A2
THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2022
SPIRIT OF THE WATERS
IN BRIEF
County receives brownfi eld grant
for sites in Astoria and Seaside
A $500,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Pro-
tection Agency will go toward cleaning up two poten-
tially hazardous sites — one in Astoria, another in Sea-
side — that could be used for aff ordable housing.
In east Astoria is a 20-acre parcel, once the site of
the Blue Ridge apartments, situated next to a former
military facility. Various materials — such as tanks,
munitions and contaminants like lead and asbestos —
may have been left behind, Clatsop County said in a
statement.
In north Seaside, near the old Seaside High School,
a former gas station and car repair shop still has harm-
ful substances on site such as fuel tanks kept under-
ground, the county said.
The county and the cities, working with a consul-
tant, identifi ed the properties — which are privately
owned — as needing to be cleaned up, Monica Steele,
the assistant county manager, said.
In its application, the county identifi ed mixed-use
development, including workforce housing, as a goal.
The grant is part of the EPA’s brownfi eld program
that allows communities to rehabilitate once-devel-
oped properties that have fallen into disuse and may
have turned toxic.
Of the program’s $254 million, Oregon communi-
ties will receive $8.3 million, the federal agency said.
— The Astorian
Megan Mack
Long Beach man sentenced
to prison for child rape
As part of a call to remove dams on the lower Snake River to protect salmon and orcas, Indigenous leaders are taking the Spirit
of the Waters totem pole across the region. They made a stop on Monday at Clatsop Community College in Astoria.
LONG BEACH, Wash. — A Long Beach man sta-
tioned at U.S. Coast Guard Station Cape Disappoint-
ment has been sentenced to a minimum of 13 1/2 years
in prison for raping a minor.
Jordan R. Wekenborg-Garcia, 32, pleaded guilty in
February to three counts of fi rst-degree rape of a child.
He was arrested in January at his residence on
Ocean Beach Boulevard after a joint investiga-
tion by the Coast Guard and the Long Beach Police
Department.
According to court records, at the time of his arrest,
the victim was 11 years old, and the sexual activity
reportedly went as far back as when she was 4.
Details of the crimes came to light after the vic-
tim told some friends at the Ocean Beach Elementary
School about what Wekenborg-Garcia was doing to
her. The information was then passed on to adults, and
law enforcement was contacted.
— Chinook Observer
Environmental group, Weyerhaeuser
settle over river pollution claims
DEATHS
May 12, 2022
In BERGSTROM,
Brief Bar-
bara, 73, of Seaside, died
in Seaside. Caldwell’s
Deaths
Luce-Layton Mortuary of
Astoria is in charge of the
arrangements.
GEORGESON, Gary
Wesley, 76, of Astoria,
died in Astoria. Ocean
View Funeral & Cre-
mation Service of Asto-
ria is in charge of the
arrangements.
May 7, 2022
GIBSON,
Michelle
Lynn, 39, of Milwaukie,
formerly of Birkenfeld,
died in Milwaukie. Cald-
well’s Luce-Layton Mor-
tuary of Astoria is in charge
of the arrangements.
April 28, 2022
RUST, Randy, 64, of
Astoria, died in Astoria.
Hughes-Ransom
Mor-
tuary is in charge of the
arrangements.
ON THE RECORD
Assault
Unauthorized
On
the
Record
•
Amy
Nacole
use of a vehicle
Smalling,
45,
of
• Krystle Lee Florer, 37,
Pocatello, Idaho, was
indicted this week for
second-degree assault,
strangulation,
menac-
ing constituting domestic
violence, a fi rst-degree
bias crime, fourth-degree
assault and menacing.
The crimes are alleged
to have occurred in Clat-
sop County earlier this
month.
of Portland, was indicted
this week for unautho-
rized use of a vehicle,
fl eeing or attempting to
elude a police offi cer,
two counts of fi rst-de-
gree theft, recklessly
endangering another per-
son and reckless driving.
The crimes are alleged to
have occurred in Clatsop
County earlier this month.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
MONDAY
Warrenton Marinas Advisory Committee, 2 p.m., special
meeting, City Hall, 225 S. Main Ave.
Jewell School District Board, 6 p.m., Jewell School Li-
brary, 83874 Oregon Highway 103.
Youngs River Lewis and Clark Water District Board,
6 p.m., 34583 U.S. Highway 101 Business.
Astoria City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane St.
TUESDAY
Port of Astoria Commission, 4 p.m., 10 Pier 1, Suite 209.
Seaside Planning Commission, 6 p.m., work session, City
Hall, 989 Broadway.
Seaside School District Board, 6 p.m., 2600 Spruce Drive,
Suite 200, Secondary School Library.
Shoreline Sanitary District Board, 7 p.m., Hertig Station,
33496 W. Lake Road in Warrenton.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
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Problems for river
at Longview mill
By TROY BRYNELSON
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Less than two months
after it sued over alleged
river pollution in Cowlitz
County, a group of envi-
ronmental activists inked a
settlement with one of the
world’s largest timber fi rms.
Columbia Riverkeeper
and Weyerhaeuser will settle
on a deal to end the lawsuit
in exchange for upgrades at a
mill in Longview, Washing-
ton, that is at the heart of the
activists’ concerns.
