NORTHWEST
Saturday, June 25, 2016
Portlanders blast EPA
for Superfund cleanup
$746 million project
a 30-year process
By KRISTENA HANSEN
Associated Press
PORTLAND — A 10-mile stretch
of the Willamette River — the iconic
body of water lowing directly through
one of America’s most environmental-
ly-conscious cities — could soon be
teeming with massive equipment and
crews tasked with cleaning up more
than a century’s-worth of hazardous
contaminants from industrial use.
The federal government’s $746
million-cleanup plan for Portland
Harbor was revealed two weeks ago,
ending a 16-year wait after the polluted
area gained status as a Superfund site
by the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency.
But the long-awaited proposal — a
30 year process that’d involve cleaning
up a tiny portion of the area, while
leaving the rest to recover naturally
— was blasted by environmentalists
and community leaders, who say it’ll
take too long and won’t be enough to
make the water and riverbed safe for
the area’s families and wildlife.
Just before the EPA’s irst public
hearing downtown Portland Friday,
protesters gathered urged residents to
voice their opposition over the next 90
days, the window for public comment
that the EPA extended earlier that
morning.
“Allowing these toxins to even
remain in the river, to be covered up or
to be washed down into the Columbia
River is unacceptable, and even
more than being unacceptable, it’s a
violation of human rights,” said Rose
Longoria, regional superfund cleanup
projects coordinator with Yakama
Nation Fisheries. “And on top of that,
it’s a violation of the Yakima Nation’s
treaty rights.”
Eric Mortenson/Capital Press
Water quality in the Willamette River, shown here from Southeast
Portland looking north to downtown, declines in its lower stretch as it
nears the Columbia.
Under the proposal, roughly 200
acres of the site’s most toxic parts
would be under construction for seven
years. Sediment polluted with heavy
metals and various carcinogenic chem-
icals would be removed or covered by a
man-made barrier, called dredging and
capping. Less severe contamination in
the remaining 2,000 or so acres would
be left to recover on its own, which will
take an estimated 30 years overall.
EPA oficials say the current
proposal is much cheaper and less
disruptive to the environment than
some of the other options they were
considering. The agency could inalize
its proposal before year-end.
The Port of Portland, which owns
much of the land in the Superfund site,
and some of the companies considered
potentially responsible for the pollu-
tion and inancing some costs are also
opposing the project.
Seven companies who’ve agreed
to take some of that responsibility
— including Union Paciic Railroad,
Chevron and TOC Holdings Co. —
iled a legal dispute this week with
the EPA. They criticized the plan in
22-page letter as a “rushed” decision.
The letter said the end-goal isn’t
achievable, “requires unnecessary
treatment, and will be far more disrup-
tive than described by EPA. Further,
the cleanup will take much longer to
implement than predicted by EPA and
will likely cost far more than estimated
by EPA.”
Port of Portland oficials took issue
with some of the areas targeted for the
cleanup and also the cost estimates,
which they called “overly optimistic.”
“While we were intrigued by the
more than $600 million drop in the cost
of EPA’s preferred remedy, a closer look
left us perplexed,” Curtis Robinhold,
Port deputy director, wrote to federal
regulators this week. “Costs dropped,
but there was little actual change in
the plan for cleanup ... meaning the
public is not informed about the true
higher anticipated cost of the cleanup
or the beneits that different cleanup
alternatives would achieve.”
Northwest Natural estimates a tax increase
of $11-$14 million under Initiative Petition 28
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
Northwest Natural esti-
mates it faces an $11 million
to $14 million annual tax
hike if a controversial corpo-
rate sales tax measure wins
voter approval in November.
Recouping that cost
would likely entail raising
customers’ natural gas utility
rates by at least 2 percent,
after ive rate decreases in the
last several years, a company
spokeswoman said Friday.
The gas company’s esti-
mates follow an analysis by
the nonpartisan Legislative
Revenue Ofice in May that
showed Initiative Petition
28 would act largely as a
sales tax on consumers. A
middle-income family could
see an increase in costs of
about $600 per year for
a middle-income family,
according to the report.
If passed, the measure
would impose on certain
corporations an additional
2.5 percent tax on sales
greater than $25 million in
Oregon.
Revenue from Initiative
Petition 28 could infuse state
coffers with about $3 billion
a year, stabilizing the state
“This is yet another example of
huge corporations using scare
tactics to avoid funding our
schools and critical services”
— Katherine Driessen, Spokeswoman for A Better Oregon
budget and growing public
sector jobs by nearly 18,000
in the next ive years.
