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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 13, 2019)
NORTHWEST East Oregonian A2 Tuesday, August 13, 2019 Ag dismisses ‘flawed’ study of breaching Snake River dams By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press PORTLAND — Agri- culture representatives say a recent study that calls for removing four dams from the Lower Snake River relies on outdated and flawed data. “They start with flawed information and a flawed premise,” said Kristin Meira, director of the Pacific North- west Waterways Association. Meira disputes the study’s suggestion that a non-use value of the river can be quantified, especially when compared to the value of the products moved on the river, the impact on farmers and renewable hydropower. In its report on the eco- nomic tradeoffs of remov- ing the Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose and Lower Granite dams, economic consulting firm ECONorthwest claimed: • The lock system that supports shipments of goods by barge on the Lower Snake River operates at a net loss. • The cost of replacing irrigation infrastructure is comparatively inexpensive. • Removing the Lower Snake River Dams will be expensive and generate sub- stantial positive economic impacts in the region. “Benefits accruing to the public from a restored AP Photo, File The Ice Harbor Dam on the Snake River. An environmentalist-sponsored study claims taking out it and three other dams would be beneficial to the region’s economy. natural river system and a reduced extinction risk of wild salmon outweigh the net costs of removing the dams by over $8.6 billion,” the study states. Much of the data used in the study is outdated or from unreliable sources, including from a group committed to Snake River dam removal, Meira said. The study hasn’t gained much traction for decision makers because it doesn’t follow the procedures fed- eral agencies must follow under the National Environ- Forecast for Pendleton Area TODAY WEDNESDAY Nice with abundant sunshine THURSDAY Mostly sunny and nice FRIDAY Clouds and sunshine SATURDAY Turning cloudy Cloudy PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 87° 60° 89° 61° 86° 59° 84° 55° 92° 59° HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 90° 60° 92° 63° 90° 62° 87° 58° OREGON FORECAST 94° 64° 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 77/57 82/52 87/58 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 88/64 Lewiston 83/57 90/61 Astoria 73/57 Pullman Yakima 88/59 83/54 88/62 Portland Hermiston 87/61 The Dalles 90/60 Salem Corvallis 86/55 Yesterday Normals Records La Grande 84/54 PRECIPITATION John Day Eugene Bend 88/56 85/51 88/53 Ontario 91/60 Caldwell Burns 83° 55° 89° 58° 106° (1971) 45° (1966) 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 87/56 0.00" 0.05" 0.08" 4.61" 5.10" 6.00" Today Medford 91/59 SUN AND MOON Klamath Falls 85/49 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2019 WSW 4-8 W 7-14 Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today 5:53 a.m. 8:07 p.m. 7:29 p.m. 3:52 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 109° in Zapata, Texas Low 29° in Stanley, Idaho By ALEX CASTLE East Oregonian HEPPNER — Crews have contained more than half the HK Complex fires in the Umatilla National For- est after a weekend of rain- fall and cooler temperatures aided their efforts. “It’s been a solid, coopera- tive effort,” said public infor- mation officer for Northwest Incident Management Team 6 Lauren Maloney. Overall containment of the fires is at 59%, almost double the reported contain- ment on Saturday morning. A ninth fire was completely extinguished in the complex over the weekend while its largest, the Little Bear/Sul- phur Springs fire, remains controlled to the south with mop-up operations happen- ing to the north, according to a press release. The release also notes an isolated area of unburnt fuel inside its fire lines that will NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY produce heavy smoke over the following days, though Maloney said even high winds fanning the flames is of little concern. “The worry is if the embers could blow beyond the fire line,” she added. The storms over the week- end also presented challenges for the crews, which insti- tuted night patrols to check for new potential fires. On Sunday afternoon, a patrol located a new fire within the complex and quickly con- tained the blaze. The release states that it will be moni- tored over the coming days. The temperatures are expected to rise on Mon- day with low humidity, which Maloney said will allow patrols to watch for hot spots where seemingly sub- dued fires continue to emit heat and rekindle under the warmer, dryer conditions. Other operations include mopping up the smaller fires and beginning the process of Public employees sue Oregon over pension law SALEM — Nine Oregon public employees have sued the state, saying their pension bene- fits are unfairly reduced by a new law. The Statesman Journal reported that the lawsuit, filed Friday in the Oregon Supreme Court, contests Senate Bill 1049, which the Ore- gon Legislature passed and Gov. Kate Brown signed into law this year. The lawsuit says the legislation amounts to a breach of contract and illegal taking because it reduces the amount of retirement benefits for the employees. The measure was passed by lawmakers in a bid to rein in the state’s unfunded pension lia- bility tied to the Public Employees Retirement System, which is about $27 billion. Policymak- ers have long grappled with how to keep those costs under control, which are tied to the pen- sions of local, state and school district retirees. Father pleads guilty to death of toddler 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. Main St., Hermiston 541-567-6211 Office hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed major holidays EastOregonian.com To subscribe, call 1-800-522-0255 or go online to 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 © 2019, EO Media Group 70s 80s 90s 100s warm front stationary front 110s high low BAKER CITY — A Baker City man pleaded guilty Friday in Baker County Circuit Court to criminally negligent homicide, unlaw- ful possession of methamphetamine and reck- lessly endangering another person in connection with the November death of his 2-year-old son. Peter Lee Mankins, 33, of 1905 Birch St., was sentenced to 34 months in prison and will be placed on three years’ post-prison supervi- sion upon release, District Attorney Matt Shirt- Subscriber services: For mail delivery, online access, vacation stops or delivery concerns call 1-800-522-0255 ext. 1 SUBSCRIPTION RATES EZPay 52 weeks 26 weeks 13 weeks Local home delivery Savings (cover price) $13/month 60 percent $173.67 41 percent $91.86 38 percent $47.77 36 percent *EZ Pay = one-year rate with a monthly credit or debit card/check charge Single copy price: $1.50 Tuesday through Saturday Circulation Dept. 800-781-3214 equipment removal. Crews are also beginning rehabil- itory work around the com- plex, which Maloney said is mostly trying to cover up the paths firefighters have cre- ated amid the fighting. “It’s really to do whatever they can to allow the area to heal as naturally as possible,” she said. Sunday also consisted of restocking some of the local water sources the crews drew from over the last week. Maloney said some locals pointed out that their ponds had gotten low, and while they were happy to assist in fighting the fires, it could affect them in the fall. Fire managers announced Monday afternoon they were lowering the fire danger rat- ing and lifting all restric- tions on public use, including recreational chain saw use, effective Tuesday. However, a portion of 21 Road remains closed due to the fire traffic in the area. BRIEFLY Wed. NW 3-6 NNW 6-12 Boardman Pendleton “We just don’t see (the ECONorthwest study) being a useful part of the conver- sation,” Meira said. “When you have flawed data coming in, the conclusions that result are unreliable.” “The report is dismissive of the fact that wheat grow- Over half of HK Complex fires contained WINDS (in mph) 90/58 86/48 0.00" 0.10" 0.15" 9.71" 6.49" 8.10" through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Pendleton 81/50 88/58 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date HERMISTON Enterprise 87/60 90/63 81° 53° 88° 58° 105° (1971) 42° (1907) PRECIPITATION Moses Lake 82/56 Aberdeen 82/59 85/62 Tacoma Yesterday Normals Records Spokane Wenatchee 82/61 mental Policy Act , she said. Those agencies are already studying the effects 14 dams have on fish and other species as part of Columbia River systems operations. A draft environ- mental impact statement is due in February. ers in the Palouse may have a significant increase in the cost of getting their prod- uct to market,” said Don Schwerin, chairman of the Washington State Demo- crats agricultural and rural issues caucus. “That is sim- ply not acceptable.” Schwerin said the report is flawed, but ag needs to take it seriously. He cited a Save Our Wild Salmon survey, which indi- cates that “solid majorities” of Washington voters, about 63%, would spend up to $7 per month on their electric bill to restore wild salmon and improve water quality. “It tells us that there is a genuine threat that the state- wide majority could over- ride the interests of Eastern and Central Washington,” he said. The caucus will hold a forum about possible effects of dam removal on barges and rail before Christmas, Schwerin said. Tours that allow legisla- tors to actually see the dams and salmon survival rates are more helpful, said Glen Squires, CEO of the Wash- ington Grain Commission. “It’s almost like the study was designed to get a lot of media hype about dams and breaching, just to keep the whole breaching idea out in the media,” Squires said. ADVERTISING Regional Publisher and Revenue Director: • Christopher Rush 541-278-2669 • crush@eomediagroup.com Advertising Services: • Angela Treadwell 541-966-0827 • atreadwell@eastoregonian.com • Grace Bubar 541-276-2214 • gbubar@eastoregonian.com Multimedia Consultants: • Jeanne Jewett 541-564-4531 • jjewett@eastoregonian.com • Audra Workman 541-564-4538 • aworkman@eastoregonian.com Business Office Coordinator • Dayle Stinson 541-278-2670 • dstinson@eastoregonian.com cliff stated in a press released. Mankins was charged with criminally neg- ligent homicide, a Class B felony, after 2-year- old Liam Mankins got control of a loaded .380-caliber semi-automatic pistol at his home on Nov. 4, 2018, and shot himself in the head. Peter Mankins was asleep in his bedroom when the boy got access to the gun, Shirtcliff said. Liam was playing with the gun on the floor when it discharged. The boy was transported to St. Alphon- sus Hospital in Baker City, and then flown by Life Flight to St. Alphonsus Medical Center in Boise, where he later died. Oregon paid leave law 1st in U.S. to fully cover lowest wages SALEM — Oregon Gov. Kate Brown on Friday signed what advocates are calling the nation’s most progressive paid family and med- ical leave measure, making the state the first in the country to offer 100% wage replacement for minimum-wage workers. The law, which will pay out benefits begin- ning in 2023, gives 12 weeks paid time off to new parents, victims of domestic violence and those who become ill or need to care for a sick family member. It also includes people who may be in the country illegally and those work- ing part time. Residents need to work 1,000 hours a year to qualify. The state joins eight others and the District of Columbia in offering paid family leave. — EO Media Group and Associated Press 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 eastoregonian. com/community/announcements • To submit sports or outdoors information or tips: 541-966-0838 • sports@eastoregonian.com Business Office Manager: 541-966-0824 COMMERCIAL PRINTING Production Manager: Mike Jensen 541-215-0824 • mjensen@eastoregonian.com
