REGION
Friday, June 30, 2017
East Oregonian
Page 3A
HERMISTON
PENDLETON
Waiting on watermelons
Whisky Fest passes
2016 ticket sales
Harvest expected mid-July
East Oregonian
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
July Fourth is just around the corner,
and that means famous Hermiston
watermelons — in all their sweet, juicy
glory — are almost back in season.
This year’s melon crop may have
gotten off to a slow start compared to
recent years, but growers say they are
making up ground quickly as tempera-
tures have started rising above 90 degrees
during the heat of day.
Jack Bellinger, owner of Bellinger
Farms, said watermelons fell behind early
following a cool and wet spring, which
impacted both the timing of planting and
limited the number of hot days needed
for the plants to absorb energy.
A recent stretch of warmer weather,
including a record high of 101 degrees
on Monday, has helped to speed things
up, Bellinger said. Still, he is looking at
beginning harvest July 12-14, which is
about a week later than usual.
“The name of the game for all crops
is heat units,” Bellinger said. “They’ve
been pretty hit and miss.”
Patrick Walchli, of Walchli Farms,
also figures to push back harvest by
a week to 10 days, though he is not
alarmed. Weather patterns like this aren’t
unheard of for the region, Walchli said,
and he is not expecting any problems
with yield or quality.
“The crop, for the weather we’ve had
at this stage, looks pretty nice,” Walchli
said. “I expect the melons will be just as
good of quality as ever.”
Watermelons are an iconic crop
for Hermiston, thriving in the region’s
sandy soils and desert climate. Once
summer rolls around, the plants spend all
day soaking up the hot sun, which they
convert into sugar as a source of energy.
Having chilly nights allows the fruit to
retain all that sugary goodness.
Hermiston watermelons can be found
all over the Northwest, including Port-
land and Seattle, and have been shipped
as far as Maryland and Texas.
Given their immense popularity,
it is no surprise that Scott Lukas has
chosen to include watermelons as part
of his research program at Oregon State
University’s Hermiston Agricultural
Staff photo by George Plaven
Scott Lukas, assistant professor of horticulture at Oregon State Universi-
ty, checks on his watermelon trials Thursday at the Hermiston Agricultural
Research and Experiment Station.
Research and Extension Center south of
town.
Lukas, who was hired as the station
horticulturist last year, is experimenting
with different treatments for soil-borne
Fusarium and Verticillium wilt that can
infect watermelon vines, causing them
wither and die.
Most growers use chemical fumigants
to keep the diseases in check. For his
trial, Lukas is treating the plants with a
couple of alternative products that, if
successful, could be cheaper and more
environmentally friendly than traditional
fumigants without impacting yield, he
said.
“That’s the idea, trying different
combinations of green chemistries to
solve a common issue this region’s
watermelon growers face,” Lukas said.
It is still too early to measure results,
though Lukas is optimistic. The experi-
ment, which involves irrigating roughly
800 watermelon plants, was not launched
until late June, and the melons themselves
are still no larger than the size of a bean.
Lukas said growers have been coop-
erative and enthusiastic about the project,
which he intends to expand next year
over several acres.
“It is using a potentially cheaper
product, and one that has less environ-
mental restrictions and consequences,”
he said.
Prior to hiring Lukas, HAREC was
without a horticulturist for about five
years. While the station is still primarily
known for its work with potatoes, Lukas
has made it clear he sees plenty of poten-
tial for high-value crop diversification
across the Columbia Basin.
“We have affordable land prices. We
have plentiful water. We have good soils.
And we have good distribution as well,
in terms of corridors to ship food out,”
Lukas said.
Apart from watermelons, Lukas’
program also involves projects with
onions, blueberries, sweet corn and
broccoli. Lukas may eventually look at
the possibility of growing tree fruit and
nuts around Hermiston, though he said
that research is likely a few years away
from happening.
Lukas said he is getting good feed-
back from local growers who previously
didn’t have a lot of resources available
for specialty crops at HAREC.
“I want to do what the growers need,”
he said. “That’s where this program is
and where it’s going to go.”
———
Contact George Plaven at gplaven@
eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0825.
Oregon oil train bill moves to floor
Language to
increase regulation
removed again
By TONY SCHICK
Oregon Public Broadcasting
For the second time since
2015, the Oregon Legislature
has stripped language out of a
bill that would have increased
the state’s regulation of oil
trains.
