A3
THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2020
Pacifi c Seafood outbreak shows limits in state’s response
By JAMIE GOLDBERG
The Oregonian
Ada Gabi Gutierrez
Castañeda, 18, took a job
this summer at Pacifi c Sea-
food in Warrenton to help
support her family after her
mother’s hours at another
seafood processor were
cut amid the coronavirus
pandemic.
When the virus then
infected nearly 100 work-
ers from Pacifi c Seafood’s
Warrenton facility, includ-
ing Gutierrez, the company
publicly blamed a Labor
Day party some employees
attended. But Gutierrez, who
didn’t go to that party, thinks
she got the virus on the job.
The company’s own inter-
nal emails show that most of
those infected live in off-site
housing that Pacifi c Seafood
arranged, and that only eight
initial cases were linked to
the party.
Oregon farms and food
processing facilities have
been linked to more than 50
coronavirus outbreaks since
March, infecting more than
1,500 workers and close con-
tacts, according to an analy-
sis by The Oregonian. Those
infections have had pro-
found effects on small com-
munities from Hermiston to
Newport, which have suf-
fered some of Oregon’s big-
gest outbreaks despite their
size and relative isolation.
The
circumstances
behind Pacifi c Seafood’s
Warrenton outbreak illus-
trate how complicated these
incidents are, and may shed
a light on why Oregon has
been unable to prevent a
number of similar outbreaks
around the state.
How the virus spread
Pacifi c Seafood’s War-
renton outbreak has infected
95 employees since early
September, marking the
third-largest outbreak at a
food processing plant in
Oregon to date. No employ-
ees have been hospitalized,
according to the company.
Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
A major coronavirus outbreak hit Pacifi c Seafood in Warrenton.
It is the second outbreak
linked to Pacifi c Seafood’s
Warrenton facility following
an outbreak that infected 15
people in May. Additionally,
one worker tested positive
before starting work at the
facility in June. Another out-
break at Pacifi c Seafood’s
facilities in Newport in June
infected 187 people and
remains the second-largest
workplace outbreak in the
state, outside of the prison
system. Additional small
outbreaks occurred at Pacifi c
Seafood’s facilities in Clack-
amas and Charleston.
After learning early last
month that eight workers
from the Warrenton facility
had tested positive for the
virus, Pacifi c Seafood tested
an additional 295 employ-
ees, starting with night
shift employees and sea-
sonal workers who live in
off-site housing arranged by
Pacifi c Seafood. Those tests
revealed an additional 87
positive cases.
Pacifi c Seafood quickly
tied the outbreak to a Labor
Day celebration that took
place outside of work and
was not organized by the
company. But in an email
obtained by The Oregonian,
Bill Hueffner, senior direc-
tor of marketing and devel-
opment at Pacifi c Seafood,
said that only the eight early
cases could be clearly traced
to the Labor Day gathering.
According to the email
sent by Hueffner, “the vast
majority of workers who
subsequently tested positive
reside in the off-site seasonal
housing at an area hotel.” A
spokesman for Pacifi c Sea-
food said the eight workers
who initially tested positive
live in the off-site hotel.
Pacifi c Seafood works
with local hotel operators
and short-term accommoda-
tion providers to coordinate
and subsidize housing for
seasonal employees brought
in from elsewhere in the
United States and foreign
workers on temporary H2-B
visas. The housing sites are
not owned or managed by
Pacifi c Seafood.
It’s not clear whether
infections fi rst spread among
workers who attended the
party, or if they fi rst spread
at worker housing or per-
haps at Pacifi c Seafood
itself. And the long incuba-
tion period of the virus and
limitations of contact tracing
mean it may be impossible
WANTED
Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber
Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA
Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500
to ever know for sure.
However, Gutierrez, who
lives with her family in Asto-
ria, believes she contracted
COVID-19 during the night
shift at Pacifi c Seafood.
She credits Pacifi c Sea-
food with taking steps to
protect workers, including
implementing daily tem-
perature checks and pro-
viding masks. Pacifi c Sea-
food’s coronavirus safety
plan also includes mea-
sures around social distanc-
ing, maintaining heightened
cleaning procedures and
ensuring adequate ventila-
tion within facilities, among
other things.
But
Gutierrez
said
employees — and even
supervisors — at the War-
renton facility would take
their masks off during their
shifts and that certain tasks
required workers to stand
shoulder-to-shoulder with-
out any barriers separating
them. She said she didn’t
know of any workers who
complained about possi-
ble breaches in safety mea-
sures, but also said supervi-
sors would often refuse to
talk to workers who didn’t
speak English.
Gutierrez worked at
Pacifi c Seafood from June
until September when she
left the job to return to
school. She clocked out for
the last time on the morn-
ing of Sept. 6, the day before
Labor Day. Later that week,
she started having trouble
breathing. After a co-worker
from
Pacifi c
Seafood
informed her that he had
tested positive for COVID-
19, Gutierrez decided to get
tested and soon learned she
had the virus. She has since
recovered.
