A6
THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, JuNE 16, 2022
FIELD TEST
Candidates Wanted
Fred Causer
No injuries were reported after the partial collapse of the Buoy Beer Co. building.
Collapse: The compromised
building is a nearly 100-year-old
cannery situated on aging pilings
Continued from Page A1
A natural gas leak was
reported, prompting the
temporary evacuation of the
neighboring Bowline Hotel.
Fences were soon erected
to keep people from the
Astoria Riverwalk between
Seventh and Eighth streets.
City Manager Brett Estes
said Tuesday night that a
building assessment to deter-
mine the structure’s stability
was being conducted.
The caved-in area had
been closed off to employees
and the public, according to
Jessyka Dart-McLean, Buoy
Beer’s marketing manager.
“The structural issue was
known,” she said. “And so
that part of the building was
closed.”
How the incident would
affect the company’s oper-
ations is unknown. “We
are still working on figur-
ing out what the next step
is,” Dart-McLean said in an
email.
Buoy Beer CEO Luke
Colvin told KMUN: “We’re
just starting to pick up the
pieces.”
The owners are working
with their insurance com-
pany and have been asked
to put booms in the water
near the building to prevent
debris from floating away,
Astoria Fire Chief Dan
Crutchfield said.
He said the owners, a
structural engineer and the
Lydia Ely/The Astorian
Beer cans float in the Columbia River after a partial collapse
at Buoy Beer Co.
city will work together to
look at potential causes and
further actions.
“The city has an inter-
est in making sure that that
building becomes safer than
it is now,” he said.
Cans of beer and debris
could be seen in the river
after the collapse.
Jordan Lance, the for-
mer lead cook who worked
at Buoy Beer until last year,
was among the onlookers
gathered at the Sixth Street
pier.
“I’m sad, but not as sad
as I am for friends who still
work here, people who are
thinking about jobs, pay-
ments, lifestyle,” he said.
Mayor Bruce Jones said it
was fortunate that there were
no injuries or loss of life.
The compromised build-
ing is a nearly 100-year-old
cannery situated on aging
pilings. Through windows in
the floor, patrons can watch
lolling sea lions.
In September, Buoy Beer
closed the kitchen after dis-
covering issues with the
dock and pilings beneath.
“The Columbia River
waters shift, and that’s what
we were battling against in
that area,” Dart-McLean
said.
Founded in 2013, the
company is one of the North
Coast’s largest brewer-
ies and has been expanding
the waterfront campus into
neighboring buildings over
the past few years.
“Buoy Beer is a well-
loved local employer and
institution, and we hope
they’re able to move for-
ward on some resolution on
the building, and we’ll be
working with them in doing
so,” Jones said.
Abbey Mcdonald of The
Astorian and Katie Franko-
wicz of KMuN contributed
to this report.
Port: ‘It looks like a waste of taxpayer dollars’
Continued from Page A1
Under state law, the own-
ers and operators of contam-
inated facilities and prop-
erty are responsible for the
cleanup, as well as reim-
bursing the state for over-
sight costs to ensure projects
are done in a way that pro-
tects public health and the
environment.
The cleanup program’s
funding structure, modeled
after the federal Superfund
for polluted sites, covers
the on-the-ground work and
state regulatory agency over-
sight costs, Lauren Wirtis, a
spokeswoman for the Depart-
ment of Environmental Qual-
ity, said in an email.
Nina Deconcini, the
administrator for the Depart-
ment of Environmental
Quality’s northwest region,
defended billing for the inter-
view with The Astorian by
highlighting the importance
of communication between
the government agency and
the media.
“DEQ values the media’s
involvement very much with
respect to correct informa-
tion being disseminated to
the public,” she said during
the meeting with Isom. “ …
That, to me, is an extremely
good use of time because …
any time a news media or
media story is published that
has inaccurate information,
missing information, infor-
mation taken out of context,
it can dramatically affect the
responsible parties, the gov-
ernment, the public’s inter-
pretation and I think all of us
would agree, that we have a
vested interest, collectively,
in ensuring that accurate
information is put forth.”
Deconcini noted that
billing the Port for media
engagements occurred only a
handful of times over the past
few years.
“Every single responsible
party, including the Port of
Astoria, would be charged if
a project manager, like Anna,
had to be interviewed … I
consider this to be among the
most important things we do
from a transparency and an
accountability perspective
to make sure the public and
other parties know what’s
going on,” she said.
Isom was skeptical.
“Conceptually, you talk
about transparency, it would
be financially in the best inter-
est of the Port, probably, for
me to reach out to (The Asto-
rian) after this and say, ‘Hey,
if you have a question about
this project, don’t reach out to
DEQ. Go through me first so
that we don’t get billed and if
we have to talk to DEQ, we
can do it.’ That doesn’t seem
very transparent, but it’s in
the financial interest of the
Port,” he said.
Isom
also
partially
attributed the length of the
AOC4 negotiations, which
dragged on for over 20 years,
to the cost recovery policy
and the lack of incentives to
wrap up.
Deconcini
emphasized
that as a government agency,
the interest is in recovering
costs commensurate with the
state cleanup law, not to seek
profit.
Up until the consent judg-
ment was reached, the costs
billed for the cleanup pro-
gram were divided among
the many parties who were
deemed responsible for the
contamination. Moving for-
ward, with the consent judg-
ment laying the remaining
responsibility on the Port, the
local agency will incur all of
the charges.
“I understand the fact
that from a legal perspective
through Oregon statute, they
may have the ability to charge
for some of these things, but
it doesn’t make it right,” Isom
said. “I always try to look at
these things through the eye
test, and to me, this doesn’t
look right. It looks like poor
government. It looks like a
waste of taxpayer dollars.
“ … Over time, these
things add up and I think
ultimately, there needs to be
some reform to how DEQ,
particularly this program,
operates.”
Elevator: ‘They are trying so I can’t complain’
Continued from Page A1
Emergency responders
have been made aware of
the elevator outage as it may
change how they respond to
an emergency at the com-
plex, Evans said.
Jane Wilson, who lives on
the second floor of Owens-
Adair, told The Astorian last
week that she was concerned
about some of her neighbors
walking up and down the
stairs and accessing necessi-
ties like groceries.
Since then, she said mem-
bers of her church have
helped her get groceries into
her apartment. She said Clat-
sop Community Action also
came by and offered help.
The housing authority
has arranged to pick up res-
idents’ trash, which she said
has also been helpful.
“They are trying so I can’t
complain,” Wilson said. “I
guess we’ll really appreciate our
elevator when we get it back.”
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1. You must be one of the first 15 people to call our
office Mention Code: 22JunField.
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