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THEASTORIAN • TUESDAY, AUGUST 18, 2020
Oregon’s US senators seek to restrict
eminent domain for gas pipelines
IN BRIEF
Historical Society to
participate in Chalk the Vote
The Clatsop County Historical Society, Oregon Black
Pioneers and Astoria Visual Arts will participate in Chalk
the Vote on Wednesday, a statewide event marking the
centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment.
The event will take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on
the Duane Street sidewalk outside the Clatsop County
Courthouse. People are encouraged to chalk the text of
any or all of the significant amendments and acts that
took steps toward universal suffrage.
The 19th Amendment guaranteed women the right to
vote.
County seeks applicants for Fair Board
Clatsop County is seeking applicants for a vacant seat
on the Fair Board.
The board manages the Clatsop County Fair & Expo
and organizes the annual county fair.
The position is for an unexpired term ending Dec. 31.
The board meets on the first Tuesday of each month.
Applications are available at the Clatsop County
Manager’s Oflice at 800 Exchange St., Suite 410 in
Astoria and on the county’s website.
The deadline to apply is Sept. 11. The county Board
of Commissioners will make the appointments.
Hedeen talk on
charitable giving canceled
WARRENTON — An event featuring financial
adviser Mark Hedeen that was scheduled for Wednesday
afternoon at Pioneer Presbyterian Church was canceled.
Hedeen was expected to talk about charitable giving,
tax benefits and estate planning. The event was canceled
some time ago because of the coronavirus pandemic but
was listed in last Thursday’s Community section of The
Astorian.
—
The Astorian
DEATHS
Aug. 15,2020
HENDERSON, Boyce
“Bud,” 75, of Astoria, died
in Astoria. Ocean View
Funeral & Cremation Ser
vice of Astoria is in charge
of the arrangements.
Aug. 14,2020
COURTNEY, Ruth
Anne, 80, of Redmond,
Washington, formerly of
Astoria, died in Redmond.
Caldwell’s
Luce-Lay-
ton Mortuary of Asto
ria is in charge of the
arrangements.
Aug. 13,2020
DUNLAP, Rhonda, 66,
of Roseburg, died in Asto
ria. Hughes-Ransom Mor
tuary is in charge of the
arrangements.
MEMORIAL
Wednesday, Aug. 19
BREDLEAU, Conrad Neil — Memorial on what
would have been his 70th birthday, at 8:19 a.m., in Oceans
ide. All family and friends are welcome. For information,
contact either Kirsti Longbrake or Julianne Byrne.
ADOPTION
Aug. 5, 2020
BAY, Shelby and Stephen, of Warrenton, adopted
a boy, Wesley James Bay. He was bom Oct. 22, 2018
at Columbia Memorial Hospital in Astoria, and placed
with the family on Nov. 11, 2018. Siblings are Brad
ley and Paisley Bay. Grandparents are Angela and
James Beatty, of Astoria, and Dennis and Joanne Bay,
of Rosburg, Washington. Great-grandparents are Anita
Shirts, of Nehalem, and JoAnne Bay, of Astoria.
ON THE RECORD
Menacing
• Mark Alan Thomas,
46, of Warrenton, was
arrested Saturday in War
renton for menacing and
harassment.
Disorderly conduct
• Brett Mellott, 31,
was arrested Saturday at
Walmart in Warrenton for
disorderly conduct in the
second degree.
Criminal trespass
• Levi Trent Smith, 33,
was arrested Saturday at
Costco in Warrenton for
criminal trespass in the
first degree.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
TUESDAY
Union Health District, 8 a.m., Providence Seaside Hospi
By ERIK NEUMANN
Jefferson Public Radio
Oregon’s
U.S.
sena
tors plan to introduce two
pieces of legislation aimed
at increasing state and pri
vate property rights for lands
in the path of natural gas
pipelines.
While the bills describe
pipelines in general, they
could have a direct effect on
land acquired through emi
nent domain for Oregon’s
proposed Jordan Cove lique
fied natural gas pipeline.
Both bills would mod
ify the 1938 Natural Gas
Act, which presumes there’s
a public interest in the con
struction of natural gas pipe
lines and which allows emi
nent domain to be used to
acquire that land.
The proposal from Sen.
Jeff Merkley attempts to end
the presumption that emi
nent domain can be used on
private land for a for-profit
export pipeline. It would also
take away federal permission
for the seizure of state land.
“It’s just absolutely inap
propriate for a for-profit
company who’s exporting
gas to be able to take away
private property rights,” the
Democrat said.
The proposed 235-mile
Jordan Cove pipeline and
liquefied natural gas export
terminal in Coos Bay would
be built by Pembina, a Cana-
Jes
Burns/Oregon
Public
Broadcasting
A view of Coos Bay from a spot where the Jordan Cove LNG
terminal will be excavated if approved by regulators.
dian company. In March, the
company was given provi
sional approval for the ter
minal, but construction can’t
start without first getting sev
eral permits from the state.
Jordan Cove is challenging
the need for those permits in
court.
“The company told me
way back when they started,
they would not use eminent
domain, that they would be
generous and figure out how
to persuade people that it
was in their financial inter
ests to have a pipeline on the
land,” Merkley said. “But
they instead held eminent
domain over their heads year
after year.”
Similar to Merkley’s pro
posal, a second bill from
fellow Democrat Sen. Ron
Wyden would modify the
Natural Gas Act by adding a
series of factors the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commis
sion needs to consider when
allowing eminent domain for
pipeline construction.
