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East Oregonian
Saturday, November 18, 2017
POWER: Expected to cost $1.2B when all is said and done
Continued from 1A
already invested $90 million
in B2H, and the total cost is
expected to be $1 billion and
$1.2 billion when all is said
and done.
Do the math, and that is
up to $4 million per mile of
transmission. Still, Colburn
said B2H remains the most
cost-effective way of filling
the company’s projected
demand.
“The need is still strong,”
he said.
According to project
documents, B2H is intended
to share roughly 1,000 mega-
watts of electricity between
the two regions, which
traditionally experience peak
demand at different times of
the year — summertime for
the Intermountain West, and
wintertime for the Pacific
Northwest.
Routing
the
line,
however, has been a source
of controversy in Umatilla
and
Morrow
counties,
especially among farmers
worried about losing high-
value cropland. The BLM
decision, meanwhile, takes
into account things like
sensitive vegetation, wildlife
and cultural resources as
directed under the National
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
The massive 300-mille B2H transmission lines would add 1,000 megawatts of
electrical capacity to the area.
Environmental Policy Act.
While Colburn said
there is no such thing as a
transmission line without
impacts, he feels the chosen
route takes steps to minimize
environmental impacts.
“This is the culmination
of much analysis, and
many stakeholders coming
together,” Colburn said.
“It’s a long process, and
we’re certainly supportive of
getting it right.”
As expected, the trans-
mission line would plug in
to Oregon at the Bonneville
Power
Administration’s
proposed Longhorn Substa-
tion east of Boardman.
From there, it would run
approximately 12 miles
south along Bombing Range
Road in Morrow County
before heading east through
Umatilla County, south of
Pilot Rock and the Umatilla
Indian Reservation then
southeast through Union,
Baker and Malheur counties
on its way to Idaho.
After extensive negotia-
tions, about seven miles of
B2H would be built on the
west side of Bombing Range
Road on the U.S. Navy’s
Boardman Bombing Range,
thereby avoiding irrigated
farms on the east side of the
road. Colburn said the Navy
will have to complete its own
environmental analysis, and
will require the removal of
an existing 69-kilovolt BPA
line.
Earlier this year, Morrow
County officials asked
to work with the Oregon
Department of Land Conser-
vation and Development on
a pilot project that would
make Bombing Range Road
a designated energy trans-
mission corridor, based on
the findings of an advisory
committee appointed by
Gov. Kate Brown in 2015.
The goal is to avoid having
multiple transmission lines
criss-crossing the landscape
as more wind and solar
companies consider moving
into the area.
Carla McLane, Morrow
County planning director,
said the B2H route fits within
that concept, though she was
disappointed the entire line
could not be located on Navy
land.
“I guess you bring every-
body to the table and do the
best you can,” McLane said.
“It will never be perfect.”
The county is now ready
to engage in the state permit-
ting process, where McLane
said they can continue to
address how farmland will
be protected.
Bob Waldher, Umatilla
County planning director,
said he was also pleased to
see the line follow a more
southerly route, avoiding
Interstate 84 and farmland
between Pendleton and Pilot
Rock.
“I think it matches what
our recommendation was,”
Waldher said. “It should be
less impact to high-value
agriculture.”
Idaho Power submitted
a revised preliminary appli-
cation for a site certificate
to the Oregon Department
of Energy in July. Colburn
said the utility has tried to
work with local counties as
much as possible to tailor a
route that works with their
preferences.
“I do think that, through
the process, we have mini-
mized impacts to a great
extent,” he said.
———
Contact George Plaven
at gplaven@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0825.
POLICE: Patrol division now at full staff with 15 patrol deputies
Continued from 1A
safety. The more veteran
deputies bring experience to
aid us in training the newer
ones.”
McDaniel is married
with two boys, ages 10 and
13. He said he applied in
the past for a deputy job,
and when an opening came
along the sheriff’s office
hired him in August 2016.
He graduated from the
lengthy basic police course
at the Oregon Public Safety
Academy, Salem, wrapped
up the sheriff’s office field
training program and has
been solo since April. He
also still has to meet obliga-
tions with the Guard.
“I juggle,” he said.
The support he said he
receives from the sheriff’s
office makes that possible.
McDaniel also said he
has a private drone pilot’s
license and is eager to
bring his piloting skills to
the sheriff’s office drone
program.
The county has used
its drone program to help
deliver food to stranded
hunters and peer into burning
structures. McDaniel said
the remote-controlled aerial
vehicles also can enhance
officer safety, allowing
police, for example, to scout
a place before a drug raid.
New faces
Rowan said in an email
the county funded seven
patrol deputies when he won
after 28 years with the
sheriff’s office, and Harry
Hockett retired on Monday
after 18 years as a court
security officer. Hockett
was a Pendleton officer for
27 years before that.
The sheriff’s office this
year also lost two long-
serving members.
Greg Hodgen in 2006
retired from the Multnomah
County Sheriff’s Office
and established Umatilla
County’s Rural Neigh-
borhood Watch program,
which boasts more than
700 members. And Jesse
Villarreal died in October.
He worked for the office
from November 1997 until
October of 2016 and was a
fixture of courthouse secu-
the sheriff’s post in 2012,
but soon after taking office
two retired and two were on
long-term medical leave.
“Today,” Rowan stated,
“we have 15 patrol deputies,
our most recent hire was
Roy Swiger, bringing our
patrol division to full staff.”
Swiger joined the sher-
iff’s office Nov. 1 and began
his law enforcement career
in 1998 as a reserve officer
with
Milton-Freewater,
according to the sheriff’s
office. Other recent hires
include deputy Rowen
Hayes, who came with
more than 27 years of law
enforcement experience.
That depth is going to
matter. Nathan Good retired
as a senior deputy in July
rity and jail transport.
Improving
the
jail
also remains an ongoing
theme. The sheriff’s office
hired Deb Green on Nov.
1 as a corrections service
specialist to teach cognitive
classes and drug and alcohol
classes inside the jail. The
sheriff’s office teamed up
with the county’s commu-
nity justice department to
use a state Justice Rein-
vestment Grant to fund the
new position. Green taught
cognitive-based curriculum
at the two state prisons in
the county and for the last
year was an alcohol and
drug counselor for the jail.
While McDaniel said he
grew up all over, he calls
Pendleton home. Retire-
ment from the military is on
the horizon, he said, and the
sheriff’s job offered him and
his family more stability.
The doesn’t mean boring.
Each day on the job comes
with a range of situations
and people, some of whom
don’t want to deal with
a cop. McDaniel said he
doesn’t take that personally.
“Just like anything else,
people want respect, and
you try to treat them with
respect,” McDaniel said.
“You’re not always the good
guy.”
So far, he said, that atti-
tude has worked.
———
Contact Phil Wright at
pwright@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0833.
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