REGION
Saturday, October 6, 2018
East Oregonian
Page 3A
BOARDMAN
Lost Valley still in deep manure with state agency
Dairy failing to meet
wastewater rules even
with federal oversight
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
EO Media Group
PORTLAND — Wastewater
problems at a controversial Ore-
gon dairy have persisted despite
a federal trustee taking control
of the operation last month, state
farm regulators said during a
hearing Friday.
Lost Valley Farm of Board-
man has repeatedly run into trou-
ble with the Oregon Department
of Agriculture since the facility
began operating last year.
The financial problems of its
owner, Greg te Velde, led him
to file for bankruptcy protection
to prevent creditors from auc-
tioning off the dairy’s herd to
make money available for debt
repayment.
On Sept. 13, a bankruptcy
judge ordered a U.S. trustee,
Randy Sugarman, to take con-
trol of the dairy due to te Vel-
de’s spending company money
on gambling and otherwise fail-
ing to properly account for funds
and loans.
The change in operators
occurred shortly before te Velde
faced a court-ordered Oct. 5 dead-
line to begin bringing the facility
into regulatory compliance with
wastewater rules.
Nina Englander, an attorney
representing ODA in legal pro-
ceedings against te Velde, said in
a circuit court hearing Friday she
recognized the transition in oper-
ators explains some of the contin-
ued problems at the dairy but the
state government wants to avoid
future lapses.
Notably, wastewater recently
overtopped one manure lagoon
at the facility while the wind
sprayed wastewater from another
one, she said.
A pipe on the property was
also found by ODA inspectors to
be “spewing liquid manure” when
the facility was being flushed,
Englander said.
“I offer that as an example of
the systemic problems going on,”
she said.
The dairy must empty enough
wastewater from its lagoons to
make 75 acre-feet of storage
capacity available by Nov. 13.
However, there were recently
only 26 acre-feet of capacity in
the lagoons, down from 47 acre-
feet in August, Englander said.
Elizabeth Howard, an attor-
ney representing the dairy opera-
tor, said that despite the setbacks,
the facility had made “substan-
tial progress” in meeting a rem-
edies order issued by Multnomah
County Circuit Court Judge Kelly
Skye. The judge issued that order
in August when te Velde was
found to be in contempt of court
for violating an earlier settlement
deal with ODA.
The dairy has completed the
switch to using recycled water
— which is intended to reduce
its generation of wastewater —
and plans to soon begin applying
manure from the lagoons to about
1,500 acres once the current crops
are harvested, Howard said.
The manure application is con-
tingent on soil tests and approval
from ODA to ensure the field’s
nutrients remain at a level that
can agronomically be absorbed
by crops.
Emptying the lagoons will
be necessary to install the steel
gauges required by the court’s
remedies order, she said.
The dairy had also hit a “bump
in the road” regarding the instal-
lation of water flow meters at the
facility because it was difficult
to figure out the exact sources of
water and where it flowed, How-
ard said.
PUBLIC SAFETY LOG
BOARDMAN
THURSDAY
5:59 a.m. - A Heppner
woman on Southeast Court
Street reported a man was
stumbling around near her
house and may have been
intoxicated. She said the man
may have come from the
Dodge Caravan in the nearby
alley.
A Morrow County sheriff’s
deputy responded and found
the Dodge broke down. The
deputy took the man to the
vehicle to meet a mechanic.
9:18 a.m. - Staff at the high
school in Irrigon reported a
student had vaping materials.
10:26 a.m. - A Milton-
Freewater caller reported graffiti
on a building on the 200 block
of North Main Street.
10:39 a.m. - A woman
reported the theft of her car
from West Alleluia Avenue,
Hermiston. She said the crime
occurred between midnight and
8 in the morning.
11:48 a.m. - Pendleton
police took a report for a
burglary at Pendleton Square
Apartments Phase I, 300 S.W.
28th Drive.
