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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2018
Supreme Court partially Large earthquake rocks
answers legal question buildings in Anchorage
about critical habitat
Associated Press
ANCHORAGE — A
6.6 magnitude earthquake
rocked buildings this morn-
ing in Anchorage and caused
lamp posts and trees to sway,
prompting people to run out of
offices and seek shelter under
office desks.
The U.S. Geological Sur-
vey says the earthquake was
The fate of a
gopher frog
By MATEUSZ
PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
back into the streets again.
Shortly after the quake, a
tsunami warning was issued
for the southern Alaska coastal
areas of Cook’s Inlet and part
of the Kenai peninsula.
The warning means tsu-
nami waves were expected.
The U.S. Geological Sur-
vey initially said it was a 6.7
magnitude earthquake and then
reduced the magnitude to 6.6.
Feds threaten to sue Washington state
to block Hanford worker comp
Associated Press
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
The dusky gopher frog is endangered.
nary understanding of how
adjectives work, ‘critical
habitat’ must also be ‘habi-
tat,’” according to the unan-
imous decision, which was
written by Chief Justice
John Roberts.
However, that finding
doesn’t put an end to the
matter because the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service dis-
putes Weyerhaeuser’s claim
that the frog can’t currently
survive on the 1,500 acres.
Instead of resolving this
question, the Supreme Court
has instead sent the case
back to the 5th Circuit to
consider what qualifies as
habitat.
“That is no baseline defi-
nition of habitat — it iden-
tifies only certain areas that
are indispensable to the con-
servation of the endangered
species,” the ruling said.
“The definition allows the
secretary to identify the sub-
set of habitat that is critical,
but leaves the larger cate-
gory of habitat undefined.”
Some other of Weyer-
haeuser’s arguments regard-
ing the critical habitat desig-
nation’s economic impacts
have also been remanded to
the 5th Circuit.
Specifically, the company
claimed the federal govern-
ment should have consid-
ered the specific impacts
of the designation on those
1,500 acres, rather than the
entirety of the frog’s critical
habitat, which included sites
in Mississippi it inhabits.
Also, the company
argued the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service should
have considered more than
the $34 million cost of lost
development rights, such
as the lost tax revenues for
the local government and
the cost of modifying the
habitat.
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RICHLAND, Wash. —
The federal government is
threatening to sue Washington
state to block recent legislation
that helps workers at a former
nuclear weapons production
site win compensation claims
for illnesses.
The U.S. Department of Jus-
tice recently informed Gov. Jay
Inslee that the law violates the
supremacy clause of the U.S.
Constitution because it “purports
to directly regulate” the federal
government and discriminates
against it and its contractors.
The Seattle Times reported
the letter to Inslee warned of
legal action if a settlement can-
not be reached by today.
The letter represents the
Trump administration’s dis-
pleasure with a state law
passed last spring to help Han-
ford workers who fell sick, the
newspaper reported.
Hanford for decades made
plutonium for nuclear weap-
ons and thousands of workers
are now engaged in the dan-
gerous work of cleaning up the
resulting radioactive waste.
The site is located near Rich-
land, Washington.
The Department of Energy,
which operates Hanford, is
a self-insured employer and
pays out claims. The state
Department of Labor & Indus-
tries makes the final determi-
nation on any cases that are
appealed by Hanford workers.
Under the new law passed
this year, some cancers and other
illnesses are assumed to be due
to chemical or radiological expo-
sures at Hanford, unless that pre-
sumption can be rebutted by
clear and convincing evidence.
Representatives for Ins-
lee and state Attorney Gen-
eral Bob Ferguson, both Dem-
ocrats, said they were willing
to discuss the new law with
the federal government, but
were unwilling to suspend
enforcement.
Astoria Band Boosters
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HAS BEEN POSTPONED UNTIL
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 9 TH
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The question of whether
critical habitat must actually
be inhabitable by a threat-
ened or endangered species
has been partially answered
by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The ruling pertains to
the dusky gopher frog, an
endangered amphibian his-
torically found in the South,
but agriculture advocates
argue such designations
would affect farm and for-
estland elsewhere.
About 1,500 acres in
Louisiana were designed as
critical habitat for the spe-
cies, even though the prop-
erty would need to be sig-
nificantly modified to be
suitable for the frog.
While the property does
contain five seasonal ponds
that could serve as breeding
habitat for the species, the
upland forests are too dense
for the frog.
Weyerhaeuser and other
affected landowners feared
the designation would pre-
vent development of the
property and challenged the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser-
vice’s decision in court.
The critical habitat des-
ignation was affirmed by
a federal judge and the
5th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals upheld that ruling.
The nation’s highest
court has now overturned
the 5th Circuit’s opinion,
ruling that only the actual
habitat of a threatened or
endangered species can be
designated as critical.
“According to the ordi-
centered about 7 miles north of
Alaska’s largest city.
An Associated Press
reporter working in down-
town Anchorage saw cracks
in a 2-story building after the
quake. It was unclear whether
there were injuries.
People went back inside
buildings after the earthquake
but a smaller aftershock a short
time later sent them running
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The Astoria City Council
wishes everyone a
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