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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 9, 2019)
NORTHWEST East Oregonian A2 Friday, August 9, 2019 Water crisis in Warm Springs drags into third month blinds, because when the sun- light hits the water too long, it creates algae,” she said. She said the window shades were open so she could see to take an inventory. The results made her anxious. “We’re low … and so in my mind, I’m thinking, what if we don’t have enough?” she said. “I want to help serve the community, and say we run out. What are we going to do?” The center runs on dona- tions, and it might distribute 3,000 gallons of water a day, plus other supplies like bleach wipes, plastic plates, utensils and commodes, said Danny Martinez, emergency man- ager for the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. At first, donated supplies poured in from all over the Pacific Northwest. “But they’re all hoping that it’s resolved today,” Martinez said. “And so when I call them back, they’re kind of puzzled by it. … ‘You mean you still don’t have water, Dan?’” The list of problems is long. Firefighters can’t count on hydrants to work, Marti- nez said, and “the sprinkler system, the cooling systems, air-conditioning systems, the restrooms, the toilets, every- thing is affected by lack of water.” Meanwhile, federal agen- cies have been slow to com- mit money toward long-term fixes in Warm Springs. At the same time, the Environmental By EMILY CURETON Oregon Public Broadcasting WARM SPRINGS — The Warm Springs Indian Reser- vation in Central Oregon has been without safe drinking water all summer. Some peo- ple don’t have running water at all. In May, a burst pipe led to a cascade of infrastructure failures. That leaves around 4,000 people improvising for an essential human need. “I’ll go back to being a teacher, hopefully, after this is done,” said Dorothea Thurby, a volunteer emergency man- ager whose days now revolve around a man-made disaster. The preschool where she teaches shut down when the water system failed. Thurby was furloughed. At an ad-hoc water dis- tribution center on the reser- vation, she lifts about 1,000 pounds of water contain- ers a day, organizes supplies and helps keep mobile show- ers clean. She said her main job, though, is being a leader, supervising youth workers as they work out of an old grade school building. It’s where she was once a student. “I wish we could make something better out of this place, but right now we have to store all of our water in here,” Thurby said. She surveyed bottles tak- ing up one of the defunct classrooms. “See how the sunlight hits some of the gal- lons? … We’ll cover those OPB Photo/Emily Cureton Volunteer Emergency Manager Dorothea Thurby, of Warm Springs, takes inventory of bottled water. The Warm Springs Indian Reservation in Central Oregon has been without safe drinking water all summer. Some people don’t have running water at all. Protection Agency has threat- ened to fine the tribe nearly $60,000 a day if it doesn’t make repairs by October. The EPA order says “the system may present immi- nent and substantial endan- germent” to human health, while “state and local author- ities have not acted to protect the health of such persons.” A spokesperson for the EPA said the tribes have not requested funding from its water infrastructure-related loans and that it would be unlikely to get such an appli- cation approved since those programs require systems to bill individual users for water. That idea has been shot down by Warm Springs tribal mem- bers before. A spokesperson for the Forecast for Pendleton Area SATURDAY TODAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY Federal Emergency Manage- ment Agency, or FEMA, said in an email that the tribes have not asked for aid since the Warm Springs Tribal Council declared an emergency May 31. In an unusual move, this summer the Oregon Legisla- ture stepped in, earmarking $7.8 million in lottery bonds for water and sewer proj- ects on the reservation. The amount is about half of what Rep. Daniel Bonham, R-The Dalles, said he first proposed adding to an omnibus bill. “Although (Warm Springs is) a sovereign nation, they are also my constituents,” Bon- ham said. “There are philosophical questions we can ask at some point, about what should the A few afternoon showers 87° 58° 79° 58° Intervals of clouds and sunshine Partly sunny and pleasant Mostly sunny and nice PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 79° 56° 83° 57° 83° 53° HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 82° 60° 91° 62° 83° 56° 86° 57° OREGON FORECAST 87° 53° ALMANAC Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows. PENDLETON through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Seattle Olympia 68/56 84/57 90/59 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 90/65 Lewiston 75/55 92/64 Astoria 68/56 Pullman Yakima 90/63 75/54 91/65 Portland Hermiston 80/60 The Dalles 91/62 Salem Corvallis 80/53 La Grande Yesterday Normals Records 87/57 PRECIPITATION John Day Eugene Bend 81/57 82/49 85/55 Ontario 91/61 Caldwell Burns 83° 70° 89° 59° 108° (1972) 40° (1934) 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 79/55 0.00" 0.00" 0.05" 4.56" 5.10" 5.97" WINDS (in mph) 89/61 83/45 0.00" 0.00" 0.09" 9.61" 6.49" 8.04" Today Boardman Pendleton Medford 82/61 Sat. S 6-12 NNW 6-12 SW 7-14 WSW 6-12 SUN AND MOON Klamath Falls 77/44 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2019 Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today 5:48 a.m. 8:13 p.m. 4:02 p.m. 12:46 a.m. Full Last New First Aug 15 Aug 23 Aug 30 Sep 5 NATIONAL EXTREMES Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 111° in Palm Springs, Calif. Low 40° in Climax, Colo. a red flag warning remains in effect until Saturday at 10 a.m. with danger lev- els high and public use restrictions on chain saw use in effect. Winds are expected to be light with high temperatures, while Friday is also expected to be partly cloudy with scat- tered showers. Thunder- storms are expected over the next couple of days. A closure order in the area is also in effect due to the fire activity. People are urged to be cautious while driving in the area and to expect increased fire traf- fic on the roads. through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Pendleton 82/53 80/56 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date PENDLETON — A majority of the fires in the Umatilla National Forest’s HK complex have been contained according to a Thursday morning press release as firefighters tran- sitioned command from a Type 3 management team to a Type 2 team at 6 a.m. The HK Complex con- sists of 13 fires sparked by lightning that are burning 15 miles north of Mon- ument on the Heppner Ranger District. 