A2
THEASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2020
IN BRIEF
Two people injured in crash
on Astoria Bridge
Authorities are investigating a crash on the Astoria
Bridge on Friday that left two people injured.
Police say a driver was traveling southbound when
the passenger reached from the back seat and grabbed
the steering wheel, causing the driver to lose control.
The driver swerved up onto the bridge railing and
slid along the rail and curb before rolling multiple
times, coming to rest on the passenger side.
The driver and the passenger were taken to Colum
bia Memorial Hospital in Astoria.
Boil water notice lifted
near county fairgrounds
People who live near the Clatsop County Fair
grounds were advised to boil water after a mainline
water break on Friday night.
An announcement from Astoria said people in Wil
low Dale, River Point and Cavalier Court were with
out water on Saturday.
“During a main break where water pressure is lost,
it is possible for contaminates and bacteria to enter
into the water system,” Eric Bufkin, the city’s water
quality supervisor, said in a statement. “While the
danger to public health is low, we are taking all nec
essary precautions to ensure the safety and health of
the public.
“The city asks that customers in the referenced
areas boil all water before using until further notice.”
The city advised people not to consume tap water
that has not been disinfected or raw food rinsed with
tap water that has not been disinfected.
The boil water notice was rescinded on Monday.
—
3VAR
TU tC
The Astorian
B»?
DEATHS
June 12,2020
FERGUSON, Ricky Joe Savage, 46, of Seaside, died
in Seaside. Caldwell’s Funeral & Cremation Arrange-
ment Center of Seaside is in charge of the arrangements.
ON THE RECORD
Menacing
• Rickey Dewitt Cock-
rall, 64, of Aloha, was
arrested Friday on U.S.
Highway 30 for menacing
and felon in possession of
a firearm.
Theft
• Jacob Kitzman, 28,
was arrested Friday at Rite
Aid in Warrenton for theft
in the third degree and
criminal trespass in the
first degree.
• Patricia Bernal, 26, of
Scappoose, was arrested
Friday at Walmart in War
renton for theft in the sec
ond degree and crimi
nal mischief in the third
degree.
Eluding
• Ryan Wallace Kelly,
34, of Astoria, was
arrested Friday on Lyngs-
tad Heights Lane in Asto
ria for theft of services,
driving while suspended
and eluding a police offi
cer. Kelly led police on
a low speed pursuit that
began at the Astoria Col
umn and ended at his
home in Astoria.
•
1)111
Kenneth Allen
Medjo, 50, of Ham
mond, was arrested Sun
day on Fourth Street and
Marine Drive in Astoria
for unauthorized use of a
motor vehicle and driv
ing under the influence of
intoxicants.
•
Edwin Francis
Thatcher, 63, of Asto
ria, was arrested Satur
day on Commercial Street
in Astoria for DUII, reck
less driving, driving while
suspended and was cited
for driving uninsured and
failure to install an inter
lock device.
• James Robert Moon,
23, of Seaside, was
arrested Saturday on U.S.
Highway 101 and Gear
hart Lane for DUII and
reckless driving.
•
Cesar Ramirez
Peon, 18, of Seaside, was
arrested Saturday at the
Warrenton Post Office
for minor in possession of
alcohol, DUII and hit and
run.
•
Ian Arthur Sym-
monds, 41, of Astoria, was
arrested Friday on Fort
Clatsop Road and U.S.
Highway 101 for DUII.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
TUESDAY
Union Health District of Clatsop County, 8 a.m., Provi
dence Seaside Hospital, Education Room A.
Port of Astoria Commission, 4 p.m., workshop, (electronic
meeting).
Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District Board of
Directors, 5:15 p.m., (electronic meeting).
Astoria Historic Landmarks Commission, 5:15 p.m., City
Hall, 1095 Duane St.
Seaside School District Board of Directors, 6 p.m., 1801
S. Franklin, Seaside.
Shoreline Sanitary District Board, 7 p.m., Gearhart Her-
tig Station, 33496 West Lake Lane, Warrenton.
WEDNESDAY
Seaside Tourism Advisory Committee, 3 p.m., City Hall,
989 Broadway.
THURSDAY
Seaside Transportation Advisory Commission, 6 p.m.,
City Hall, 989 Broadway.
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wit*
Photos by Hailey Hoffman/The Astorian
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Marco Davis, as Daylight Cums, waves as the Pride parade progressed down Commercial Street on
Sunday. Tessa Scheller drives down Duane Street in her decorated van. Due to coronavirus restrictions, the Lower Columbia Q
Center decided to alter the annual celebration to promote social distancing by switching from a walking parade to a car parade.
State scrambles after food processor outbreaks
By JAMIE GOLDBERG
The Oregonian
Coronavirus
outbreaks
at food processors and agri
cultural sites have infected
more than 600 workers and
close contacts in Oregon and
southwest Washington since
mid-April, with recent out
breaks at companies in Van
couver, Washington, and
Newport infecting well over
100 people apiece.
Such mass workplace
outbreaks have contributed
to a recent spike in Ore
gon’s COVID-19 cases. And
that rise in infections was
among several markers that
prompted Gov. Kate Brown
to pause the state’s reopen
ing plans last week, threat
ening the pace of Oregon’s
economic recovery from the
pandemic.
