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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 2017)
$10 off at Safeway NAUGHTON COMMITS TO GONZAGA SCARAMUCCI OUT AFTER JUST 11 DAYS SPORTS/1B NATION/8A COUPON/9A TUESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2017 141st Year, No. 206 One dollar WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD STANFIELD THE HOTTEST IS YET TO COME Thursday, Friday expected to break records in Hermiston Tues 101/64 By GEORGE PLAVEN East Oregonian Wed Break out the fans and crank up the air conditioning — this week is gonna be a scorcher across the Columbia Basin. More inside Temperatures are expected to hover above 100 degrees How to beat in Pendleton and Hermiston the heat 11A beginning Tuesday, and may set record highs by midweek as a massive heat wave grips the Pacifi c Northwest. Jim Smith, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pendleton, said the two hottest days will be Thursday and Friday before temperatures gradually begin to drop back down into the high 90s over the weekend. Pendleton can expect high temperatures of 103 degrees See HEAT/11A 103/65 Thurs 104/71 Friday Staff photo by E.J. Harris A man pushes a boat away from the shore of Lake Wallula on the Columbia River on Monday at McNary Beach in Umatilla. 105/72 EOTEC fairly close to fi nished Community pulls together to prepare event center for Umatilla County Fair By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian Roughly 300 volunteers donned work gloves Saturday to help ensure Hermiston’s Eastern Oregon Trade and Events Center is ready for the Umatilla County Fair. They fi lled black garbage bags with brush and weeds. They painted the stage. They sprayed bark dust, laid sod and planted trees. They worked from 8 a.m. until noon to dodge the summer heat under a cloudless sky. And when they were done they had a lunch of smoked meat sandwiches and — what else — Hermiston watermelons. But this swarm of workers was not sweating for that bit of reward. They did this for their faith and community. The Herm- iston Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints took on the project. “We do a day of service once a year or more. We believe service is part of our religion,” said church offi cial Kelly Sanders. “With this year, with the opening of the See EOTEC/11A Staff photo by Kathy Aney Volunteer Halle Thomas paints a post Saturday at the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center. The facili- ty’s fi rst major event, the Umatilla Coun- ty Fair, will kick off in just over a week. Staff photo by Kathy Aney Volunteers Laura and Bruce Mecham secure a newly planted tree with stakes Saturday at the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center arena in Hermiston. Who owns EOTEC? And other frequently asked questions By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian Thousands of Umatilla County residents are about to get their fi rst look at the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center as the project hosts its fi rst Umatilla County Fair and Farm- City Pro Rodeo Aug. 8-12. As rumors swirl and confusion abounds ahead of the change to a new venue, here are the answers to a few frequently asked questions about EOTEC: Who owns EOTEC? Umatilla County and the city of Hermiston are co-owners of EOTEC. They have each appointed repre- sentatives to a seven-member board More inside Board offers Nate Rivera job as interim EOTEC manager 11A known as the EOTEC Authority that is making decisions on construction and operations, and that board plans to hire a general manager to handle day-to-day business. But the city council and county commission have the ultimate oversight of and liability for the project. Who paid for EOTEC to be built? Most of EOTEC’s funds came from the government. Roughly $8.5 million for EOTEC came from state and federal grants, including a $6.4 million Oregon Lottery grant. Another $3 million in seed money came from Umatilla County selling the former fairgrounds on Orchard Avenue to Hermiston School District, and $450,000 came from the Umatilla County Fair moving fund. The city of Hermiston donated the 75 acres EOTEC is built on, valued at $1.5 million at the time, and paid to extend sewer and water infrastructure to the edge of the property. More than $2 million came from private donors. When it became clear that private fundraising would not be enough to fi nish the project, the county and city each donated an additional $600,000 for See QUESTIONS/11A Plant goes offl ine for picnic and repairs By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN East Oregonian The 3D Idapro dehydration plant in Stanfi eld will briefl y halt operations Monday to make minor repairs to the facility. They expect to resume working late Monday or Tuesday, but will stop work again on Tuesday afternoon and evening to accommodate the nearby National Night Out picnic. The temporary pause on factory activities is a result of weeks’ worth of complaints from residents about odors from the factory and, most recently, a fi re at the plant on Wednesday. Kevin Andreson, Idapro’s platform leader for non-grains, said in a press release the company is also taking some steps to mitigate the odors. “On Monday, we are installing a mobile odor control system that is designed to neutralize smells from the plant,” he said. “While not perfect, we are hopeful that this temporary measure will help to reduce ongoing odors.” Andreson said the company is in the process of building a new fi ltration system that will be installed in November. He also said the company has changed the way they purchase and handle raw potato products to reduce the smell coming from those materials. “We want to be a good neighbor for this commu- nity,” he said. “This situation is clearly frustrating to everyone, and we are doing everything we can to resolve it so that Stanfi eld can continue to be a great place to live.” Stanfi eld residents have been complaining about the smell for weeks to Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality and, most recently, are concerned about an explo- sion that caused the factory’s bag house to catch fi re. The fi re injured one employee. Andreson said the employee needed a short hospital visit for his minor burns but is now doing fi ne. A spokesman for Idapro said the initial smell was caused when the plant had a fi re in January, which burned some of the factory’s air puri- fi cation equipment. Several weeks ago, repre- sentatives from Oregon’s DEQ said the company had responded quickly to their requests for answers about the plant and that they were working on a solution. At a Stanfi eld city council meeting two weeks ago, citizens showed up in droves to protest the factory’s continued operations. Council members directed Stanfi eld City Manager Blair Larsen to begin fi ning the factory and seek a court order to shut the factory down. There is another city council meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 1 at Stanfi eld City Hall, 160 S. Main Street, Stanfi eld. The dehydration facility is expected to be discussed again. ——— Contact Jayati Ramakrishnan at jramakrishnan@eastorego- nian.com or 541-564-4534
