Page 8A
OFF PAGE ONE
East Oregonian
Tuesday, June 20, 2017
ROCK: Taking additional magnetic readings from the air
Continued from 1A
area — such as the magni-
tude 6.2 quake that shook
Milton-Freewater in 1936.
The Confederated Tribes
of the Umatilla Indian
Reservation,
meanwhile,
is interested in identifying
geothermal resources for
possible future development
as it strives to become energy
independent.
It was the tribes that
reached out to the USGS
earlier this year — the
agency was already studying
earthquake hazards farther
north in Washington around
Hanford and the Tri-Cities.
One of those fault systems,
the Hite Fault Zone, just so
happens to follow the Blue
Mountains south through the
Umatilla Indian Reservation,
Patrick Mills, project
manager with the CTUIR
Department of Natural
Resources, said their mutual
interests coalesced nicely
into a single strategy. Field
studies began in mid-May,
with funding from the
Bureau of Indian Affairs and
Energy Trust of Oregon.
“We know there are
geothermal resources,” Mills
said. “It’s a matter of fi nding
out how close they are to the
surface.”
One way to detect hidden
underground features is to
measure subtle differences in
gravity and magnetic fi elds at
the Earth’s surface. Because
some rocks are more dense
and more magnetic than
others, they trigger delicate
signals that can be detected
with the right equipment.
Enter Glen and Ritzinger,
who hiked up steep basalt
to gather data Monday from
Thorn Hollow. Ritzinger
climbed fi rst up the rocky
slope, wearing ear guards
and wielding a rock drill
converted from an old
chainsaw.
The drill tip, studded with
diamonds, made quick work
carving small cylindrical
holes into the basalt. From
there, Glen followed with
a specialized instrument
known as an orienter, which
he placed inside each hole to
gauge the angle and dip of
the rock.
“What this is providing us
is a measure of the magne-
tization of the rocks,” Glen
said. “We need that data to
properly model the faults in
COOK: In talks to have
St. Anthony prepare meals
Continued from 1A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
USGS geophysicist Jonathan Glen takes readings off a device called an orienter
while taking measurements for a core sample of basalt rock off Thorn Hollow Road,
east of Pendleton.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
USGS geophysicists Jonathan Glen aligns an orienter
in a core sample of the basalt rock.
the subsurface.”
Anomalies in gravity and
magnetics suggest rocks
that have broken and moved
toward or away from the
surface. That often happens
along fault lines, Glen
explained, and they can use
those readings to further
model the subsurface geom-
etry. Not only are faults key
to anticipating earthquake
hazards, but they are also
permeable, which means
they could provide a path for
hydrothermal springs to fl ow
to the surface.
“There are multiple
components of this research,”
Glen said.
The USGS is taking
additional magnetic read-
ings from the air, using a
low-fl ying Cessna fi tted with
an electronic magnetometer.
The plane began fl ying June
8, and will take several weeks
to cover a 5,000-square-mile
area over Pendleton and the
Umatilla Indian Reservation.
Rick Blakely, geophys-
icist and research associate
emeritus with the USGS, said
that once all the information
comes together, they will
have a colorful map full of
magnetic anomalies showing
where faults may be hiding.
“We can learn something
about the geology beneath
the ground we can’t see,”
Blakely said. “It helps us
to locate faults we may not
have known about before.”
Mills, who is heading
up the CTUIR geothermal
energy assessment, said he
expects to fi nish the fi rst
phase of their analysis by
the end of the year. That will
determine whether the tribes
move forward with Phase II
RAINBOW: Incident command team will
include roughly 25 law enforcement offi cers
Continued from 1A
Rainbow gathering
they are a non-organization
with no offi cial leaders.
Instead, the Forest Service
will assign an operating plan
with conditions and criteria
to protect natural resources,
safety and public health at
the gathering. The plan also
addresses post-event cleanup.
Ethan Ready, a Forest
Service spokesman in charge
of handling the Rainbow
Gathering, said 20 different
natural resource specialists
have visited the site to iden-
tify potential impacts. Their
fi ndings should be completed
soon, Ready said.
Ready works for the
Green Mountain National
Forest in Vermont, where last
year’s Rainbow Gathering
was held. He said Rainbow
members are usually open to
working with the agency and
want to adhere to the rules.
“They’ve been receptive
in the past,” Ready said.
The Forest Service is
working with a number of
partners in preparation for
the gathering, Ready said,
including the Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla Indian
Reservation, which has an
interest in the area as part of
the tribes’ ceded territory.
Chuck Sams, spokesman
for the CTUIR, said the
Rainbow Family did reach
out to the tribal Department
of Natural Resources as early
as March, when members
were scouting locations for
the 2017 gathering.
At the time, Sams said
the scouts proposed seven
possible locations, including
Flagtail Meadow — two
on the Wallowa-Whitman
National Forest, one on the
Umatilla National Forest,
three on the Malheur
National Forest and one on
the Ochoco National Forest.