Columbia Riverkeeper
fi rst sued the Seattle-based
timber giant in March , alleg-
ing its Longview mill has
been discharging harm-
ful levels of run off into the
Columbia River. The group
alleged the discharges hurt
oxygen levels for fi sh and
can spur the growth of harm-
ful bacteria.
In a proposed settlement
signed this month , Weyer-
haeuser agreed to reroute
a stormwater pipe, aerate a
pond, install new monitor-
ing devices and fi lters and
change on-site procedures
to “more actively manage
wood and bark debris.”
The proposal also calls for
Weyerhaeuser to be fi ned up
to $5,000 for every instance
of future pollution between
2023 and 2025. The com-
Elaine Thompson/AP Photo
Timber processing facilities, including Weyerhaeuser’s, line the banks of the Columbia River
near the Port of Longview.
pany will also give $600,000
to the Portland nonprofi t
Seeding Justice. Court fi l-
ings show the nonprofi t plans
to put the money into grants
for river restoration.
“Weyerhaeuser is a huge
company, and to see an
agreement of this magni-
tude with this type of pen-
alty really shows that no
corporation has the right to
fl out the law and pollute this
river,” said Simone Anter, a
staff attorney with Columbia
Riverkeeper.
The settlement is contin-
gent on approval from the
U.S. Department of Justice.
It must then be signed by a
federal judge.
Weyerhaeuser represen-
tatives did not respond to
requests for comment . In
DIGITAL
EZpay (per month) .................................................................................................................$8.25
its pulp, thermo-mechani-
cal and de-ink mills in 2016.
The companies still share
infrastructure.
In February, the state also
fi ned the mill $40,000 for
failing “42 times to meet pol-
lution limits” between Octo-
ber 2020 and last November .
Two days later, the reg-
ulators also fi ned the North
Pacifi c Paper Corp. $68,000
for 71 documented cases of
pollution.
Anter has said Colum-
bia Riverkeeper has “kept
its eyes” on the complex for
years. Anter said the organi-
zation’s focus on them pre-
dated her own tenure there.
“We’ve been monitoring
the stormwater samples there
and trying to understand
what’s going on,” she said.
Dispute: ‘I do not want to close a business that employs
17 people without giving them a chance to comply’
Continued from Page A1
who could operate in a home
occupation. The develop-
ment code allows up to fi ve
employees; Velazquez-Silva
employs 17. But, Sisson
said, the county has inter-
preted the code to mean that
no more than fi ve employ-
ees may be on the grounds
at a given time, regardless
of how many are actually on
the payroll.
The development code
also does not allow a home
occupation to use more than
two vehicles in its opera-
tions. Neighbors have docu-
mented more than that num-
ber on the property.
One neighbor, Dale
Barrett, told the board he
doubted that a permit would
bring Velazquez-Silva into
compliance.
“I
personally
don’t
believe he will be able to
follow the guidelines of the
staff ’s recommendations for
conditions of approval,”
Barrett said. “He can’t con-
trol other people coming
onto the property, or neces-
sarily his employees.”
Greg Hathaway, the cou-
ple’s Portland-based attor-
ney, said Velazquez-Silva
understands he could lose
his business if he doesn’t
follow the rules.
“There needs to be
a balance between the
Velazquezes wanting to
preserve their business —
which is obviously very,
very important to them
— but on the other hand,
there’s a need to make sure
that the neighbors are being
protected, as well,” Hatha-
way said.
Commissioner Lianne
Thompson, Commissioner
Pamela Wev and Com-
missioner Courtney Bangs
voted to overturn the Plan-
ning Commission’s denial.
Subscription rates
Eff ective January 12, 2021
MAIL
EZpay (per month) ...............................................................................................................$10.75
13 weeks in advance ...........................................................................................................$37.00
26 weeks in advance ...........................................................................................................$71.00
52 weeks in advance ........................................................................................................ $135.00
the proposal, the company
denies any wrongdoing. The
settlement calls on Columbia
Riverkeeper to drop related,
future claims.
The Longview mill has
been hit multiple times with
allegations of pollution in
recent years.
In 2020, the mill and
its immediate neighbors –
North Pacifi c Paper Corp.
and Nippon Dynawave –
all landed in hot water with
the Washington Department
of Ecology over dozens of
reported instances of pol-
lution between September
2019 and April 2020.
The trio of compa-
nies comprises a 700-acre
industrial complex, once
owned entirely by Weyer-
haeuser until it parceled off
“I do not want to close
a business that employs 17
people without giving them
a chance to comply,” Bangs
said.
Thompson
said
Velazquez-Silva is entitled
to operate the business if
he does so legally. “Inquir-
ing minds wonder what hap-
pened with his initial appli-
cation, but we can’t revisit
that — it’s fruitless,” she
said.
Commissioner
Mark
Kujala, the board’s chair-
man, wanted to send the
decision back to the Plan-
ning Commission for fur-
ther discussion. Commis-
sioner John Toyooka was
absent.
The applicants own a
commercially zoned prop-
erty in Gearhart. “If they
have an alternative property
that could be used for com-
mercial activity, I would
like that to be explored more
and not have that creep into
a neighborhood if at all pos-
sible,” Kujala said.
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