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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 21, 2018)
NORTHWEST East Oregonian Page 2A Tuesday, August 21, 2018 Landfill emitting mercury with no oversight, competitor alleges says that’s an unfair advan- tage that will allow the Arling- ton landfill to take away cus- tomers and turn Oregon into a magnet for mercury-contami- nated waste. TD*X was fined by the U.S. EPA $788,000 in 2012 for operating in a manner similar to what Oregon is allowing in Arlington. The company installed addi- tional pollution controls and must limit how much mer- cury-laden waste it takes in. Now TD*X has launched an effort, including a 202- page research paper, to ensure the Arlington facility faces the same restrictions it does some 2,000 miles away on the Gulf Coast. Jackie Lang, a Chemical Waste Management spokes- woman, said mercury is “not present in high concentra- tions in the waste we’re man- aging and recycling,” which comes from petroleum refin- ery storage tank bottoms. Jennifer Flynt, an Oregon Department of Environmen- tal Quality spokeswoman, By ROB DAVIS The Oregonian/OregonLive Oregon regulators are letting a landfill operator in Arlington send poisonous mercury into the air without the environmental controls that companies face in other states, a leading competitor alleges. Chemical Waste Man- agement’s landfill accepts hazardous waste from oil refineries and heats it up in a process that reclaims oil, which can be resold. If not strictly controlled, process- ing oil waste can also release mercury, lead, arsenic and hydrochloric acid. When the Oregon Department of Environmen- tal Quality approved an air pollution permit for the oil operation in 2016, it con- tained no mention of mer- cury or limitations on how much the plant can process. Neither does a separate haz- ardous waste permit cur- rently under review. TD*X Associates of Texas Photo contributed by Waste Management The Columbia Ridge Landfill and Recycling Center is located south of Arlington in Gilliam County. said the Arlington landfill is in compliance with the law. In a written statement, she said her agency concluded the Arlington landfill wasn’t subject to the same rules as the Texas facility because they are “different in critical ways.” She did not explain how they are different. Mercury is a poison that accumulates in fish and poses well-known threats to human health. The landfill in Arlington is seven miles from the Columbia River, at the center of land ceded by tribes to the United States in their 1855 treaties. The state environmen- tal agency has dealt lightly with mercury polluters in the past. Nearly a decade ago, the Oregon Department of Envi- ronmental Quality came under intense scrutiny for going easy on an Eastern Oregon cement plant, allow- ing it to release poisonous mercury into the air with lit- tle oversight or restrictions. At other hazardous waste oil recyclers in the coun- try, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cracked down during the Obama administration, levying huge fines to force compli- ance with federal hazardous waste laws and requiring strict pollution limits. But now, under Presi- dent Trump’s EPA, Oregon has been allowed to interpret those same federal hazard- ous waste laws to allow the Arlington landfill to avoid Forecast for Pendleton Area BRIEFLY TODAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY Clouds breaking for sun; smoky Smoky with clearing Breezy with hazy sunshine Sunshine and a few clouds Partly sunny 86° 57° 91° 64° 81° 51° 81° 55° 84° 53° 84° 56° PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 88° 56° HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 88° 51° 92° 56° 95° 65° ALMANAC Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2018 Seattle 80/56 82/61 Tacoma 89/53 Aberdeen Olympia 87/58 Yakima 91/51 Moses Lake Pullman 87/53 80/51 Kennewick Walla Walla 86/61 88/53 Lewiston 94/58 Astoria 87/59 Portland Hermiston 95/63 The Dalles 88/51 Enterprise Pendleton La Grande Salem 96/58 John Day Eugene Bend 97/55 82/51 84/54 LOW 82° 86° 106° (1897) 63° 57° 38° (1916) PRECIPITATION HERMISTON Ontario through 3 p.m. yesterday TEMPERATURE HIGH LOW Yesterday Normals Records 85° 87° 105° (2009) 57° 57° 38° (1929) Today (in mph) Caldwell 87/58 84/43 0.00" 0.03" 0.13" 5.13" 6.65" 6.05" WINDS 87/56 Burns 0.00" Trace 0.27" 6.49" 11.37" 8.22" 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date Albany 98/55 HIGH Yesterday Normals Records PRECIPITATION 83/51 96/60 Corvallis 81/50 86/57 94/58 through 3 p.m. yesterday TEMPERATURE 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date 86/50 Longview 84/57 PENDLETON Spokane Wenatchee 89/61 Wednesday NNE 6-12 NNW 6-12 Boardman Pendleton SW 4-8 WNW 4-8 97/62 Klamath Falls 85/47 Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows. Aug 26 Sep 2 New 6:03 a.m. 7:53 p.m. 5:08 p.m. 1:36 a.m. First Sep 9 Sep 16 NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 113° in Needles, Calif. Low 30° in Walden, Colo. -0s showers t-storms 0s 10s rain 20s flurries 30s snow — Founded Oct. 16, 1875 — 211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton 541-276-2211 333 E. Main St., Hermiston 541-567-6211 Office hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed major holidays www.eastoregonian.com To subscribe, call 1-800-522-0255 or go online to www.eastoregonian.com and click on ‘Subscribe’ East Oregonian (USPS 164-980) is published daily except Sunday, Monday and postal holidays, by the EO Media Group, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. Periodicals postage paid at Pendleton, OR. Postmaster: send address changes to East Oregonian, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. Copyright © 2018, EO Media Group Pilot Butte faces lengthy rehab after July 4th fire Police seek 3 men in assault over Confederate flag BEND (AP) — Reha- bilitation of the base of Pilot Butte in Bend is still underway about