DailyAstorian.com // TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2018
146TH YEAR, NO. 82
ONE DOLLAR
Landlord,
insurer sue
tenants
over pot
explosion
Latest legal case over
Uniontown blast
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Daric Moore, co-founder of Pier Pressure Productions, discusses details about the theater renovation project.
New theater in the
works in Astoria
A space on
Commercial Street
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
hey thought maybe three or four
people would show up.
But the morning performance at
Astoria’s new black box theater on Oct.
15 — a salute to the theater’s address,
1015 Commercial St. in the Odd Fellows
Building — was packed. People who
couldn’t find seats on an array of metal
folding chairs or sagging camp chairs
leaned against the wall with the perform-
ers in what is still more a large unfinished
room than a theater. They cheered loudly
as the founders of Pier Pressure Produc-
tions introduced themselves and ushered
dramatic, musical and comedic acts to the
front.
For Susi Brown and others in the the-
ater community, it proved Astoria is hun-
gry for live theater.
Astoria offers a rich variety of many
different kinds of art, but sometimes
lacks a regular place where people can
experience live theater, said Brown, who
founded the first Pier Pressure Produc-
tions in 2010. She has been involved in
the local theater community as a director,
actor and educator since the late 1970s.
There is of course “Shanghaied in
Astoria,” the classic community theater
production put on by the Astor Street Opry
T
Renovation work continues in the Pier Pressure Productions theater in down-
town Astoria.
Company and now in its 35th season. The
company opens its doors for other ven-
tures outside its usual roster of shows, but
only several times a year. There are occa-
sional readers’ theater events. The Per-
forming Arts Center offers the occasional
play. KALA, a downtown space more
often used as a music venue or a gallery
space, sometimes includes a drama. The
Liberty Theatre hopes to host large pro-
ductions in the future, but is limited by its
stage setup.
Clatsop Community College nixed its
theater department years ago. Small the-
aters that once offered a wide variety of
plays have also shut down. The Coaster
Theater in Cannon Beach remains a hub
for actors and directors in the community,
but for people who live in Astoria, it can
be a trek.
The owner and insurer of a Uniontown
building gutted by a butane hash oil explo-
sion two years ago is suing the former ten-
ants and their investors for negligence.
Richard Delphia owns the building at the
corner of Portway and Industry streets where
Higher Level Concentrates, owned by Wil-
liam “Chris” West and Jason Oei, ran a mari-
juana grow site and a production space mak-
ing butane hash oil, a concentrated form of
the plant’s psychoactive component, THC.
Sweet Relief, a local marijuana store chain,
subleased a space upstairs for retail sales.
Delphia’s building was insured by Hud-
son Specialty Insurance Co., the primary
plaintiff in the lawsuit.
An explosion and flash fire rocked Del-
phia’s building in 2016, sending contractor
Jacob Magley to the hospital with serious
burns. He sued Oei and West, claiming the
two had been vaporizing hash with an open
heat source while making oil in an open-
ended system in violation of state guidelines.
Magley also sued Delphia, Sweet Relief
and John Harper, a regional smoke shop
owner and financier of Higher Level. The
lawsuit was later settled for an undisclosed
amount.
Hudson and Delphia’s lawsuit, filed on
the two-year anniversary of the explosion
and fire, seeks $351,000 for damages to the
building, claiming the unlawful use of a haz-
ardous substance such as butane gas in an
open-ended system was a violation of Oei
and West’s lease.
Sweet Relief and Harper’s compa-
nies were named as co-defendants for their
knowledge of the operation.
The lawsuit claims the defendants neg-
ligently failed to install the closed-loop
extraction system and comply with state
regulations.
“As a direct and proximate result of the
negligence of each of the defendants, the
open loop THC oil extraction process failed,
causing (liquefied petroleum) gas to accu-
mulate and ignite,” the lawsuit said. “The
explosion and fire caused extensive damage
to the building.”
Oei and West were convicted last year
of felony assault and misdemeanor reckless
endangerment and sentenced to three years
probation. Both filed for bankruptcy protec-
tion from creditors.
None of the defendants provided com-
ment on the lawsuit. Delphia’s building is
still a burned-out husk surrounded by chain-
link fencing and plywood boards.
See THEATER, Page 7A
‘WHAT IT SEEMS TO ME IS HAPPENING IN THIS TOWN RIGHT
NOW IS ANOTHER GENERATION OF PEOPLE IS SHOWING
INTEREST IN TAKING OVER SOME OF THE ENDEAVORS.’
Edward James | Astoria native who went on to work professionally in theater
Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian
Richard Delphia’s building at Portway
and Industry streets was gutted two
years ago by an explosion and flash fire
fueled by butane gas.
Mount Hood fault lines could trigger quake
A 7.2 temblor
is possible
Associated Press
PORTLAND — Residents
in the Pacific Northwest who
dread a Cascadia Subduction
Zone earthquake and tsunami
now have another possible
quake to worry about.
Researchers say active fault
lines on Mount Hood could
potentially trigger a 7.2 mag-
nitude quake that could reach
Portland.
KGW-TV reported the
recently discovered fault lines
to the north, south and south-
west of Mount Hood extend to
the Columbia River.
Ian Madin of the Oregon
Department of Geology and
Mineral Industries and Ashley
Streig of Portland State Uni-
versity found the fault lines
during an analysis with new
imaging technology. The fault
lines were verified through
field research.
Streig says the quake would
be a short crustal earthquake,
and it “would be strong enough
to knock you off your feet.”
Streig says the Portland
area would likely see “strong
ground motions and could suf-
fer liquefaction damage along
waterfront areas.”
AP Photo/Don Ryan
Researchers have identified active fault lines on Mount Hood that could trigger a major quake.