The tribes spent months
evaluating each location,
Sams said, analyzing impacts
to water quality and quantity,
The annual Rainbow Family gathering, which could attract
10,000-30,000 people, is taking place in Flagtail Meadow on the
Malheur National Forest off of Forest Road 24 west of Seneca.
Mt. Vernon
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Approximate
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Family gathering
Source: U.S. Forest Service
native fi sh, traditional plants
and the possibility of ground
disturbances at former village
and burial sites.
On June 12, the CTUIR
concluded that all of the sites
were a high risk for damage.
“As for the proposed
locations within the CTUIR’s
ceded territory, given the
potential impacts to both
renewable and non-renew-
able resources, we would
respectfully request that your
gathering be held elsewhere,”
the tribes said in its formal
response.
Sams said the Rainbow
Family members also asked
tribal offi cials to bless the
gathering, which the tribes
declined.
“We can’t do that in good
faith,” Sams said. “There just
aren’t currently any facilities
in any of those reaches they
proposed that could deal with
that many people.”
Sams said the tribes will
continue to work closely with
the Forest Service, which
has jurisdiction over the
F or e
Seneca
Contributed by Echo School District
This conceptual drawing shows plans for an updat-
ed, secure entryway into Echo School.
ECHO: Will give ag and art
programs a permanent home
Continued from 1A
“The community will
have 24-hour access to
that fi tness center,” said
Linda Muller, Echo School
District’s business manager,
who will also serve as
project manager.
Construction will be
done by Kirby Nagelhout
of Pendleton. With the
exception of upgrading a
few things in the current
school, work will largely
be focused on the new
addition that will connect to
the south end of the existing
school and extend out to its
greenhouses.
Smith said some of
the additions will allow
programs like agriculture
and art to have a permanent
home, instead of shuttling
back and forth between
empty classrooms.
A small crowd of Echo
students, parents, teachers
and board members came
to witness the fi rst step in
the process.
“I’m excited,” said
Becky Bacon, instructional
coach and testing coor-
dinator at Echo School
District. “After 13 years at
Echo, to be able to be a part
of this is pretty amazing.”
–——
Contact
Jayati
Ramakrishnan at 541-564-
4534 or jramakrishnan@
eastoregonian.com
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of the project, which would
include digging test wells.
More than 200 springs
and seeps have been identi-
fi ed on or near the reserva-
tion. Mills said they hope
to fi nd sources with enough
heat and permeability that
would allow them to develop
an enhanced geothermal
system.
The CTUIR has partnered
with AltaRock Energy, a
company that specializes in
geothermal
development,
to analyze and interpret the
subsurface models once they
are formed.
“There’s a chance this
could be the single biggest
discovery in the history of
(the CTUIR),” Mills said.
Geothermal power would
need to be harnessed at a
scale of megawatts to be
worth the expense, Mills
said. If the numbers pencil
out, it could be an important
source of baseline, emis-
sion-free renewable energy
to balance more intermittent
wind and solar generation.
“It’s always going to be
there. It’s always on,” Mills
said. “It’s a reliable energy
technology.”
———
Contact George Plaven
at gplaven@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0825.
ization aspect that CAPECO
wants to maintain.
During the employee
search, McMurphy said
staff asked local restaurant
owners
whether
they
employed any cooks who
were looking for extra work.
From those discussions,
CAPECO concluded that
the labor market for people
willing to work in the
kitchen was tight, especially
for a 35-hour-per-week
position. With CAPECO
also requiring job candi-
dates pass a background
check, the candidate pool
shrunk further.
McMurphy
said
CAPECO plans to reopen
the senior center on July 10
“come heck or high water,”
and could fi nd a solution to
their cook vacancy even if
staff can’t fi nd a candidate.
McMurphy
said
CAPECO is in talks with St.
Anthony Hospital to have
its kitchen staff prepare the
meals for its congregate and
delivery programs while
CAPECO continues to
cover handling and distri-
bution.
St. Anthony spokesman
Larry Blanc said the hospital
and CAPECO have had
discussions on the proposal
but nothing is set in stone.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra
at asierra@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0836.
st
Ro ad 16
N
2 miles
Alan Kenaga/EO Media Group
area. Ready said they will
have an incident command
team on hand to deal with
any problems that arise, and
enforce the guidelines of the
operating plan.
The incident command
team will include roughly
25 law enforcement offi cers
brought in to assist the Grant
County Sheriff’s Department
and Oregon State Police.
Other staff will take charge of
things like logistics, planning
and fi re hazard mitigation.
“You’re talking about a
massive group,” Ready said.
“We’re doing everything
we can in the preliminary
stages.”
Sams said the primary
concern among the tribes
is the protection of natural
resources related to cultural
sites and fi rst foods.
“We just want people to be
respectful and good stewards
of the landscape,” Sams said.
———
Contact George Plaven
at gplaven@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0825.
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