six weeks after an illegal firework ignited a fire that ravaged the area. The Bend Bulletin reports Bend resident Alan Joseph Stout illegally lit the firework on the Fourth of July, sparking the fire and forcing nearby resi- dents to evacuate. The fire knocked out power for a large portion of the city. Susan Bethers, park manager for the Tumalo management unit of the Oregon State Parks and Recreation Department, which oversees Pilot Butte, says the rehab will be a long process. Bethers says the dam- age included dozens of scorched junipers on the butte, a destroyed informa- tional kiosk located near the park’s main trailhead and a damaged irrigation line running underground near the park’s base trail. BROWNSVILLE (AP) — Linn County authori- ties say a black teenager was assaulted at a country music festival after he crit- icized a Confederate flag three men were waving. Sheriff Jim Yon said Monday that the men were driving through the camp- ing area of the Willamette Country Music Festival in Brownsville waving the flag from a newer-model black Ford truck when the 18-year-old victim spoke out. One of the men got out and hit the victim several times before fleeing. He has not been found. The victim was treated for non-life threatening injuries. Linn County Lt. Michelle Duncan says authorities are investigat- ing whether the incident qualifies as a hate crime. The suspect had dark hair and was wearing jeans, a black muscle shirt with the sides cut, brown boots and a black cowboy hat. SUN AND MOON Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today Full Last Medford -10s strict controls. The move has concerned the Columbia River Inter- Tribal Fish Commission. Environmental groups are also worried, saying they are shocked to see what hap- pened at the cement kiln playing out yet again. “I don’t trust that the state knows how much mercury could be coming out of this facility,” said Mary Peveto, president of Neighbors for Clean Air, a Portland non- profit. “The state again seems to be complacent.” In response to ques- tions from The Orego- nian/OregonLive, an EPA spokeswoman said the fed- eral agency “will be work- ing with Oregon DEQ, the lead agency, to evaluate this facility and ensure it is per- mitted correctly.” Carl Palmer, a TD*X managing partner, said mer- cury is an inescapable con- taminant in oil refinery waste and other oily sources accepted by hazardous waste landfills like Arlington. 40s ice 50s 60s cold front 70s 80s 90s 100s warm front stationary front Subscriber services: For mail delivery, online access, vacation stops or delivery concerns call 1-800-522-0255 ext. 1 SUBSCRIPTION RATES Local home delivery Savings off cover price EZPay $14.50 41 percent 52 weeks $173.67 41 percent 26 weeks $91.86 38 percent 13 weeks $47.77 36 percent *EZ Pay = one-year rate with a monthly credit or debit card/check charge Single copy price: $1 Tuesday through Friday, $1.50 Saturday Circulation: 541-966-0828 110s high low Judge blocks order to kill wolf pack to protect cattle By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS Associated Press SPOKANE — A Wash- ington state judge has issued an emergency order block- ing the state from killing members of a wolf pack that have been preying on cattle. The Department of Fish and Wildlife had announced Monday morning that it would immediately begin efforts to kill members of the Togo wolf pack who had been preying on cattle in Ferry County near the Cana- dian border. Members of the Togo pack have preyed on cat- tle three times in the past 30 days and six times in the past 10 months, which exceeds the state’s threshold to take action, the agency said. But two environmental groups filed a lawsuit chal- lenging that decision, and a Thurston County Supe- rior Court judge on Monday afternoon issued an order to temporarily block the hunt. ADVERTISING Regional Publisher and Revenue Director: Christopher Rush 541-278-2669 • crush@eomediagroup.com Advertising Services: Grace Bubar 541-276-2214 • gbubar@eastoregonian.com Multimedia Consultants: • Kimberly Macias 541-278-2683 • kmacias@eastoregonian.com • Jeanne Jewett 541-564-4531 • jjewett@eastoregonian.com • Dayle Stinson 541-278-2670 • dstinson@eastoregonian.com • Angela Treadwell 541-966-0827 • atreadwell@eastoregonian.com • Audra Workman 541-564-4538 • aworkman@eastoregonian.com A hearing on the matter was set for Aug. 31. In a news release, agency director Kelly Susewind said the department planned to shoot the wolves from helicopters or on the ground. “The evidence shows that non-lethal measures have not been successful, and the pack will continue preying on livestock unless we take action to change its behav- ior,” Susewind said. The agency uses a pol- icy of incremental removal, killing one or a few wolves at a time. The Center for Biolog- ical Diversity and Casca- dia Wildlands immedi- ately sued, contending the order to kill wolves failed to undergo an environmen- tal analysis. “It’s outrageous that Washington wildlife offi- cials want to kill more wolves from the state’s small and recovering wolf population,” said Amaroq Weiss of the Center for Bio- logical Diversity. Classified & Legal Advertising 1-800-962-2819 or 541-278-2678 classifieds@eastoregonian.com or legals@eastoregonian.com NEWS • To submit news tips and press releases: call 541-966-0818 or email news@eastoregonian.com • To submit community events, calendar items and Your EO News: email community@eastoregonian.com or call Tammy Malgesini at 541-564-4539 or Renee Struthers at 541-966-0818. • To submit engagements, weddings and anniversaries: email rstruthers@eastoregonian.com or visit www.eastoregonian. com/community/announcements • To submit sports or outdoors information or tips: 541-966-0838 • sports@eastoregonian.com Business Office Manager: Janna Heimgartner 541-966-0822 • jheimgartner@eastoregonian.com COMMERCIAL PRINTING Production Manager: Mike Jensen 541-215-0824 • mjensen@eastoregonian.com