4:28 p.m. - The Umatilla
County Sheriff’s Office took
a report for a burglary at
Green Acres Mobile Park,
53752 Appleton Road,
Milton-Freewater.
5:32 p.m. - A Hermiston
resident on Southwest 11th
Street told police she received
a call from a con man claiming
Clinic grant to fund
opioid treatment
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Pendleton firefighters disembark their fire engine while responding to a vehicle fire
at the intersection of Northwest Ellis Avenue and 12th Street on Thursday in Pend-
leton.
he was in Texas with a warrant
for her and would come to her
house Friday.
6:20 p.m. - A resident on
the 200 block of Northeast
Third Street, Irrigon, reported
the neighbor’s dog gets into
his yard and tries to attack his
dogs. The dog’s owners have
yet to address this ongoing
problem, he said, and one of
the children wrapped a blanket
around his arm and told the dog
to attack.
6:51 p.m. - An Irrigon
woman reported a man
was harassing her with text
messages. A deputy contacted
both parties and warned them
to stop contacting each other
or face possible arrest. They
understood.
10:33 p.m. - Pendleton
police responded to the
Rainbow Cafe, 209 S. Main St.,
for a local man threatening the
bartender.
BRIEFLY
BMCC to open
Veteran’s Resource
Center
Student veterans will soon
have a place at Blue Moun-
tain Community College
to study, meet other veter-
ans, and find resources. The
BMCC Veteran’s Resource
Center will open in Morrow
Hall, 2411 NW Carden Ave.,
Pendleton, on Wednesday,
Oct. 10, from 1:30 to 4 p.m.
The Veteran’s Resource
Center was funded by a
$50,000 grant from the Ore-
gon Department of Veter-
an’s Affairs that the college
received last year. Student
veterans will speak at the
center’s grand opening, as
well as officers from the
state veteran’s affairs office.
“Opening the Veteran’s
Resource Center is an excit-
ing opportunity for BMCC
A water dye test that “turned it
green and blue” has resolved that
issue and flow meters will likely
be installed within about a month,
she said.
The facility expects to have a
digital weather station installed
by Nov. 13 and a new manager
— Joel Edmonds, a dairy nutri-
ent and management consultant
— was recently hired to run the
dairy, Howard said.
Getting the dairy into regula-
tory compliance is the top prior-
ity of the federal trustee, Randy
Sugarman, she said.
“We’re going to do what needs
to be done, period,” said Sugar-
man, who is a longtime certified
public accountant with experi-
ence in agriculture.
Howard said the trustee does
not plan to challenge whether
the court-ordered remedies sanc-
tion for te Velde applies to him
even though it’s “a gray area of
the law.”
to better connect with and
provide resources to our stu-
dents who are veterans,”
BMCC President Cam Preus
said. “We are so thankful for
their service to our coun-
try, so providing a place for
them to gather, study and
gain resources is one way
we can show our gratitude
and help them toward their
educational goals.”
Drotzmann,
Chalmers back on
LOC board
Hermiston and Pendle-
ton have representation on
the League of Oregon Cities
board of directors for 2019.
Hermiston Mayor David
Drotzmann and Pendle-
ton Councilor Paul Chalm-
ers will both return to the
board after being elected by
the League’s membership
during its annual conference
in Eugene on Sept. 29.
Greg Evans, a city coun-
cilor for Eugene, will serve
as president; Jake Boone,
Cottage Grove city coun-
cilor, will serve as vice pres-
ident and Keith Mays (Sher-
wood) will serve as treasurer.
There are nine other direc-
tors on the board besides
Drotzmann and Chalmers.
The League of Oregon
Cities is an association of
all 241 of Oregon’s incorpo-
rated cities. It serves as the
lobbying and networking
arm of Oregon’s cities and
provides resources, such as
trainings and templates for
ordinances.
Book Fair benefits
Pilot Rock school
A children’s book sale,
games, raffle, fire truck tours
and a hot dog dinner (by
donation) are featured during
a Book Fair in Pilot Rock.
