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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 18, 2020)
A5 THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020 SPECIALS FOR FEB 19 TH - FEB 25 TH Market LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED WHERE THE MEAT LOVER’S SHOP Tri-City Herald Water from the Snake River rushes down a fi sh ladder at Lower Monumental Dam. WINNER! EVERY CARD IS A WINNER PLAY CU$TOMER CA$H ® Brown calls for breaching 4 lower Snake River dams By ANETTE CARY Tri-City Herald Gov. Kate Brown said removing the four lower Snake River dams in Wash- ington state is the most cer- tain way to boost salmon and steelhead recovery in the Columbia Basin. She sent a letter to Wash- ington’s Democrat Gov. Jay Inslee last week , offering her support — and outrag- ing Washington state’s three Republican U.S. congressio- nal representatives. “Gov. Brown’s position is not only misguided, it is shocking and extreme,” said Reps. Dan Newhouse, Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Jaime Herrera Beutler, in a joint statement Friday. “This is yet another example of state offi cials trying to interfere in the operation of critical federal infrastructure,” they said. They will wait for the release of the federal envi- ronmental study of the Columbia and Snake river hydrosystems “before jump- ing to conclusions that would devastate our regional econ- omy and local communities — including those in Ore- gon,” they said. U.S. District Judge Michael Simon in Portland ordered the environmental study by federal agencies, and required it to include the option of tearing out the four Snake River Dams, after he concluded that not enough was being done to pro- tect endangered fi sh in the Columbia Basin. The dams are from Ice Harbor Dam near Pasco upriver to Lower Granite Dam near Pomeroy. The draft environmental study and recommendations, developed in collaboration with a variety of Oregon and Washington state agencies, is expected to be released in a matter of weeks. “It is surprising to see a letter of this nature, express- ing a position for the state of Oregon, for an extreme approach on the river sys- tem, prior to the release of the federal agencies’ pro- posed operations,” said Kristin Meira, executive director of the Pacifi c North- west WaterWays Associa- tion, a nonprofi t trade asso- ciation of ports, businesses and agencies that support navigation, trade and eco- nomic development. Brown said the science already is clear that the “most certain and robust solution to Snake River salmon and steelhead recov- ery” is removing the Snake River dams. It would reduce direct and delayed mortality of the species, she said. “No other action has the potential to improve overall survival two-to-three fold,” she said. It would provide a “dra- matic increase” of food for Pacifi c Coast orcas that feed primarily on C hinook salmon, Brown said. They may forage off the mouth of the Columbia River while females are gestating in late winter. “The imperilment of southern resident killer whales is a tragedy shared by all of us in the Pacifi c Northwest,” she said. As movement is made toward dam removal in Washington state, steps should be taken to mini- mize or make up for poten- tial harm to those who ben- efi t from the dams, she said. Oregon is ready to be an effective leader and part- ner in those efforts, Brown wrote. The dams provide low- cost hydropower, and Tri- Cities-area electrical utili- ties say they are particularly important for preventing brown outs in the Tri-Cities during the coldest days of the year. Electricity demand is high then but the wind is not blowing to generate elec- tricity with wind turbines. The dams also allow the Snake and Columbia rivers to serve as the third largest grain export gateway in the world, with more than half of the wheat barged on the system passing through at least one of the lower Snake River dams. And the Ice Harbor Dam reservoir supports reliable irrigation of 37,000 acres of farmland. Those who advocate for retaining the Snaker River dams, including hydropow- er-supporter Northwest Riv- erPartners, say that nearly all rivers from southeast Alaska to southern Oregon are experiencing similar or worse trends in C hinook salmon returns compared to the lower Columbia and lower Snake rivers, includ- ing rivers without dams. The organization says that