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DailyAstorian.com //
Getting to the source
Nonprofit
plans drop-in
center for
homeless
Services will expand
beyond free lunches
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
An Astoria nonprofit is opening a day-
time drop-in center for the homeless.
Filling Empty Bellies, best known for pro-
viding free lunches at Peoples Park near the
Astoria Riverwalk downtown, announced
Wednesday it would be sharing space at the
former Tide Point restaurant off state High-
way 202 with an employment agency.
The nonprofit plans to offer a suite of ser-
vices at the building, including job-skills
training, referrals, showers and laundry facil-
ities, said Erin Carlsen, co-director of Fill-
ing Empty Bellies. The building will also
be a place to store food, clothing and other
donations.
See HOMELESS, Page 7A
Photos by Brenna Visser/The Daily Astorian
Assistant Public Works Director Trevor Mount collects water samples at the Chisana Creek outfall at Tolovana State Park.
Cannon Beach is consistently one of
the five beaches on the Oregon Coast that
causes the organization the most concern
with regard to bacteria levels, Charlie
Plybon, Surfrider’s Oregon Policy Man-
ager, said.
So what is the source, and why is it
difficult to identify it?
Cannon Beach revives
water testing after high
bacteria readings
By BRENNA VISSER
The Daily Astorian
C
ANNON BEACH — After high
bacteria readings at Cannon Beach
outfalls, the city has revived a
water testing program in search of a
solution.
In late June, routine sampling con-
ducted through the Oregon Beach Mon-
itoring Program found readings at two
freshwater outfalls exceeded the state’s
recreational water standard of 130 mpn,
or most probable number, a testing
method used to estimate the number of
colony forming units of bacteria.
The Chisana Creek outfall at Tolo-
vana State Park registered at 465 mpn,
more than three times what is considered
safe by the U.S. Environmental Protec-
tion Agency. The Ecola Court outfall pipe
hit 134 mpn. Ingesting bacteria contami-
nated water can result in illness.
Bacteria levels appear to have steadied
for now. But questions persist about why,
The problem
Assistant Public Works Director Trev-
or Mount collects water samples at
the Gower Street outfall.
after almost a decade, Cannon Beach
continues to see higher levels of bacteria
at several beach outfalls.
According to the Surfrider Founda-
tion, which has tested outfalls around
Cannon Beach for 10 years, 25 to 50 per-
cent of readings have exceeded state stan-
dards, depending on the year. There have
been four high readings registered since
2016 with the Oregon Beach Monitoring
Program.
Sources of contamination to sur-
face waters include wastewater treat-
ment plants, septic systems, storm runoff,
and domestic and wild animal manure,
according to the EPA.
For almost a decade, the city ran a
variety of tests to try to identify anything
within the infrastructure that could be the
source. The steps included weekly water
sampling, using optical brighteners to
look for human causes of pollution like
household detergents and cleansers, and
conducting smoke tests. The monitoring
sought to find out whether human fecal
matter was making it to the beach. The
program ended in 2015 after former Pub-
lic Works Director Dan Grassick deemed
issues were unrelated to the wastewater
system.
Warrenton
looks at
campus
purchase
Plan depends on a
November bond
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
WARRENTON — The Warrenton-Ham-
mond School Board on Wednesday autho-
rized Superintendent Mark Jeffery to nego-
tiate the purchase of property for a master
campus pending the passage of a $32.4 mil-
lion bond in November.
The school district will float the bond to
purchase the land and build a middle school,
part of a longer-term plan to move the entire
See WATER, Page 7A
See WARRENTON, Page 5A
Vigil honors man killed in motorcycle crash
Burrell
overcame
substance abuse
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
With the wind blowing at
the Astoria Column, Kristen
Sands had trouble lighting her
candle. So she used the inside
of her boyfriend’s motorcy-
cle helmet as a shield until she
finally was able to light the
flame.
Sands then placed the hel-
met near the memorial for the
man who once wore it.
Damian Burrell with his
girlfriend, Kristen Sands.
Friends and family gath-
ered Wednesday night at the
Column for a candlelight vigil
for Damian Burrell, 30, of
Warrenton, who died Monday
in a motorcycle crash on state
Highway 202.
Originally from Balti-
more, Burrell moved west a
few years ago and checked in
at Astoria Pointe, a drug and
alcohol treatment center. After
he became sober, he worked
at the treatment center, which
recently closed.
People who knew Burrell
spoke of his wisdom, selfless-
ness, happiness and sense of
humor. Since many of them,
like Burrell, are transplants
who moved to Astoria to
escape a past life, they form a
surrogate family.
See VIGIL, Page 7A
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Mourners gathered at the Astoria Column on Wednesday
night for a vigil to celebrate the life of Damian Burrell, who
was killed in a motorcycle accident on Monday.