Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 17, 2019)
NORTHWEST East Oregonian A2 Saturday, August 17, 2019 Cost, timeline for removing Klamath River dams updated By GEORGE PLAVEN Capital Press KLAMATH FALLS — Removing four hydroelectric dams along the lower Klam- ath River in Southern Ore- gon and Northern California is expected to cost just under $434 million and could hap- pen by 2022, according to a new filing with the Fed- eral Energy Regulatory Commission. The nonprofit Klamath River Renewal Corp. sub- mitted plans with FERC in 2018 to decommission and demolish J.C. Boyle, Copco Nos. 1 and 2 and Iron Gate dams, which block about 400 miles of upstream habi- tat for migratory salmon and steelhead. Regulators are now con- sidering whether to transfer the dams’ operating license from PacifiCorp to KRRC before the project can move forward. A general contrac- tor, Kiewit Infrastructure West Co. of Fairfield, Cali- fornia, is already on board and working on a plan for razing the dams. But first, KRRC must answer questions from a six-member indepen- dent board of consultants appointed by the feds to prove they have the money, insurance and contingency for such a large proposal. Project leaders met with the board five times between March 14 and July 9. On July AP Photo, File Copco No. 2 Dam spans the Klamath River near Hornbrook, Calif. 29, KRRC filed a 1,333-page response to feedback includ- ing the updated cost estimate and timeline. Mark Bransom, KRRC executive director, said the filing “proves that we under- stand the magnitude of our charge and are on the right path.” “This is a project of vast importance for the environ- ment, the river and the peo- ple and communities in the Klamath Basin,” Bransom said. “We have the funding, the team, the expertise and the plan to do it right and pen a vibrant new chapter of Klamath River history.” Built between 1911 and 1962, the lower Klamath River dams are currently operated by PacifiCorp and have a total generation capacity of 169 megawatts. Efforts to remove the dams date back to the 2010, when farmers, tribes, environmen- tal groups and government agencies all signed on to the Klamath Hydroelectric Set- tlement Agreement. By restoring a more free-flowing river, the par- ties hope to improve spawn- ing and survival of fish spe- cies protected under the Endangered Species Act. KRRC was formed out of the settlement agree- ment after it was amended Forecast for Pendleton Area TODAY SUNDAY MONDAY Mostly sunny and comfortable Nice with brilliant sunshine 83° 55° 87° 59° TUESDAY Mostly sunny and pleasant WEDNESDAY Very warm with plenty of sun Sunny and very warm PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 88° 55° 93° 62° 93° 62° HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 86° 59° 90° 61° 91° 55° 96° 65° OREGON FORECAST 97° 66° 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 Wenatchee 74/60 Olympia 69/59 77/51 85/53 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 84/61 Lewiston 73/58 87/59 Astoria 70/59 Pullman Yakima 86/57 72/55 85/58 Portland Hermiston 75/59 The Dalles 86/59 Salem Corvallis 77/53 Yesterday Normals Records La Grande 80/50 PRECIPITATION John Day Eugene Bend 81/53 82/47 83/52 Ontario 88/57 Caldwell Burns 86° 63° 88° 58° 105° (2008) 40° (1935) 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 78/55 0.00" 0.05" 0.10" 4.61" 5.10" 6.02" WINDS (in mph) 86/56 84/45 0.00" 0.10" 0.21" 9.71" 6.49" 8.16" through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Pendleton 77/46 78/55 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 83/55 79/60 83° 60° 87° 58° 108° (1933) 39° (1909) PRECIPITATION Moses Lake 73/56 Aberdeen 79/55 84/60 Tacoma Yesterday Normals Records Spokane Today Boardman Pendleton Medford 89/57 Sun. WSW 7-14 W 7-14 WSW 7-14 W 6-12 SUN AND MOON Klamath Falls 86/48 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2019 Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today 5:57 a.m. 8:00 p.m. 9:24 p.m. 7:54 a.m. Last New First Full Aug 23 Aug 30 Sep 5 Sep 13 NATIONAL EXTREMES Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 113° in Imperial, Calif. Low 29° in Stanley, Idaho NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY in 2016 to take ownership of the dams from Pacifi- Corp. That requires approval from FERC to ensure the new owners are able to fol- low through on the project while offsetting any poten- tial short- and long-term impacts. Bransom said he is con- fident KRRC has the fund- ing to complete the job. The latest estimate of $434 mil- lion is well within the orga- nization’s $450 million bud- get — including $62 million to cover unanticipated costs, and $16 million left over in cash reserves. “The bottom line from this analysis is that we have Farmers ‘profoundly disappointed’ by Trump’s wheat comments President claims Japan doesn’t want American wheat By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press WASHINGTON — The U.S. wheat industry is reacting with disappoint- ment after President Don- ald Trump said that Japan, their No. 1 customer, doesn’t really want to buy their grain. According to White House transcripts, Trump made the comments Aug. 13 while speaking about energy during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania: “Many car plants — they’re coming in from Japan. I told Prime Minis- ter Abe — great guy. I said, ‘Listen, we have a massive deficit with Japan.’ They send thousands and thou- sands — millions — of cars. We send them wheat. Wheat. (Laughter.) That’s not a good deal. And they don’t even want our wheat. They do it because they want us to at least feel that we’re OK. You know, they do it to make us feel good.” A White House spokes- man directed questions to USDA and the Office of the U.S. Trade Repre- sentative. Requests seek- ing comment were not returned. “The president was on a campaign speech and speaking, as he normally does, off the top of his head,” Chandler Goule, CEO of the National Asso- ciation of Wheat Grow- ers, told the Capital Press. -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 tigate expanding wheat sales. Japan is the No. 1 mar- ket for U.S. wheat, and the No. 2 market for soft white wheat grown in the Pacific Northwest, the league said. U.S. wheat has a 50% market share in Japan. “Our customers in Japan don’t buy our wheat because they are doing us a favor or to make us feel good, they buy our wheat because we have built a relationship with them, earned their trust, listened to their needs, and pro- vided great customer ser- vice,” the league stated. “This is not a situa- tion in which they’re sim- ply buying what can be close to $1 billion worth of wheat a year for polit- ical reasons,” said Steve Mercer, vice president of communications for U.S. Wheat Associates, the overseas marketing arm for the industry. “This is a need and a desire on the part of their industry to purchase U.S. wheat.” Japan has purchased an average of 2.91 mil- lion metric tons in each of the last five years, Mercer said. Wheat farmers are at a trading disadvantage with Japan because Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partner- ship trade treaty. Com- peting wheat-producing countries such as Canada and Australia remained in the agreement. As part of that agreement, those nations with see Japanese tariffs on wheat reduced in coming years. high low The East Oregonian works hard to be accurate and sincerely regrets any errors. If you notice a mistake in the paper, please call 541-966-0818. 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 “What’s most unfortunate, in my mind, is he was sit- ting here in the last cou- ple months talking about how all our farmers in the United States are doing great, but yet, they’re not and they’re suffering.” Goule said Trump’s comments were “very frustrating.” He said the president claims to be con- tinually supporting farm- ers, but started a trade war, and then directly attacks “the bread basket commodity of the United States.” “Do I want to say that it was probably speaking before you think?” Goule said. “Yes, it probably was, but you’re the pres- ident of the United States and the farmers and ranch- ers of this country are who put you in office. To have you attack a com- modity that is high-qual- ity and in high demand ... and that truly depends on export markets is really just irresponsible.” In a statement, the Oregon Wheat Growers League said it was “pro- foundly disappointed” in Trump’s comments. “The President’s dis- missive statements ... demonstrated that he doesn’t fully appreci- ate the 70 years of efforts by generations of wheat growers to build the great relationships we have with our customers in Japan,” the league stated. Relationships between Japanese millers and U.S. farmers began in 1949, when the league organized a trade delegation to inves- CORRECTIONS: In the Page A7 story “Rock’n’Roll Pendleton rock camp gets roll- ing” published Thursday, August 15, the names of Kira Boland and Clare Durant- Bailor were misspelled in the image captions. Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. -10s concluded the KRRC has sufficient funding within our budget to complete the proj- ect,” Bransom told the Cap- ital Press. Funding for dam removal comes primarily from Pacif- iCorp ratepayers. The com- pany has committed $200 million, and up to $250 mil- lion from California Propo- sition 1, a $7.5 billion state- wide water bond that passed in 2014. KRRC originally antic- ipated dam removal could begin as early as 2021, but Bransom said 2022 is more likely given the regulatory review schedule. In addi- tion to FERC, the California State Water Resources Con- trol Board is also still finaliz- ing its environmental review of the project. As for addressing risk management, Bransom said KRRC has hired Resource Environmental Solutions LLC to handle environmen- tal mitigation and is propos- ing to set up a local impact mitigation fund so individu- als can file claims for poten- tial damages. “We’re still in the pro- cess of determining what that will look like,” Bransom said. “It certainly has been part of our process through our public outreach.” The KRRC’s plan recently garnered support from U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley from Oregon and Kamala Harris and Dianne Feinstein from California. The senators, all Democrats, submitted a letter to FERC on Aug. 1 asking the agency to give the proposal “full and fair consideration.” “For decades, the Lower Klamath Project has blocked fish passage on the Klam- ath River, resulted in harm- ful algal blooms and created conflicts between various stakeholder groups,” the senators wrote. “Timely removal of these dams is crit- ical to tribes in the Klamath Basin, West Coast fishing and recreation communities, and farmers and ranchers in Southern Oregon and North- ern California.” 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 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 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