Several area businesses
have donated gift cards
for the event, said Christy
Campbell, librarian at Pilot
Rock Elementary School.
Money raised will go toward
the purchase of new books
for the school library.
The event is Thursday,
Oct. 11 from 4:30-7 p.m.
at Pilot Rock Elementary
School, 200 Vern McGowan
Drive.
HIT THE TRAIL SALE
FREE Drive-Thru
Flu Shot Clinic
October 11th-13th
% Storewide!
30 OFF
%
60 OFF
Men's, Women's and
Children's clothing, gifts,
jewelry, signs, etc...
Select Clothing
and Gifts
Pendleton Round-Up & Happy Canyon Gift Store
1114 Court Ave SW • Pendleton
8:30-5pm Weekdays • 10-4pm Weekends
Shop online www.leterbuck.com
October 16 & 17
9AM to 2PM
Pendleton Convention Center
Parking Lot
Flu shots are offered free of charge
(no insurance necessary)
and available to everyone
ages 18 and older.
For more info call
541-278-3262
2801 St. Anthony Way
Pendleton, OR 97801
www.sahpendleton.org
A Boardman clinic is one of more than two dozen in
the state that will receive federal funding to fight the opi-
oid crisis.
Columbia River Community Health Services in
Boardman received $285,000 from a grant through
Health Resources and Services Administration.
Seth Whitmer, CEO of Columbia River Community
Health Services, said the grant was noncompetitive, but
agencies had to offer a template of how they would use
the funds, and those plans had to be specific to mental
health or substance abuse treatment.
Whitmer said while the specifics have not been con-
firmed, Columbia River Health will likely use the money
to train staff, and to hire new people with experience
dealing with mental health and substance abuse issues.
The clinic already has a licensed clinical social
worker, who works directly with medical providers to
help patients with mental health issues.
“Having this embedded into our medical practice
makes people feel more comfortable dealing with men-
tal health issues, without the stigma of a mental health
clinic,” Whitmer said.
They hope to do something similar with substance abuse
treatment — integrating care with regular medical services.
“People abuse drugs or alcohol, and they can’t get out
of the health rut they’re in,” he said. “Providers don’t have
that training, so getting someone else to come in with that
training — we’re hoping to accomplish that as well.”
Whitmer said they will also spend some of the grant
money on medication disposal units — drop boxes where
people can safely get rid of prescription pills.
About 30 clinics from around Oregon received grants
from the same program, including Asher Community
Health Center in Wheeler County, La Pine Community
Health Center, Mosaic Medical in the Bend area, and
One Community Health in Hood River. In total, Oregon
clinics received about $2.2 million.
10/5 - 7
10/8 - 9
Cineplex Show Times
$5 Classic Movie
Cineplex Show Times
$5 Classic Movie
10/10 • 12pm
Ace in the Hole
10/10 • 12pm
Ace in the Hole
VENOM (PG13)
11:50* 4:50 7:20
2:20* 10:00
VENOM (PG13)
4:50 7:20
10:00
A STAR IS BORN (R)
12:40* 3:40* 6:40 9:40
A STAR IS BORN (R)
3:40* 6:40 9:40
SMALLFOOT (PG)
11:40* 1:50* 6:50
4:20 9:20
SMALLFOOT (PG)
6:50
4:20 9:20
THE HOUSE WITH A CLOCK
IN ITS WALLS (PG)
11:40* 2:10* 4:40 7:10 9:50
THE HOUSE WITH A CLOCK
IN ITS WALLS (PG)
4:40 7:10 9:50
A SIMPLE FAVOR (R)
11:30* 2:00* 4:30 7:00 9:30
A SIMPLE FAVOR (R)
4:30 7:00 9:30
* Matinee Pricing
* Matinee Pricing
wildhorseresort.com • 541-966-1850
wildhorseresort.com • 541-966-1850
Pendleton, OR I-84 - Exit 216
Pendleton, OR I-84 - Exit 216