Those
considerations
include the property rights
of impacted landowners,
whether a pipeline would
benefit the public at-large
versus a private interest,
the availability of alterna
tives for the project, ecologi
cal and wildlife impacts, the
burden on low-income com
munities and communities
of color, and greenhouse gas
emissions.
Changing the assump
tion that state lands can
be taken through eminent
domain could have the big
gest implication for Jordan
Cove, according to Susan
Jane Brown, a staff attorney
with the Western Environ
mental Law Center, which
has represented a group of
dissenting landowners along
the proposed pipeline route.
She said that issue has
not been settled in the case
of Jordan Cove. “If the leg
islation became law and
we weren’t at that point yet
where Pacific Connector
(pipeline) was looking to
condemn state land, then the
legislation would be a bar to
condemning state property
for construction of the pipe
line,” she said. “It would
certainly take a lot of rejig-
gering around that pipeline
route in order to avoid state
lands entirely.”
Brown said Merkley’s
bill would have less sig
nificance for many private
landowners in the path of
a pipeline because the leg
islation would only apply
to future decisions coming
from FERC, not the eminent
domain decisions currently
being fought over in court
that landowners are most
concerned about.
Both pieces of legislation
are in draft form and could
be introduced in Septem
ber when the Senate returns
to session. But, Brown said,
with an election just months
away and a Republican con
trolled Senate, it’s more real
istic that they could be taken
up next year with a new
Congress.
“We’ll see what that Con
gress’ appetite is for this kind
of legislation,” she said.
US approves oil, gas leasing plan for Alaska refuge
By MARK THIESSEN
Associated Press
ANCHORAGE — The
Trump administration on
Monday took another step
to opening Alaska’s Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge to
drilling for oil and gas, poten
tially fulfilling a decadeslong
dream for Republicans.
Environmentalists, how
ever, promised to fight open
ing up the coast plain of the
refuge, a 1.56-million acre
swath of land along Alaska’s
northern Beaufort Sea coast,
home to polar bears, caribou
and other wildlife, after the
Department of the Interior
approved an oil and gas leas
ing program.
Secretary of the Interior
David Bernhardt signed the
Record of Decision, which
will determine a program
for where oil and gas leasing
will take place in the refuge’s
coastal plain.
“The establishment of this
program marks a new chap
ter in American energy inde
pendence,” Bernhardt said
during a conference call with
reporters.
“Years of inaction have
given away to an informed
and determined plan to
responsibly tap ANWR’s
energy potential for the
American people for genera
tions to come,” he said.
President Donald Trump
insisted Congress include a
mandate providing for leas-
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
An airplane flies over caribou on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.
ing in the refuge in a 2017
tax bill.
Over the last four decades,
Republicans have attempted
to open the refuge to drilling.
President Bill Clinton vetoed
a Republican bill to allow
drilling in 1995, and Demo
crats blocked a similar plan
10 years later.
The Interior’s Bureau
of Land Management in
December 2018 concluded
drilling could be conducted
within the coastal plain area
without harming wildlife.
“Today’s announcement
marks a milestone in Alas
ka’s 40-year journey to
responsibly develop our state
and our nation’s new energy
frontier,” Gov. Mike Dun-
leavy said in a statement.
ITie Republican gover
nor called Monday’s deci
sion “a definitive step in the
right direction to developing
this area’s energy potential,”
which he estimated at 4.3 bil
lion and 11.8 billion barrels
of technically recoverable oil
reserves.
Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa
Murkowski said in a state
ment that the new opportu
nity offered by opening the
coastal plain “is needed both
now, as Alaskans navigate
incredibly challenging times,
and well into the future as
we seek a lasting economic
foundation for our state.
“Through this program,
we will build on our already-
strong record of an increas
ingly
minimal
footprint
for
responsible
resource
development.”
Trump in 2018 said he
didn’t feel strongly about
opening the refuge, but later
insisted it be included in the
tax bill at the urging of oth
ers. He also said a friend told
him that every Republican
president since Ronald Rea
gan tried and failed to open
the refuge to drilling.
“I really didn’t care about
it, and then when I heard that
everybody wanted it — for
40 years, they’ve been try
ing to get it approved, and I
said, ‘Make sure you don’t
lose ANWR,”’ Trump said at
the time.
tal, 725 S. Wahanna.
Port of Astoria Commission, 4 p.m., (electronic meeting).
Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District Board of
Directors, 5:15 p.m., 1225 Avenue A, Seaside.
Seaside Planning Commission, 6 p.m., work session, City
Hall, 698 Pacific Way.
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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Deaths: Crash appeared to be accidental
Continued from PageAl
Several fishermen on a
boat also came over to offer
help, Walters said, but the car
quickly submerged.
Walters said he and the
other man both took turns
diving down trying to free
the couple before emergency
crews arrived.
Floyd Holcom, the owner
of Pier 39, said he was on
the roof working on the
building when he heard the
commotion.
“One of the tenants yelled
up to me and said there’s a
car that went into the water,”
he said.
Holcom said he rushed
over and saw the car right
before it submerged. He said
he ran back to Astoria Scuba
and Adventure Sports to put
on his dive gear.
Holcom said he dove into
the river. He said once he
gained access into the car he
had to cut the man and the
woman out of their seat belts.
Edward Stratton/The Astorian
Authorities responded after a car drove off Pier 39 on Sunday.
Once he cut the man out,
Holcom said he swam him
up and passed him off to
emergency crews. He said
he dove back down and
retrieved the woman.
Spalding said it took
about 20 minutes to get both
people out of the water.
The couple was taken to
Columbia Memorial Hospi
tal in Astoria and then flown
to a Portland-area hospital.
Spalding said the crash
appeared to be accidental.