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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 23, 2018)
COAST WEEKEND: CREATIVE COMMUNITIES PAINT, HIDE, SHARE ROCKS 146TH YEAR, NO. 39 INSIDE ONE DOLLAR DailyAstorian.com // Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Children play on a swingset on the beach near Seaside as the sun sets in smoky conditions. HOOD TO SMOKE Relay runners hope for a break from the smoky air By BRENNA VISSER The Daily Astorian S EASIDE — It looks like the smoke may clear just in time for the Hood to Coast Relay this weekend. “We know a lot can change between now and Friday,” Dan Floyd, the relay’s chief operating officer, said. “It’s been a conversation.” With air quality advisories in effect across much of Oregon this week, orga- nizers of the annual race are waiting and watching conditions before issuing offi- cial guidance to the more than 19,000 participants registered to run from Mount Hood to Seaside on Friday and Saturday. Active fires in Oregon, along with wind patterns pushing smoke south from blazes in British Columbia, have made this summer one of the smokiest yet — impacting residents and visitors, and wrinkling plans for outdoor events. While Hood to Coast always has to anticipate and prepare for weather-re- lated challenges, the relay has yet to face wildfire smoke as one of them. See SMOKY AIR, Page 7A Dennis Thomas works on the temporary bridge across U.S. Highway 101 for runners participating in Hood to Coast in Seaside. Deal reached on Port of Astoria oil cleanup Prevents pollution from reaching river By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian The Port of Astoria still keeps a containment buoy near the southeastern corner of Slip 2. The Port is negotiating with oil companies to prevent petroleum from seeping into the Columbia River from an old underground pipe. The Port of Astoria and oil companies have reached a concep- tual agreement on how to clean up and prevent petroleum contamina- tion from reaching the Columbia River between the Port’s piers 1 and 2. Anna Coates, a natural resource specialist with the state Depart- ment of Environmental Quality, outlined the history of the issue to the Port Commission on Tues- day and explained the agreement to cap and filter pollution out of the groundwater. There is no cost esti- mate yet. “The most important of those is the permeable reactive barrier,” she said. “This is the feature that keeps the contamination out of the surface water, so that’s the most important one. And then the other details can be worked out during the remedial design phase.” The area of contamination would be excavated and filled with a sloped layer of clay, silt, sand and absor- bent material topped with a protec- tive layer of pavement and riprap. A monitoring well would be dug to keep track of how the system works. Coates will likely write a final record of decision in September or October, with a work plan created around the end of the year. In the late 1990s, an oil sheen appeared on the Columbia between piers 1 and 2. The state initiated a remedial investigation in 2001 and has since overseen cleanup of the contamination. The main sources were identified as a former Exx- onMobil/Niemi Oil bulk plant, a McCall Oil & Chemical Corp. pipe- line, an underground storage tank previously operated by the Port and other nearby pipelines. See DEAL, Page 7A Coastal caucus discusses impacts of carbon reduction Lawmakers respond to climate change By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE Capital Bureau LINCOLN CITY — The Oregon Coast is likely to acutely feel climate change: rising sea levels, increasing ocean acidity and higher water temperatures. What’s less clear is how things might change for coastal communities if the Legislature adopts a carbon reduction pol- icy during the 2019 session. State lawmakers indicated Wednesday, at an annual eco- nomic development summit hosted by the Oregon Coastal Caucus, that they’re eager take rural coastal communities into account. Wednesday’s events focused on carbon emissions and potential ways the Legis- lature might seek to implement a carbon pricing or cap-and- trade style program to lower the state’s carbon emissions. “We’ve come to realize that to attack this problem, we have to make our rural econ- omies front and center,” said state Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, during a panel dis- cussion on how rural commu- nities may be affected by a car- bon reduction policy. The state’s coast is replete with natural resources, includ- ing forests, fields and marsh- lands, that can sequester car- bon, Dembrow said. See CAUCUS, Page 7A EO Media Group Ecola Point at Ecola State Park, just north of Cannon Beach. Lawmakers say they want to take coastal commu- nities into account as they write a cap-and-trade plan.