Oregon has the weakest
regulations among West
Coast states.
A year after a Union
Pacific oil train derailed and
caught fire in the Columbia
River Gorge town of Mosier,
lawmakers are advancing to
the House and Senate floors
House Bill 2131, sponsored
by Rep. Barbara Smith
Warner, D-Portland.
The bill moves money
toward oil train emergency
preparations,
particularly
toward known gaps in Central
Oregon. Smith Warner called
the bill “a huge step in our
ability to maintain safer
routes and safer communi-
ties.”
But it fails to give the
state authority over railroads’
emergency plans, and adds
layers of secrecy for railroad
operations.
“I believe the leadership
and also the bill sponsor
buckled under railroad
pressure. Even just one year
after the derailment and fire
in Mosier, they started weak-
ening the bill,” said Michael
Lang, conservation director
for Friends of the Columbia
Gorge.
Oversight removed
The original version of
HB 2131 would have given
the state’s Department of
Environmental Quality the
authority to approve or deny
railroad contingency plans
for oil train spills. It also
would have required tests and
drills to make sure railroads
could execute the plans.
That’s the same regulatory
oversight Oregon has over
other forms of oil transport,
such as pipelines and marine
terminals.
The original bill also
would have created a fee on
rail carriers. The estimated
$375,000 per year generated
by the fee would have gone
toward oil train emergency
response planning.
Railroads lobbied against
the bill and claimed, as they
have in previous sessions,
that it was invalidated by
federal railroad safety and
commerce laws. In later
amendments, the bill was
rewritten to remove the fee
and DEQ’s legal authority
over the railroads.
The current version spec-
ifies railroad contingency
plans submitted to the state
are not subject to DEQ
approval. If the plans do not
meet state standards, the
department cannot impose
new requirements. Instead,
it can try for changes “by
conference, conciliation or
persuasion.”
The bill also specifies
railroads can move oil trains
through Oregon even if they
fail to provide a plan.
“Union Pacific worked
hand-in-hand with legislative
leadership this session in a
bipartisan effort to continue
enhancing safe rail move-
ment of crude oil,” Union
Pacific spokesman Justin
Jacobs said.
Smith Warner said after
Mosier, there were calls
for major rule changes on
oil trains, but she and other
lawmakers ran up against
limitations in federal law.
“I cannot emphasize
enough how challenging it
is to do state level work with
railroads. Because they have
the power of 200 years of
federal preemption legisla-
tion on their side,” she said.
Other states have found
a way past some of those
limitations, including Cali-
fornia and Washington.
“Washington and Cali-
fornia get the same plan.
Legally, they operate in a
similar area. They ask for the
plans, they receive the plans,”
Smith Warner said. “They
cannot prohibit them from
running through the state,
same as us.”
Washington does go a step
beyond just receiving plans,
however. Regulators there
have the ability to approve or
deny plans. If railroads do not
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comply, they can issue civil
penalties.
Smith Warner and others
worried how such laws would
hold up in court.
The legislative council
report on HB 2131 said it
largely tracks with current
laws in Washington and
Minnesota, which have not
yet been challenged. But the
report added “it is possible
that certain provisions of the
bill, if enacted, would face
scrutiny in court.”
Lawmakers later removed
those pieces, the same ones
railroads opposed. They also
added some that the railroads
wanted.
Secrecy added
HB 2131 would conceal
information railroads provide
to the state from public scru-
tiny.
It states that railroad
contingency oil spill plans
provided to DEQ would be
exempt from public records
requests and not disclosed
to anyone outside of a few
select government agencies.
In addition, it states, “no
subpoena or judicial order
may be issued compelling the
disclosure of a contingency
plan, except when relevant to
a proceeding where compli-
ance by an owner or operator
of a high hazard train route
with this section is to be
adjudicated.”
That
same
secrecy
provision is established for a
section of the bill requiring
railroads to provide proof
of financial responsibility,
showing they can cover the
cost of an oil train derailment.
Those would be filed with the
Oregon State Fire Marshal.
These disclosure exemp-
tions drew harsh criticism
both from environmental
advocates and from trial
lawyers, who otherwise
applauded Smith Warner’s
efforts to tackle oil trains.
“In the next catastrophe, if
people are seriously injured
or die because of the negli-
gence of the railroad, they
should have access to infor-
mation they need to prove
the wrongdoing,” wrote Paul
Bovarnick and Arthur Towers
of the Oregon Trial Lawyers
Association.