Backers of the tax
measure are pushing for
that revenue to go toward
education, senior services
and health care.
Northwest
Natural’s
estimates illustrate how the
tax could impact businesses
and consumers.
The Legislative Revenue
Ofice estimated that the
tax would “dampen” the
economy by slowing job
growth in the private sector
by 38,200.
Another report by the
Oregon Ofice of Economic
Analysis found the average
company subject to the tax
could see their corporate
taxes jump from $200,000 to
$2.2 million per year.
Northwest
Natural,
which serves about 640,000
customers in Oregon, now
pays about $6 million per
year in state corporate
taxes, said Melissa Moore,
spokeswoman for Northwest
Natural. Under IP 28, the
company’s corporate taxes
could double or triple to up
to $20 million, Moore said.
The estimated 2-percent
gas rate hike from IP 28
accounts only for the addi-
tional cost in corporate taxes.
Northwest Natural also
anticipates additional indirect
costs to its operations such as
an increase in the prices of
pipes, valves, vehicles, and
insurance. Those costs could
drive up rates further, Moore
said.
“We support education
and social services, but we
don’t see this as the way to
do it,” Moore said. “We are
opposed to IP 28 because
it’s a regressive tax that will
increase costs to our residen-
tial and business customers.”
A Better Oregon, the
union-backed
nonproit
campaigning for the measure,
said Northwest Natural’s
numbers are inaccurate.
“Northwest
Natural
paid only $24,000 in state
income taxes in 2014, a tiny
percent of the $100 million
in proits it made that year,”
said Katherine Driessen, a
spokeswoman for A Better
Oregon. “So not only can the
company pay more in taxes,
it absolutely should.”
She noted that the Oregon
Public Utility Commission
would have to approve
any rate increases, and that
Northwest Natural could
deduct part of the state
corporate tax from their
federal taxes.
“This is yet another
example of huge corpora-
tions using scare tactics to
avoid funding our schools
and critical services,” she
said.
The
Public
Utility
Commission has to approve
any utility rate hikes, but
tax increases are one reason
that the commission would
consider granting a rate
jump, said Michael Dough-
erty, PUC’s chief operations
oficer.
East Oregonian
Page 7A
BRIEFLY
Fourth suspect
arrested for killing
pregnant Portlander
PORTLAND (AP) — A
fourth man has been arrested
in the 2014 killing of a
pregnant Portland woman.
The Portland Police
Bureau said Friday that
24-year-old Kelani Brown
was booked into jail on a
charge of murder and will be
arraigned early next week.
The other defendants were
charged in April.
The killing described by
police as gang-associated
happened Aug. 17, 2014.
About an hour before sunrise,
men burst into a southeast
Portland apartment and
threatened a woman. After
realizing they were in the
wrong place, the men found
the unit they were looking for
and opened ire.
The victim was the mother
of a 1-year-old boy and in the
early stages of pregnancy.
U.S. Presbyterian
church picks irst
black leader
trespassing.
Oregon law allows a
person to use deadly physical
force against someone trying
to burglarize their home.
Gov. Brown picks
nominee for OSP
superintendent
BEND (AP) — Oregon
Gov. Kate Brown has
nominated state police Maj.
Travis Hampton for Oregon
State Police superintendent.
The Bulletin reports that
Hampton will begin the job
July 1 if he is approved by
the state Senate.
According to the
governor’s ofice, Hampton is
a Deschutes County resident
who has been with Oregon
State Police for 25 years and
leads the department’s ield
operations bureau. He started
as a cadet, became a trooper in
Coos Bay and was promoted
to captain in 2004.
The Oregon State
Sheriff’s Association and
the Oregon Association of
Chief of Police have publicly
praised Brown’s choice.
PORTLAND (AP) —
The largest Presbyterian
denomination in the U.S.
has elected its irst African-
American top executive.
The Rev. Herbert Nelson
won an overwhelming
majority of votes Friday
during the General Assembly
of the Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.) in Portland.
Nelson succeeds the Rev.
Gradye Parsons, who served
two terms in the position and
declined to seek re-election.
Nelson previously directed
the church’s public policy
ofice in Washington. He’s
a graduate of Johnson C.
Smith University and holds a
doctorate from the Louisville
Presbyterian Theological
Seminary. He and his wife
have one daughter.
Like other denominations,
the Louisville, Kentucky-
based Presbyterian church
has been shrinking. It now
has 1.6 million members and
is overwhelmingly white.
