CAN YOU COLBRAY
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FIRST CLUE/3A HONOR 1B
Enjoy a free trip to the
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ANDREW ZOOK
OF BOARDMAN
94/61
WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2016
140th Year, No. 203
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
BOARDMAN
Hearing
scheduled
for 30,000
cow farm
State’s second-largest dairy
proposed on former tree farm
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
Morrow County could soon be home
to another giant dairy farm with tens of
thousands of milking cows near Boardman.
Willow Creek Dairy, run by Greg te
Velde of California, was established in
2002 on land leased from nearby Threemile
Canyon Farms. Now, te Velde is looking
to relocate and expand his operation onto
7,288 acres purchased last year from the
former Boardman Tree Farm.
If permitted, the dairy — renamed Lost
Valley Ranch — would house 30,000 cows,
making it the second-largest in the state
behind only Threemile Canyon. But before
that can happen, ODA and DEQ need to
sign off on an application to register the
farm as a confi ned animal feeding opera-
tion, or CAFO.
The application includes an animal
waste management plan and water pollution
permit that details how Lost Valley will
handle the 187 million gallons of manure it
will generate annually.
“It regulates all of the manure and
process wastewater,” said Wyn Matthews,
who manages the CAFO program for ODA.
“The permit is protective of both surface
water and groundwater.”
A public hearing is scheduled for 4 p.m.
Thursday at the Port of Morrow River-
front Center to ask questions and submit
comments. Written comments will also be
accepted through 5 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 4.
Don Butcher, wastewater permitting
manager for DEQ in Pendleton, said there
has been some concern about Lost Valley’s
See DAIRY/8A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Property owner Tom Davis has placed no trespassing signs up on his property abutting the Hermiston Butte after run-ins with
people on his property last Fourth of July.
Abutting the butte
Hermiston resident asks people to stop trespassing
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
An outline of the Hermiston butte now
graces the city’s new logo, but access to the
real-life butte has ruffl ed some feathers lately.
The landmark’s offi cial access point is
from a parking lot off of Elm Avenue, where
hikers and joggers can access the butte’s criss-
crossing trails from a gravel utility road.
Some fi nd it more convenient to access the
butte from the south side, however, through
a section of private property off Standard
Avenue. Now that the property owner has
placed “No trespassing” signs there and asked
people to stay off of his land, the request has
prompted some complaints on social media
and at least one call to the police from a resi-
dent asking if it was legal to hike to the top of
the butte.
Tom Davis said for years he has stayed quiet
as Hermiston residents cut through his prop-
HERMISTON
Grad returns home as ER physician
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
A
Hermiston
native,
returning home to work as an
emergency room physician, is
just what the state is hoping for
as it looks to combat a shortage
of rural doctors, dentists and
nurse practitioners.
Daniel Buck, M.D., grad-
uated from Hermiston High
School. And after completing
his family medical residency
in Edgewood, Kentucky, he
has returned to his hometown
to become Good Shepherd
Medical Center’s newest ER
doctor.
According to a news release
from Good Shepherd, Buck
moved to Hermiston with his
family, which includes eight
children ages seven to 22.
“My parents still live in the
same house that I grew up in,”
Buck said in the release. “Herm-
iston is still pretty much how
I remember it — friendly and
welcoming, though there are a
lot more housing developments
and new shopping centers than
I remember as a kid, and I think
that is great for our community
to be actively wanting to grow.”
Buck comes to Good Shep-
herd Health Care System with
“a lot of extensive training,”
according to the release. That
includes an internship in
surgery, caring for patients on
the burn unit of a Level I trauma
center, time as an EMT in the
Oregon Army National Guard,
work as a certifi ed anesthesia
technician and “hundreds of
intubations and other invasive
procedures.
“I have a very diverse set
of skills, and I believe that all
of the training that I have has
prepared me to care for this
community,” Buck said.
Shortages
of
medical
practitioners in rural areas
has been a concern across the
nation, including in Oregon. To
combat the problem the state
legislature created Scholars for
a Healthy Oregon in 2013. The
program provides full tuition
scholarships to Oregon Health
and Science University for a
limited number of students
each year in return for a
See DOCTOR/8A
erty, but a combination of factors — including
problems with litter, liability concerns and a
few confrontations with aggressive trespassers
— have prompted him to post the signs along
the edge of his property.
“I’ve got to get a grip on it,” he said.
Davis owns more than three acres along the
southeast portion of the butte, including the
gravel access point on Standard Avenue, the
See BUTTE/8A
Former ODOT
consultant
to lead review
of agency
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
Contributed photo by Good Shepherd Health Care System
Daniel Buck, M.D. is an example of a doctor willing to return to
rural Oregon after medical school.
“I have a very diverse set of skills, and I
believe that all of the training that I have has
prepared me to care for this community.”
— Daniel Buck, M.D., Good Shepherd ER doctor
SALEM — When a long-awaited
management review assesses the readiness
of the Oregon Department of Transportation
for a massive infl ux of money, a familiar
face will be leading it.
The state selected John L. Craig, a
former ODOT consultant, for a $350,000
contract to lead the review. He was chosen
over a competing company with similar
experience that offered to do the job for
more than $100,000 less.
Gov. Kate Brown ordered the review
in November to assuage lawmakers’
reservations over some of ODOT’s past
management decisions.
Lawmakers said they wanted an inde-
pendent, third-party review to ensure that
ODOT was operating effi ciently before
they consider passing a transportation
package in 2017. That legislation — one
of Brown’s priorities as governor — could
hike gas taxes and fees on drivers and funnel
hundreds of millions of dollars in additional
funding to the agency.
Craig has extensive relationships with
ODOT leaders, having overseen the agen-
cy’s $1.3 billion outsourced bridge repair
and replacement program for six years. He
stepped down from that position in June
2015.
Craig’s close ties with ODOT, his
selection by a former longtime Brown aide
and Brown’s decision to give oversight
of the audit to the Oregon Transportation
Commission have raised concerns about
whether the review will be impartial.
“It’s like hiring the fox to vet
See ODOT/7A