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NAUGHTON
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OUT AFTER
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NATION/8A
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TUESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2017
141st Year, No. 206
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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