8 of those fires have been 100% con- tained by Thursday while the fires have grown to 2,455 acres in total. The Sulfer Springs fire was active on Wednes- day and pushed toward the 21 road, where it is being contained by dozer lines. The Little Bear fire is 50% lined but avia- tion resources stalled on Wednesday due to light- ning in the area. According to the press release, 474 personnel have been assigned to the fire with multiple engines and crews, along with mul- tiple fixed-wing resources from John Day Airbase. Fire officials warn that HERMISTON Enterprise 87/58 86/64 86° 61° 89° 59° 111° (1972) 40° (1893) PRECIPITATION Moses Lake 75/57 Aberdeen 84/60 87/66 Tacoma Yesterday Normals Records Spokane Wenatchee 74/59 will take years to be ready to move into construction. Nationally, IHS has found Native homes are nine times more likely to lack access to safe water than those in the general population. According to Warm Springs Chief Operating Officer Alyssa Macy, repairs underway now “are consid- ered temporary, and tem- porary is a couple of years … because we know this isn’t the permanent fix,” as reported by the tribally owned radio station KWSO in June. Macy did not respond to requests for comment. The boil water notice could be lifted by the end of the month, but that timeline has been extended before. On a recent morning at the water distribution center, two teenage volunteers took a break from hauling water around in the warm weather to chase a yellow butterfly. Fifteen-year-old Cajun- Rain Scott giggled as she tried to cup it in her hands. “Butterflies keep com- ing around me,” she said. “… That’s good. … That means change.” She said summer nor- mally means “having fun with my friends and skate- boarding. But I can’t do that now because I’m help- ing the community, and that’s more important than skateboarding, so I’d rather be doing this.” Most fires contained at HK Complex East Oregonian A strong afternoon thunderstorm state’s role be, what is the federal government’s com- mitment in terms of trea- ties already signed. But right now we’ve got a commu- nity in need,” Bonham said. He added: “If everybody is responsible, then no one is responsible.” Still, the state lottery bonds won’t pay out before 2021, according to the gover- nor’s office. Leaders from the Bureau of Indian Affairs declined to be interviewed and a spokes- person sent a written state- ment: “The trust relation- ship is shared by all federal agencies, not just the BIA. The specific level duties and appropriate responses that fall under the trust responsi- bility will be dependent on the factual circumstances and the treaty, statute, or reg- ulation at issue,” according to the statement. The BIA statement said the agency has provided over $400,000 in emergency funding for things like bot- tled water and portable bath- rooms in Warm Springs. The Indian Health Ser- vice, an agency within the federal Department of Health and Human Services with responsibility for serv- ing Native populations, said in a statement it has been responding. IHS said it has sent engineers to the reserva- tion six times since Novem- ber and helped with fund- ing applications, but those NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY BRIEFLY Judge: Trump administration can’t withhold Oregon grants PORTLAND — A judge has barred the Trump administration from withhold- ing public safety grants from the state and the city of Portland over Oregon’s sanctu- ary law that directs police not to help federal agents enforce immigration policies. U.S. District Judge Michael J. McShane, who is based in Eugene, also said in the decision issued late Wednesday that the federal government can’t impose immigra- tion-related conditions on the grant awards. McShane’s ruling mirrors similar ones by federal judges elsewhere in the country. The Oregonian/OregonLive reported McShane made the decision in a case brought by Gov. Kate Brown, Oregon Attorney Gen- eral Ellen Rosenblum and the city against President Donald Trump and U.S. Attorney General William Barr. He found that two federal statutes uncon- stitutionally ban local and state govern- ments and agencies from enacting laws or policies that limit communication with fed- eral officials about immigration or some- one’s citizenship status. PAC helps pay fines for GOP senators SALEM — A political action commit- tee has donated enough money to cover the majority of fines for each of the 11 Republican state senators in Oregon who walked out of the Capitol to kill a clime change bill in June. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports the Stand with Our Senators Political Action Committee on July 30 contributed $3,000 to each of the campaign committees of the 11 senators involved in the walk- out, according to state campaign finance records. That’s most of the $3,500 that Senate leaders, who are Democrats, fined Republicans for missing seven days of work near the end of this year’s legisla- tive session. The fines accrued at $500 per day, per absent senator. The largest donor to the political action committee was 2018 gubernatorial candidate Knute Buehler, who chipped in $5,000. Other top donors include individuals and companies in the construction and logging industries. — Associated Press CORRECTION: In the Page A3 story “Condon Times-Journal,” published Tuesday, July 9, the name of The Times-Journal‘s new owner Stephen Allen was misspelled. Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. -10s -0s 0s showers t-storms 10s rain 20s flurries 30s snow 40s 50s ice 60s cold front E AST O REGONIAN — Founded Oct. 16, 1875 — 211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton 541-276-2211 333 E. 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