started form-
ing last week,” said Don West,
the hotel’s general manager.
“Pretty much, it kind of went
crazy from there.”
A containment boom has
been placed in the water, and
wildlife has not been affected,
according to the Coast Guard.
The sheen was also noticed at
the West Mooring Basin and
the Hammond Mooring Basin,
where cleanup operations have
been completed.
Cleanup efforts near the
hotel are ongoing. An excava-
tor and a barge will be brought
to the area on Friday as crews
prepare to deconstruct part of
the pier and access the tank,
Petty Officer 1st Class Levi
Read said.
The sheen was first
reported by hotel employees
Jan. 18. Inclement weather
did not allow the Coast Guard
to respond until Jan. 19, when
the sheen was detected in other
places.
The piers underneath and
to the side of the hotel have
had several owners in the past
few decades — including the
Union Fishermen’s Coopera-
tive, Bumble Bee tuna cannery
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
See HOTEL, Page 7A
Larry and Sharon Johnson of Seaside look out over an oil
spill near the Cannery Pier Hotel.