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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (April 8, 2019)
A7 THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, ApRIL 8, 2019 Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian Cormorants rest below the Astoria Bridge. Cormorants: Droppings are very corrosive, reducing life span of steel coating Continued from page A1 dozen pairs in 2004 to around 1,700 pairs last year, according to moni- toring reports cited by the Oregon Department of Transportation. The leaps coincide with the beginning of lethal management of a massive double-crested cor- morant colony on East Sand Island. The birds abandoned the island several times after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began shooting thousands of adult birds and destroying nests and eggs in 2015 to protect runs of young salmon. The Audubon Society of Port- land called a mass exodus in 2017 a “catastrophic collapse.” Fish and wildlife researchers have since questioned the value of cormorant management in sav- ing salmon. They say it was clear after each dispersal that cormo- rants were resettling on the bridge and farther upriver — areas where they could potentially impact even more salmon. Cormorant droppings have accumulated on the bridge in lay- ers so thick they have made it dif- ficult for state inspectors to eval- uate the structure. The droppings are also very corrosive, reducing the life span of the bridge’s pro- tective steel coating. “The potential expense we’re facing is a real worry to us,” said Department of Transportation spokesman Lou Torres. Costly painting The state repaints the Astoria Bridge every 20 years, a lengthy but necessary maintenance that has shut down lanes during busy summer months. Work on the span only just con- cluded in 2018 and more work is planned in 2021 on the under truss, where many of the cormo- rants appear to nest. “We’re really trying to get pre- pared for that,” Torres said. He estimates it could cost around $80,000 to pressure-wash the bridge to complete required inspections. But that cost could quickly increase to $6 million if environmental agencies require the state to set up containment structures during pressure wash- ing so bird waste does not sim- ply get pushed into the Columbia River. If cormorants continue to nest on the bridge in such high num- bers, the state may also have to paint the bridge more often, every 15 years as opposed to every 20. Under that scenario, Torres said, “We’re not going to have a lot of years where we’re not painting.” Either way, the Department of Transportation is weighing its options as 2021 approaches. The department anticipates it will need to begin a hazing program to dis- suade cormorants from nesting on the bridge. How to remove them is still an open question. Several years ago, the state hired a company that set up noise cannons on the Interstate 5 Colum- bia River Bridge in Portland to disturb thousands of starlings that had colonized the bridge and whose accumulated droppings on the bridge, catwalks and roadways posed health and safety hazards. The Army Corps does not link the movement of double-crested cormorants farther upriver to man- agement actions on East Sand Island. The agency blamed attacks by eagles for the birds’ departures in 2016 and 2017. ‘THE pOTENTIAL EXpENSE WE’RE FACING IS A REAL WORRY TO US.’ Lou Torres | Department of Transportation spokesman Feasting on salmon Army Corps spokesman Jeff Henon suggested the birds may not have nested in large numbers on the bridge before because of the billowing containment struc- tures that were around in 2014 during painting and maintenance. When the state moved on to other portions of the bridge and the con- tainment structures were no longer necessary, the birds moved in. But Torres noted that the bulk of that work was not in areas where birds usually nested and, besides, the number of nesting birds on the bridge during the spring and summer climbed steadily between 2012 and 2018. Though further investigation is needed, available evidence sug- gests the cormorants that have been nesting upriver only recently immigrated from somewhere else — their most likely origin being East Sand Island, said James Lawonn, avian predation biolo- gist with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Past research on Caspian terns, also seasonal inhabitants of East Sand Island managed by the Army Corps, indicates birds that nest farther up in the estuary eat even more salmon than those nest- ing near the river’s mouth, where more types of food are available. It’s possible cormorants that nest upriver could eat three times more young salmon. Housing: Most units will rent below market rates Continued from page A1 “This has been a project I’ve been excited about since I got the job because I knew Innovative Housing was the organization that could handle this,” Heath said. The nonprofit has secured the services of an architect and the first steps to renovate the building include dealing with pigeon drop- pings and window repairs. These steps, “while not glam- orous, are super important,” Heath said, adding, “Look for noticeable repairs to start in the late fall, early winter.” “We do have plans to open the building for a couple of tours to let people know what’s going on,” she said, “since we are looking at some preservation and commu- nity space needs we’ll have to fundraise for.” City Councilor Joan Herman, in a Facebook post announcing the news over the weekend, said, “Most of the units will rent for well below market rates, which as we all know are not affordable for those on whom the tourism indus- try depends: service workers.” Innovative Housing partnered with the Lower Columbia His- panic Council, Clatsop Com- munity Action and Clatsop Eco- nomic Development Resources to secure the state funding. They plan to partner with Clat- The