Nelson urged
Presbyterians to look beyond
preserving the church toward
reaching out more broadly
and diversifying their
membership.
Mom of child killed
by window blinds
cord sues
Homeowner shoots
naked intruding
ex-NFL player
PORTLAND (AP) —
Authorities say a homeowner
in Portland shot an intruder
who turned out to be former
Detroit Lions cornerback
Stanley
Wilson II.
The Multnomah
County Sheriff’s Ofice
tells The Oregonian for a
story published Thursday
that Wilson tried to break
through the back window
of a multimillion-dollar
home. He’s hospitalized but
expected to recover.
Sheriff’s Capt. Steve
Alexander says he can’t
give details on the extent of
the 33-year-old’s injuries
or why he was naked and
trying to get into the house
Wednesday.
Wilson, whose NFL
career ended in 2008 after
an injury, has been arrested
on suspicion of irst-degree
burglary and irst-degree
WALLA WALLA (AP)
— A second suspect has been
charged in connection with
last summer’s slayings of a
Walla Walla couple.
The Union-Bulletin
reports that 26-year-old Jose
Alejandro Lozano faces
two counts of irst-degree
murder for his role in the fatal
shootings of Janette Rojas
Balderas and her boyfriend,
Jon Cody Cano. Another
suspect, 22-year-old Jose
Manuel Quintero, is awaiting
trial on charges of murder
and unlawful possession of a
irearm.
Authorities believe there
was a third suspect involved
in the crime, who has yet to
be charged.
Oficials say 34-year-old
Rojas Balderas and
38-year-old Cano were in the
front yard of the woman’s
home on Aug. 7, 2015 when
Quintero and another suspect
gunned them down. They say
Lozano drove the shooters
to and from the scene of the
attack.
6/24 - 6/26
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PORTLAND (AP) — The
mother of a 3-year-old
girl who died after being
strangled by a window blinds
cord in a Clackamas County
apartment has iled a $4
million lawsuit.
The Oregonian reports
Sahrye Imani Hardy had
been visiting a resident at
Pineview Apartments with
her mother last year when
she became entangled in a
dangling cord.
The suit alleges the
apartment management
company allowed cords
longer than 7 inches to hang
from the window covering,
posing a hazard for children.
A lawyer representing
Sahrye’s estate says the cord
cuts off a person’s ability to
speak or cry for help, which
is why Sahrye’s mother
didn’t notice her daughter
was being strangled until it
was too late.
Second suspect
charged in Walla
Walla slaying
TrackTown USA asks for donations ahead of Trials
EUGENE (AP) — A
Eugene nonproit group orga-
nizing next month’s Olympic
track and ield trials is short
on money and looking for
donations.
TrackTown USA says its
cash on hand won’t cover the
cost of putting on the 10-day
2016 U.S. Olympic Track
& Field Trials, reported The
Register-Guard. This week,
the group received a $75,000
pledge from the city of
Springield.
TrackTown has declined to
say how big its budget gap is
or release speciics about its
spending plan for the event.
“It’s deinitely not cause
for concern,” TrackTown
USA CEO Michael Reilly
told the Register-Guard.
“We’ve got a small gap.”
Reilly said he’s conident
ticket and vendor sales at the
event, which begins July 1,
will make up for the shortfall.
He said the operating budget
is around $10 million.
TrackTown President Vin
Lananna said there was also a
budget gap during the last two
Olympic trials in Eugene.
“But we always get there.
I have reasonable conidence,
I wouldn’t say full coni-
dence, but I have reasonable
conidence we’re going to get
there,” he said.
Lananna and Travel Lane
County President and CEO
Kari Westlund requested the
$75,000 subsidy from the
Springield City Council. The
council approved the payment
through hotel tax revenue.
“The event budget is
facing a serious deicit,”
Westlund told the council,
“and continued production
of this event to the high stan-
dards set in 2008 and 2012 is
imperative in my opinion.”
Lane
County
has
committed of $590,000 to
TrackTown between 2013
and 2020, said county
spokesman Jason Davis. The
money came from hotel tax
and video lottery revenue.
“If we want to host the
Olympic Trials here, and
want to deliver an event to the
country at the level we have
been, it’s going to take a little
bit of (public) support, a lot of
sponsorship support, earned
revenue, all of those things to
build a budget out,” Westlund
said.
A TrackTown security
committee has discussed
how to trim costs while
maintaining
adequate
security
Trials,
at the Olympic
Westlund
said.
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Pendleton, OR I-84 - Exit 216
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