A6
THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 2022
Field: Facility could be ready
for the 2023 softball season
Continued from Page A1
Rye Development
A diagram of pumped storage hydropower.
Pacifi Corp sets eyes on pumped storage
hydropower project in southern Oregon
By BRADLEY W.
PARKS
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Power company Pacifi -
Corp is pitching a pumped
storage hydropower project
in Lake County that, if built,
could become a signifi cant
source of renewable energy
in the region.
“Pumped hydro,” as it’s
sometimes called, has gar-
nered attention from clean
energy advocates as part of
the path to decarbonization.
The systems work like
giant batteries. They typ-
ically involve two reser-
voirs, one at a higher ele-
vation than the other. Water
fl ows from the upper res-
ervoir into the lower res-
ervoir through hydroelec-
tric turbines similar to those
used on the Northwest’s
many river dams, generat-
ing power.
When power is more
abundant, that water in
the lower reservoir can be
pumped back into the upper
reservoir to start the power
generation cycle over again.
Supporters of pumped
hydro note that it’s more
consistent than other forms
of renewable energy like
wind and solar, which only
generate power when the
wind blows and sun shines.
Pacifi Corp in October
fi led for a preliminary per-
mit with the Federal Energy
Regulatory
Commission
to study the feasibility of a
pumped hydro project in the
Crooked Creek area near
Paisley.
Pacifi Corp
spokesper-
son Drew Hanson said in
an email that energy storage
solutions like pumped hydro
will become more import-
ant to the company as new
renewable energy sources
come online.
The company has pro-
posed building a 52-acre
upper reservoir and 50-acre
lower reservoir, powerhouse
and pump station, plus a
nearly 20-mile transmission
line connecting the system
to a substation in Lakeview.
The project would ini-
tially fi ll each reservoir by
diverting water from the
Chewaucan River via a new,
8.7-mile pipeline.
If built, the Crooked
Creek pumped hydro proj-
ect could generate an esti-
mated 1,460 gigawatt-hours
annually. That’s enough to
power more than 130,000
average American homes
for a year.
Obtaining a preliminary
permit from the regulatory
commission is the fi rst step
in a long licensing process
for a pumped hydro project.
It gives Pacifi Corp prior-
ity in licensing such a proj-
ect at the proposed location.
It does not allow them to do
any construction or “per-
form any land-disturbing
activities.”
Two groups have fi led
motions to intervene in
Pacifi Corp’s permit appli-
cation, which establishes
them as stakeholders in the
process: the Oregon Depart-
ment of Environmental
Quality and the Oregon Nat-
ural Desert Association.
A DEQ spokesperson said
in an email that the agency
fi les motions to intervene on
all hydroelectric projects in
the state. That allows them
to comment on the proposal
throughout the process.
Ryan Houston, execu-
tive director of the Oregon
Natural Desert Association,
said in an emailed statement
that the conservation group
is focused on protecting
the Chewaucan River and
nearby Lake Abert, a key
pitstop for migratory birds.
The group fears diverting
more water from the river,
which feeds the lake that’s
been drying up summer
after summer.
“Ongoing water with-
drawals, compounded by the
eff ects of climate change,
have put signifi cant stress
on this system, threatening
the long-term viability of
this important high desert
ecosystem,” Houston said.
Booster shots: Hopes to avoid hospitalization
Continued from Page A1
public health director , said
the county would like to see
boosters keeping pace with
vaccinations. “We defi nitely
want to see it higher,” she
said.
The federal Centers for
Disease Control and Preven-
tion recommends that peo-
ple get boosters fi ve months
after their initial double dose
of the Pfi zer or Moderna
vaccine, or two months after
receiving the single-dose
Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
“The data is really clear
that individuals who receive
both vaccinations and the
booster are avoiding hospi-
talization if they do contract
COVID,” Jason Plamondon,
the chief nursing offi cer at
Providence Seaside Hospital,
said.
“You may still get it,”
he added, “but your symp-
toms are going to be much
more mild. Those that are
requiring hospitalization and
then end up with complica-
tions are individuals who are
unvaccinated.”
Boosters have been avail-
able since fall .
Lalich said there are sev-
eral reasons why people eligi-
ble to get the extra dose may
not have done so. People who
are vaccinated may see get-
ting the booster as unneces-
sary, or as something they can
postpone. Meanwhile, many
people have returned to work
and are busy again. Lalich has
heard anecdotally that people
are experiencing “pandemic
fatigue.”
But, knowing that the
booster increases immu-
nity, Lalich thought people
Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
Public health leaders urge people to get a booster against the
coronavirus.
would want to get boosted,
particularly when the holi-
days arrived and more people
planned to gather and travel.
“But we just haven’t seen it,”
she said.
People can now make an
appointment to get a booster
on Wednesdays at a Camp
Rilea drive-thru clinic. Local
health care providers can also
administer the additional jab.