“That’s the only logical
place I could have caught
it because all I would do is
work and then come home
and sleep and come back to
work,” Gutierrez said.
Patrick Allen, the direc-
tor of the Oregon Health
Authority, said in a town hall
on Oct. 2 with community
See Outbreak, Page A5
Grace Episcopal Church
Worship: In Person or Online
Sunday 8:00 am & 10:00 am - In Person
Sunday 10:00 am - Online
Wednesday 7:00 pm - Facebook live
Food Pantry: Tues & Thurs - 9:00am to 11:30am
All Covid restrictions followed: Face masks required • Social Distance kept
Find us: 1545 Franklin 503-325-4691 • www.graceastoria.org • Facebook
Office Hours: Tues - Fri - 9:00am to 11:00am
Remembering
Lonny “Skip” Dwayne Moore
Lonny “Skip” Dwayne Moore, 63, of Warrenton,
Oregon, passed away peacefully on September 26,
2020 after a year long battle with cancer.
He was born in Astoria, Oregon on March 16, 1957
to Jim and Jean Moore, one of five brothers. Skip
graduated from Warrenton High School in 1975,
where he excelled at wrestling and being sarcastic.
After graduation he went to work at the Warrenton
Mill and later had two daughters, Stefanie and Stacey,
and one son, Kevin.
Skip had a very real love for the game of softball. He
coached/assisted with his daughter’s softball teams in high
school and went on to coach a competitive 18u team. Even
after his daughters graduated, he continued to coach with a passion,
sometimes a little too much passion (just ask the umpires)! Had it not
been for his love of the game, he probably would have worked at the
mill forever, but he was moved to swing shift and that interfered with
practice and games, so he quit the mill.
Skip found his career niche at the Seaside Factory Outlet Center
as the maintenance and janitorial man, or as he called it: “Facilities
Maintenance Engineer aka the glorified poop picker upper and mall
god”. Everyone knew that you would have a friendly wave and dirty
joke when you saw the green machine, except the bums, he was not
friendly to those digging in his garbage cans. He prided himself on
knowing everything that happened at the center. He “suffered” many
years working with two women, who relied on his quick answering of the
phone and problem-solving skills to keep things running, only having to
temper his language and attitude occasionally.
Working at the mall allowed him a flexible schedule to continue
coaching, but also to fish and hunt whenever he wanted. His record
number of days fishing in a row was 72! To say he loved hunting and
fishing would be an understatement. He passed that love on to his son,
as well as many other people. Skip loved an excuse to take someone
out on the boat or out in the woods. His hobby was also taxidermy. He
assisted Kent Israel Taxidermy for years, and his home reflected that.
Barely able to see the walls in his living room, there was an animal in
every available space and a story behind it! You could also find him
cutting meat in his garage every evening in the fall. Skip, along with
Butch and others, cut and wrapped deer and elk during hunting season.
There were many nights of cold weather, good friends and inflated
hunting stories. If you stood around too long you would be roped into
helping wrap!
Despite the full life of raising kids, working, coaching, hunting, fishing,
taxidermy, and meat cutting he still managed to volunteer for 26 years
with the Warrenton Fire Department. Skip could be very calm under
pressure, able to pay attention to details, and that showed in the many
calls he responded to. It was fascinating to listen to the stories he had,
from arguing with his chief over whether he could use a saw on a car, to
delivering a baby in a parking lot, to doing dive rescue in the river.
Eight years ago, Skip made the decision to quit drinking. This decision
not only improved his quality of life, but also that of others. He not only
made friends during this time but influenced and encouraged others to
stay on the sober path. His energy for life was renewed and with a clear,
sober outlook on life his new motto became: “If it’s not fun, I’m not
doing it!”.
The subject that has to be mentioned, he was a die hard Raiders fan, it
was his one fault.
Skip was his own unique personality. Despite coming across as tough or
grumpy sometimes, the one trait that resonated with everyone, besides
his love of Copenhagen and diet coke, was that he had a huge heart!
He was willing to help anyone, whether that be opening his home, help-
ing find work, or just being a friend to listen. He will be greatly missed
by all.
Skip was preceded in death by his parents Jim and Jean Moore and
his brother, Dwight Moore. He is survived by his daughter and son-
in-law, Bo and Stefanie Ward and their children Carter and Cooper, of
Canby, Oregon; daughter Stacey Moore and her children Calvin, Kiki,
and Harlow, of Warrenton, Oregon; son and daughter-in-law Kevin and
Leah Moore and their children, Haiden and Ava, of Redmond, Oregon;
brother Ronnie Moore of Georgia; brother and sister-in-law, Mike and
Kristen Moore of Warrenton, Oregon; brother, Jeremy Moore of Pend-
leton, Oregon; several nieces and nephews; and numerous friends that
became family.
A get together to honor Skip and share stories will be held
October 24th, 2020 at 2 pm at Cullably Lake, first shelter.
Please maintain social distancing and wear a mask.