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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (April 17, 2019)
146TH YEAR, NO. 207 ONE dOllAR DailyAstorian.com // WEdNEsdAY, ApRil 17, 2019 Port looks for help on Pier 2 Commission approves $250,000 for engineers By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian photos by Katie Frankowicz/The daily Astorian Visitors pause to take in the view at Haystack Rock last Friday. Erosion takes a bite — or two — from Haystack Rock Protecting the famous sea stack ‘WE DON’T KNOW YET WHAT WE’RE GOING TO GET INTO WHEN WE START INTRODUCING OUR APPLICATION FOR PERMITS.’ By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian C ANNON BEACH — A boy picked up a chunk of stone and started methodically smashing barnacles in the protected marine garden at Hay- stack Rock. As he hit the small creatures and pummeled the rocks they lived on last Friday before he was told to leave the garden, he was unwittingly mimick- ing the natural forces that are slowly reshaping and could eventually erase the massive landmark behind him. Geologists predict Haystack Rock will erode away in the next 2,000 to 3,000 years, but volunteers and staff with the Haystack Rock Awareness Program say the rock is already chang- ing in front of their eyes. Falling rocks — including one chunk approximately the size of a pickup truck — have prompted extra precautions for visitor safety. “What they were seeing in the last 12 months is much more than we’ve ever been alerted to before,” said Dawn Har- ris, visitor services manager for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Com- plex, which includes Haystack Rock. New signs about rockfall hazards will go up when awareness program staff are on site. The Fish and Wildlife Service will keep a closer eye on the ancient sea stack during aerial surveys of protected rocks, reefs and islands. Last year, huge chunks sheared The Port of Astoria Commission on Tuesday approved spending more than $250,000 to investigate an ultimate fix for the west side of Pier 2, a badly dete- MORE riorated dock where fishermen deliver INSIDE their catch and where port a seafood-processing Commission warehouse is sinking fixes security because of a failing truck snafu seawall. Page A7 Stephen Whitting- ton, an engineer with KPFF Consulting Engineers, said the main issues are dete- rioration and a failing sheet pile bulkhead causing the warehouse to slowly sink. “The warehouse building is just a mat- ter of two steps from that bulkhead wall,” he said. The solution could include reusing and replacing parts of the existing bulk- head, and possibly moving it farther out into the water, he said. The move would be initially expensive but could stabilize the building while eliminating the need to maintain much of the deteriorating tim- bers under the dock. KPFF’s investigation will cost just Jim Knight | Port of Astoria’s executive director Environmental interpreter Alan Quimby, right, points out spots where recent erosion and rockfalls have occurred on Haystack Rock. FALLING ROCKS — INCLUDING ONE CHUNK APPROXIMATELY THE SIZE OF A PICKUP TRUCK — HAVE PROMPTED EXTRA PRECAUTIONS FOR VISITOR SAFETY. away from Haystack Rock’s southern and northern sides, mostly landing on ledges beyond or above where visitors congregate. Dark patches and trenches where the rocks fell away are visible on the sea stack’s face. “We hear rocks falling every day,” said Alan Quimby, an environmental interpreter for the awareness program. Nesting birds often disturb small rocks up top, he said, but recent rock- falls include some of the biggest he has witnessed in years. He didn’t see the pickup truck-sized rock hurtle to the ground, but he heard it: a roar and crash like a bomb blast. over $252,000, including a $60,000 con- tingency, and take eight to 10 months to produce a proposal. The Port has esti- mated another six months to a year for permitting the project. “We’re going to work to get to the most feasible options very quickly, pres- ent the pros and cons of these things, how much things might cost,” Whitting- ton said. “We’re going to look at ways to stage it hand in hand with your funding.” Jim Knight, the Port’s executive direc- tor, said he foresees the biggest permit- ting challenges with the National Marine Fisheries Service. The federal agency reviews applications and provides in-wa- ter work permits between November and February, when fish migration is at its lowest, to lessen the impact on endan- gered species. “We don’t know yet what we’re going to get into when we start introducing our application for permits,” Knight said. See Haystack Rock, Page A5 See Port, Page A7 COLUMBIA FORUM Doctor wants you to pay attention to your skin A war on melanoma By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian Dr. Sancy Leachman is waging a war on melanoma. Midway through her talk at the Columbia Forum speaker series at Baked Alaska on Tuesday night, she paused and asked who in the audience had ever had skin cancer. More than half of the people raised their hands. It didn’t seem to surprise her. Leachman is the chair of Oregon Health & Science University’s department of dermatology, as well as director of the Melanoma Research Program at the Knight Cancer Institute. She knows what cancer in Ore- gon looks like. Skin cancer is already one of the most common forms of cancer in the United States and melanoma is the sixth-most common can- cer diagnosed. Among the states, Oregon and Wash- ington are way up there with some of the highest rates of melanoma. Among Oregon counties, Clatsop County ranks 12th, Leachman said. But the good news is that it’s a cancer that is out in the open. When caught early, survival is very likely. “All you need to do is look,” Leachman said. The war on melanoma is not just a philosophical concept, it is also part of a concentrated public rela- tions push and research effort by OHSU to get Ore- gonians interested in pre- vention, early detection and treatment. Leachman is the principal investigator. A campaign to Katie Frankowicz/The daily Astorian See Forum, Page A7 Dr. Sancy Leachman with Oregon Health & Science University spoke about skin cancer and her war against melanoma.