State health authorities
didn’t issue a “playbook”
on how to respond to out
breaks at food processing
sites until early June, more
than three months after Ore
gon detected its first corona
virus cases. They didn’t send
operational guidance to all
employers until the begin
ning of June, either.
Even now, worker advo
cates say they doubt the
state’s rules are stringent
enough to prompt food pro
cessors to take more aggres
sive measures to protect their
employees and halt work
place outbreaks.
“I don’t believe enough is
being done to protect these
workers and it’s not just a
local problem, it’s a national
problem,”
said
Michael
Beranbaum,
secretary-trea-
surer of the Teamsters Local
Union No. 670, which rep
resents employees at two
Oregon food processors that
experienced outbreaks.
Pacific
Seafood
shut
down operations at its five
Newport locations on June 7
after 124 coronavirus cases
were linked to its shrimp pro
cessing facility. That num
ber has since risen to 132.
It’s Oregon’s second-largest
workplace outbreak, trailing
only the big outbreak at the
Oregon State Penitentiary,
and threatens to create a pub
lic health and economic cri
sis in the small coastal town.
Fourteen of 24 active
workplace outbreaks in Ore
gon are at agricultural or
food processing facilities,
according to data released by
the state this past week.
It has been evident from
the beginning of the pan
demic that the food process
ing industry is especially
vulnerable to coronavirus
outbreaks among workers.
The work is typically done
indoors, often in close quar
ters, in cool conditions that
favor the virus.
“These workers are work
ing close together, often on
a processing line and often
these shifts are long, 10 to
12 hours,” said Dede Mont
gomery, a certified industrial
hygienist who works with
Oregon Health & Science
University’s Oregon Insti
tute of Occupational Health
Sciences. “You don’t have a
lot of spaces that aren’t being
utilized during that time.
While we do have rules on
the books about the physical
distancing, it’s very difficult
to do that when you have to
completely change up your
operation.”
certainly higher, given the
large number of cases in Ore
gon alone.
Initially, Oregon health
officials had a policy of
keeping workplace out
breaks secret. They reversed
that practice at the end of
May, under media pressure,
following a second large out
break at Townsend Farms in
Fairview that produced a big
spike in Multnomah Coun
ty’s daily count of corona
virus infections. The disclo
sures have revealed growing
outbreaks at certain food pro
cessors, including Bob’s Red
Mill in Milwaukie, where
confirmed cases jumped to
40.
Oregon officials say they
have reacted to the state’s
recent spate of outbreaks by
developing a response plan,
providing employers with a
toolkit of best safety prac
tices and putting a greater
emphasis on inspecting and
enforcing
regulations
at
these facilities.
EVEN NOW, WORKER
ADVOCATES SAY THEY DOUBT
THE STATE'S RULES ARE
STRINGENT ENOUGH TO
PROMPT FOOD PROCESSORS
TO TAKE MORE AGGRESSIVE
MEASURES TO PROTECT THEIR
EMPLOYEES AND HALT
WORKPLACE OUTBREAKS.
Additionally, the indus
try’s low-wage workers —
many of them immigrants
and migrants — may not
have the clout to demand
better working conditions.
Reporting the
outbreaks
The meatpacking industry
in other states experienced a
succession of large outbreaks
early in the pandemic. And
this past week, the watch
dog Environmental Work
ing Group found that almost
1,200 food processing work
ers outside the meatpacking
industry have been infected
nationally since the middle
of March.
The true number is almost
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The Oregon Department
of Agriculture, the Oregon
Occupational Safety and
Health Administration and
the Oregon Health Author
ity finalized a playbook on
June 3 that lays out guide
lines for how the agencies
will respond when one or
more positive coronavirus
cases are reported at a food
processing facility.
The agencies developed
the playbook in conjunction
with a six-page toolkit for
employers that offers guid-
ance on developing safety
measures and creating con
tingency plans in the case of
an outbreak.
“This is just a way of
making sure everyone reads
the same text and under
stands exactly what needs
to be done,” said Emilio
DeBess, an epidemiologist
at the Oregon Health Author
ity. “But we have been work
ing with some of these facil
ities for a while, which is
how the playbook actually
came about, through learn
ing from these facilities what
needed to be done and how
to minimize the likelihood of
infection.”
While the state has been
engaging with food proces
sors since March and the
Oregon Health Authority has
listed general guidance for
agricultural employers on its
website since May 1, Lauren
Henderson, assistant director
of the Oregon Department of
Agriculture, said the toolkit
wasn’t finalized and sent to
employers until June 5.
“The toolkit and the play
book by themselves are not
going to ensure that we don’t
have any more positive cases
and that’s because COVID
is a hard thing,” Hender
son said. “What it does do
is it provides resources for
the employers to be proac
tive and to look at their facil
ities and how they operate.
... If there is an outbreak, it
ensures that there is a state
and local response to that
and that the facilities get the
resources they need sooner
rather than later.”
Nikki Fisher, a spokes
woman for the governor’s
office, said the state has also
been working with employ
ers whose workplaces are
more prone to COVID-19
outbreaks to significantly
expand testing. The state
helped Townsend Farms test
350 seasonal workers shortly
after they arrived in late
May. Fifty-six of the work
ers tested positive, marking
the third-largest active work
place outbreak in the state.
“Some portion of the
recent growth in cases counts
is due to increased testing,”
Fisher said.
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