On Wednesday morning,
Columbia Memorial Hospi-
tal in Astoria had four patients
hospitalized with COVID-19,
Judy Geiger, the hospital’s
vice president of patient care
services, said at a news con-
ference that day. She said the
hospital has hovered lately
between four and fi ve virus
patients.
Earlier in the week, the
hospital had few beds avail-
able. “We were full on the
in-patient side,” Chris Laman,
Columbia Memorial’s direc-
tor of pharmacy and cancer
center services, said.
Providence Seaside had
three COVID-19 hospitaliza-
tions on Wednesday, Plamon-
don said.
On top of the surge, the
hospitals’ caregivers are also
starting to test positive for
the virus. This fact makes this
surge feel diff erent than previ-
ous ones, Geiger said.
“We’re truly seeing more
caregivers out sick, as well,
which impacts our ability
to care for patients,” Geiger
said . She said fi ve employees
who draw blood in the hos-
pital’s lab were out with ill-
ness, though Geiger did not
say whether the illness was
COVID-19 .
Both the hospitals and the
county health department are
seeing a rush of people seek-
ing virus tests. The hospitals’
call volume has exploded.
People are asked to call the
county’s Public Information
Call Center at 503-325-8500
— the community COVID
line — so that cases can be
triaged.
Some callers may be
directed to an urgent care or
emergency department, oth-
ers to the county testing clinic
or to clinics that the hospitals
have set up. And some peo-
ple may be told to isolate at
home.
People exposed to a
COVID-positive case but
who are boosted — or got the
Johnson & Johnson vaccine
within the last two months, or
the Pfi zer or Moderna vaccine
within the last six months —
and don’t show symptoms
need not quarantine. For
them, a test is suggested after
fi ve days and masking urged
for 10 days.
Most emergency depart-
ments elsewhere in Region 1
— an Oregon Health Author-
ity-designated region that
includes Clatsop, Colum-
bia, Tillamook, Washington,
Multnomah and Clackamas
counties — are “on divert.”
This means that they are noti-
fying emergency medical ser-
vices workers not to send
patients due to shortages of
beds or staff .
Columbia Memorial and
Providence Seaside aren’t
on divert , Laman said, but
the region’s challenge will
make it diffi cult to transfer
patients to Portland hospitals
for higher levels of care in
the coming weeks. Columbia
Memorial is developing plans
to deal with that, he said.
Nancee Long, the hospi-
tal’s communications direc-
tor, in an email, said, “The
peak of this surge is on the
horizon.”
The
Oregon
Health
Authority reported 41 new
virus cases for the county on
Tuesday and 95 new cases
over the weekend.
Since the pandemic began,
the county had recorded 3,198
virus cases and 37 deaths as
of Tuesday.
Sprouts: Closure will aff ect 33 diff erent families
Continued from Page A1
The closure will aff ect
around 27 children from 33
diff erent families.
Dart-McLean said the num-
ber of children in the facility at
a given time fl uctuates since
some children come on diff er-
ent days.
Dart-McLean did not pro-
vide any other information
about the virus case, but said
the city is in the process of com-
municating directly with those
who may have been in close
contact with the employee.
Last summer, during a
surge of virus cases, the child
care facility — among the
largest in Clatsop County —
closed for a few weeks after
an employee tested positive for
the virus.
The lawsuit claimed
that female students didn’t
have comparable athletic
facilities as the boys, that
they were unable to partici-
pate in team sports and that
they had been excluded
from the high school’s ath-
letic program. That case
was dismissed after a set-
tlement in 2014. Terms of
the settlement were never
publicly released, but the
school district responded
by adding lights and build-
ing a softball diamond at
Broadway Field.
Dissatisfi ed with con-
ditions at the softball fi eld,
Anderson fi led a civil rights
complaint in March 2019.
The Offi ce for Civil Rights
followed up, concluding
that the softball fi eld, as
compared to the baseball
fi eld, could result in the
denial of equal opportunity
to female athletes.
At the January school
board meeting, Penrod
said, the team will bring a
recommendation regarding
the preferred site for the
board to approve. They’ll
also present an outline
for the other phases in the
three-phase project. From
there, they can start the
design process.
“I’m extremely happy
for the Seaside High
School female softball
players, fi nally getting the
proper playing facility and
the recognition as valued
student-athletes of the dis-
trict, something they have
been denied by the district
administration for many
years,” Anderson said. “It’s
too bad that it took an OCR
complaint, which validated
the inequality, for the dis-
trict to fi nally see their dis-
criminating ways. I will be
following this closely.”
Penrod said she would
like to see the facility fi n-
ished by the beginning of
the softball season in 2023
if possible.
“I have said, ‘If there
is any way you can have
it done by February or
March, so they could have
the new fi eld to play on,
that would be wonderful,’”
she said.
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and need to stop my
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have different options for
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