“This is a response to an
issue the railroads had in
Washington.” Smith Warner
said. “They submitted the
plans, and indeed there is
federally confidential infor-
mation in there. They asked
us if we could resolve that on
the front end.”
Washington not only
discloses the plans but
incorporates public comment
as part of the plan approval
process.
Linda
Pilkey-Jarvis,
preparedness manager for
the Washington Department
of Ecology, said only one
railroad, Union Pacific, took
issue with the public disclo-
sure. The agency and railroad
eventually worked past it, and
Washington still discloses
Union Pacific’s plan.
“It’s good for people to
be able to see the content of
a plan, because they have
confidence from seeing a
response system in place,”
Pilkey-Jarvis said.
HB 2131 is the second
attempt Smith Warner has
made to increase the state’s
preparedness for oil trains.
The Pendleton Whisky
Music Fest is being adver-
tised as “The Best Day of
Summer,” and it’s set to be
an especially lucrative one,
too.
Co-organizer
Doug
Corey said Whisky Fest has
already sold 4,500 more
tickets than it did last year
and is on track to fill all of
its 16,500 seats for the July
15 concert at the Round-Up
grounds.
Corey declined to say
how many tickets were left,
but as headliner Maroon 5
and opening acts MAGIC!
and Runaway June return
some of their ticket
allotments, Whisky Fest
organizers are opening up
tickets to fans.
The Whisky Fest website
shows seat availability in
several sections, including
seats in the grandstands and
premium seats on the arena
grass.
Although the staging
was reconfigured to accom-
modate Maroon 5 and some
more seating was added,
Corey attributed the growth
to last year’s event.
“We kind of got a little
reputation that it was a great
event,” he said.
Corey said 2016’s head-
liner — Zac Brown Band
— might have sold just as
many tickets if they led the
2017 event.
With more people
expected in town, Whisky
Fest wants to give them
something to do if they
arrive in Pendleton on
Friday. Organizers have
added a free kickoff party
on July 14 on Main Street.
Corey said visitors
could come to downtown
Pendleton for the farmers
market before moving on to
the party, which runs from 7
p.m. to 11 p.m.
The party will feature
performances from DJ
Sovern-T, who will also
DJ at the Saturday concert
between sets, and The
FrogHollow Band, a Walla
Walla group that performs
original songs and country
covers.
HERMISTON
Staff photo by Jayati Ramakrishnan
Members of the UCFD #1 board and Blue Mountain
Community College get ready to break ground on
the new training tower at the fire district’s Station
23 on Westland Road.
New fire training
tower breaks ground
East Oregonian
Come September, the
Umatilla County Fire
District will stand a little
taller.
Or at least one of their
buildings will. The district
broke ground Thursday
on a four-story training
tower at Station 23 on
78760 Westland Road.
The structure will allow
the district to conduct live
fire training, search-and-
rescue scenarios and other
exercises.
Board members from
the fire district and Blue
Mountain
Community
College were on hand
to celebrate. Passage of
a bond for BMCC two
years ago will provide 47
percent of the funding for
the tower. The rest will be
funded by UCFD.
Casey White-Zollman,
BMCC’s vice president
of public relations, said
the tower will be a great
service to the college’s fire
science program.
“It will be an essential
part of the hands-on
training our students go
through,” she said.
UCFD Board Chair
Rick Sherman said the
tower would allow the
firefighters to do a better
job serving the community,
and keep themselves safer,
too.
“The most important
resource we have for our
fire department is our
people,” he said.
Irrigon man dies in car crash
By East Oregonian
An Irrigon man died
and a woman was injured
Thursday in a single car
crash in Irrigon, according
to the Morrow County
Sheriff’s Office.
According to the sher-
iff’s dispatch office, the
vehicle was traveling west-
bound on Columbia Lane
around 5:20 p.m. Thursday
when the driver lost control
for unknown reasons near
the intersection with W.
Eighth Road.
The vehicle rolled twice
and both people in the vehicle
were ejected. Neither were
wearing a seatbelt, according
to the sheriff’s office.
Rafael Garza, 23, of
Irrigon, was pronounced
dead at the scene. Katelyn
Tolar, 18, also of Irrigon,
was injured and transported
to Good Shepherd Hospital,
Hermiston with serious
injuries. It was not imme-
diately known who was
driving the vehicle.
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