a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin- istration Fisheries analysis showed that C hinook from rivers that feed into the Sal- ish Sea are the top priority for salmon stock for south- ern resident orcas. “(Brown’s) portrayal of the role and importance of the lower Snake River dams in the survival of the south- ern resident orcas is at odds with information available from NOAA Fisheries, the federal agency responsi- ble for the recovery of both orcas and Chinook salmon,” Meira said. Supporters of retain- ing the lower Snake River dams warn that if they are removed, the hydro- power dams on the Colum- bia between Washington and Oregon will be the next target. WIN up to $1,000 in prizes instantly! $50/$200 ONE DAY Recieve a $50.00 Spend over $50.00 PUNCH with a $5.00 -or- and receive a minimum purchase $200.00 PUNCH! SALE * Power Punches Not Doubled FRESH MEAT SPECIALS OF THE WEEK Premium BONELESS BEEF LONDON BROIL $ 99 2 lb The King of Steak! Premium Beef T-BONE STEAK $ 99 7 lb GROCERY COKE PRODUCTS Selected Varieties 20 Pack, 12 oz. Cans $ 99 5 plus deposit KELLOGG’S CEREAL Selected Varieties 10 to 13.7 oz. 2.5M pounds of radioactive waste illegally dumped at Oregon landfi ll By MONICA SAMAYOA Oregon Public Broadcasting The Oregon Department of Energy has issued a notice of violation to a hazardous waste facility for accepting more than 2 million pounds of radioactive materials east of the Columbia River Gorge. Chemical Waste Manage- ment, a subsidiary of Waste Management Inc., was ille- gally dumping radioactive materials it received from a North Dakota company, Goodnight Midstream, at its waste landfi ll near Arlington . Chemical Waste Man- agement is the only hazard- ous waste landfi ll in Oregon and according to the depart- ment , Oregon law prohibits the disposal of radioactive materials in the state. “We received an inquiry from a citizen from North Dakota in September who was under the impression fracking waste from North Dakota was being disposed of in an Oregon landfi ll,” the department’s assistant direc- tor for nuclear safety Ken Niles said. The agency found that Chemical Waste Manage- ment dumped nearly 1,284 tons of radioactive waste it received from Goodnight Midstream over a period of three years, totaling over 2.5 million pounds. Goodnight Midstream provides brine water sup- ply and recycling services to the oil and gas indus- try for fracking operations. The liquid that Chemi- cal Waste Management had received had been in contact with rocks underground that contained radium, said the department’s nuclear waste remediation specialist Jeff Burright. “Then they fi ltered that water so that they can reuse it, that radium was captured in what are known as fi lter socks, which are very long teabags if you will, and it accumulated there and what we’ve gathered is about 80% of the total waste consisted of these fi lter socks,” Burri- ght said. Oregon has a threshold of fi ve picocuries per gram of radium 226. Picocuries are a measurement of the radioac- tivity in a liter of air. “The waste that was received at Chemical Waste Management Arlington had a range of concentrations over the time running from just a few picocuries per gram up to the maximum in about one and half tons total was around 1,700 picocuries per gram,” Burright said. Initially, Chemical Waste Management had no records of a relationship with Good- night Midstream. But it was later confi rmed that the North Dakota company con- tracted a third party, Oilfi eld Waste Logistics, to dispose of its solid waste. Shipping manifests showed that OWL was sending Goodnight Mid- stream’s waste to Arlington. “OWL basically misrep- resented the fact that this waste could come into Ore- gon. … In the manifest that they provided to Chemical Waste Management Arling- ton, it basically said that this waste does fi t within Ore- gon’s regulations,” Niles said. “The other part of the problem is that Chemical Waste Management did not do their due diligence to ensure what they were being told by OWL was in fact accurate.” 2 FOR $ 5 FRESH PRODUCE Whole CANTALOUPE MELONS Sweet, Juicy A very good source of citamins A & C 2 $ FOR 5 APPLEFEST 10 Varieties of Apples ¢ 99 lb YOU CAN VIEW OUR FULL AD SEVERAL WAYS ONLINE AT www.MainStSelect.com facebook.com/MainStSelectMarket IN STORE find our printed ad 191 S. Main Ave., Warrenton 503-861-2271 www.MainStSelect.com