old Waldorf Hotel next to Astoria City Hall will likely become about 40 units of affordable and workforce housing. Danny Miller The Daily Astorian sop Community College’s his- toric preservation program and Tongue Point Job Corps Cen- ter for work on the Waldorf, also known as the Merwyn Hotel, Garver said. There will also be a partnership with the city to pro- vide a job shadowing program to future residents. Garver is grateful to the proj- ect’s many partners, especially Heath and the downtown associ- ation, she said. “Over the weekend we were talking about how the project first came to be and it was really the connections that were made for us by (Heath),” Garver said. “She knew about Innovative Housing and some of the work we’d done on historic buildings in Portland and of course she knew about the (Waldorf) ... She did that matchmaking.” The project appeared to hit a “The numbers tell the story there,” he said. The Army Corps did not shoot any adult birds last year, but did destroy eggs. This year, the agency plans to modify the island’s ter- rain, creating intertidal wetlands and further reducing nesting hab- itat to keep double-crested cormo- rants at the lower levels identified in a federal management plan. But it’s not as though the cor- morants’ relocation onto the Asto- ria Bridge and deeper into the estu- ary should have been a surprise. Studies funded by the Army Corps before management of the cormorants even began indicated it was likely some of the birds would move into the estuary if they were hazed off East Sand Island. setback last year when the state rejected an application for funds, finding there was not a need for affordable housing in Astoria. The announcement shocked res- idents and city leaders. Lack of affordable housing and an overall housing crunch have been major public-policy issues in recent years. Innovative Housing planned to reapply this year. However, the funds the nonprofit just received are from a different housing fund program, City Manager Brett Estes said. Garver and others still plan to work with the state to clarify and create criteria for housing funding. “There were communities all over the state that were economic drivers,” Garver said. “They had jobs but they didn’t have places for workers to live.” Now the state and other part- ners are looking into the impact of new cormorant colonies in the estuary on the survival of young salmon. To Lawonn, how many cormo- rants are using the Astoria Bridge is a major piece of the puzzle. One evening at the end of March, Lawonn set up a scope near the Port of Astoria’s West Mooring Basin near the bridge. He wasn’t sure how many cor- morants he would even see. It was still early in the season. Double-crested cormorants appear inclined to return to nesting grounds where they have experi- enced success, but they also aren’t afraid to quest elsewhere for bet- ter options if they are running into trouble. He wondered if birds that found safe and suitable nesting on the bridge would choose it first over East Sand Island, bypassing habi- tat where they had been hazed and shot at by humans and harried by eagles for the past several years. The Army Corps will not begin monitoring East Sand Island for double-crested cormorants and nesting activity until the end of April or beginning of May. Even as Lawonn trained his scope down the bridge’s length, the dark, snaking forms of cormo- rants on support structures at the base of the bridge caught the sink- ing sunlight and gleamed. Lawonn counted over 650 dou- ble-crested cormorants that eve- ning. A few days later, he counted 943. Benitez: ‘I always wanted to come to the United States and get my education’ Continued from page A1 Before the camp, she wanted to be a chef, but she said the expe- rience changed her track in life and showed her what she really wanted to do. When Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico in 2017, family flocked to Benitez’s house, which sustained minimal damage and kept power through a generator. But after the storm, Benitez said, she was left to care for much of her family. After she missed months of her senior year of classes, Benitez learned it would take an extra year to graduate. Instead, she reached out to her great-aunt, Norma Her- nandez, of Astoria, about com- ing to the North Coast, where she had been visiting since 9, to fin- ish school. “I always wanted to come to the United States and get my edu- cation here,” she said. “That was my dream.” It was hard leaving her par- ents, Benitez said, but they were on board with her aspirations. She arrived in early January 2018 and began classes at Asto- ria High School while still learn- ing English. Within five months, she finished her senior year and graduated with the Class of 2018, transferring to Clatsop Commu- nity College. Amy Magnussen, Benitez’s counselor through the college pre- paratory Talent Search program, told her about the Summer Health Professions Education Program, which accepts 80 college fresh- men and sophomores nation- wide for an intensive six weeks of classes, clinical rotations and pro- fessional development. “I think both her personal expe- riences and goals aligned really well with the opportunity,” Mag- nussen said. Benitez reached out to her edu- cators on the North Coast for ref- erences, including Lynn Jackson, the Astoria High School principal, who lauded her “determination and resiliency to overcome cata- strophic circumstances” in writing her a recommendation. After her internship, Benitez will return to Astoria, where she hopes to graduate from the college in 2020 before studying public health at Pacific University. Only turning 19 in July, Benitez isn’t quite sure where she will end up and whether she’ll go into physi- cal or occupational therapy. “I do want to go back to Puerto Rico and see how my skills and my knowledge … can help there,” she said.
