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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 21, 2019)
NORTHWEST East Oregonian A2 Wednesday, August 21, 2019 Many of Oregon’s dams in dangerous condition By SIERRA DAWN MCCLAIN Capital Press NEWPORT — People in blazers and strapped-on boo- ties waded through the dark intake tunnel of a dam, flash- lights in hand, stirring rust-col- ored silt into the water. Spiders and large black crickets scur- ried across the wet walls. And water trickled from seepage holes — vulnerable breakage points inside the tunnel. “This is the stuff night- mares are made of,” said Jenny Dresler, grassroots director of the Public Affairs Council. The city of Newport’s engi- neer was leading about a dozen politicians, community lead- ers and water experts under- ground into the intake of Ore- gon’s second most dangerous dam — Big Creek Dam No. 2 — last week in Newport. Gov. Kate Brown approved $4 million for Newport’s dam project Aug. 9, but the money won’t be available until 2021 and the danger is far from over. Across Oregon, water infrastructure is crumbling, funding is scarce and the dis- connect between bureaucrats and communities has exac- erbated tensions over water. But small Oregon communi- ties like Newport are showing that citizen activism can make a difference. The two Newport reser- voirs, behind Big Creek Dam No. 1 (Lower) and Big Creek Dam No. 2 (Upper), are the Capital Press Photo/Sierra Dawn McClain Racquel Rancier of the Oregon Water Resources Department, left, takes a photo of a seepage hole inside the Big Creek dam intake while Rep. David Gomberg, D-Neotsu, right, shines his flashlight on the vulnerable area. quake of only 3.0 or greater on the Richter Scale. Constructed in 1951 and 1968, respectively, the lower and upper dams are crum- bling, and the soil underneath is at risk of liquefying. Although Gross has been pushing for a decade for removal of the old dams and construction of a new one, the soils under the dams reached dangerous levels this year. Oregon has 75 high-haz- ard dams, which means if the dams fail, they will result in significant damage and loss of life. Of that number, nine are in poor condition and seven in unsatisfactory con- city’s sole water supply, and the secondary water source for surrounding areas. According to Tim Gross, the city of Newport’s public works director and city engi- neer, when these dams col- lapse, they’ll kill everyone and destroy everything in their path. Imagine rushing water at a rate of 285 average-sized swimming pools per second — and that’s just from the upper dam. The Oregon Coast lies near the Cascadia Subduc- tion Zone, but Gross said it wouldn’t require the Big One for these dams to collapse. To fail, the dams need an earth- THURSDAY Partly sunny FRIDAY Beautiful with clouds and sun SATURDAY Mostly sunny and pleasant SUNDAY Mostly sunny and pleasant Nice with plenty of sunshine PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 88° 58° 80° 53° 86° 63° 84° 58° 82° 53° HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 90° 60° 83° 53° 88° 65° 87° 59° OREGON FORECAST 86° 56° 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 66/56 86/55 82/52 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 89/61 Lewiston 67/55 92/62 Astoria 67/56 Pullman Yakima 90/59 67/53 94/64 Portland Hermiston 69/57 The Dalles 90/60 Salem Corvallis 68/53 Yesterday Normals Records La Grande 88/54 PRECIPITATION John Day Eugene Bend 71/55 84/48 90/55 Ontario 99/65 Caldwell Burns 93° 55° 87° 57° 105° (2009) 38° (1929) 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 69/55 0.00" 0.05" 0.13" 4.61" 5.13" 6.05" WINDS (in mph) 97/62 91/42 0.00" 0.10" 0.27" 9.71" 6.49" 8.22" through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Pendleton 87/51 69/55 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 88/58 74/58 94° 56° 86° 57° 106° (1897) 38° (1916) PRECIPITATION Moses Lake 68/53 Aberdeen 86/57 80/59 Tacoma Yesterday Normals Records Spokane Wenatchee 68/58 Today Boardman Pendleton Medford 83/60 Thu. WSW 8-16 W 8-16 SW 6-12 W 7-14 SUN AND MOON Klamath Falls 80/45 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2019 Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today 6:02 a.m. 7:54 p.m. 10:55 p.m. 12:00 p.m. Last New First Full Aug 23 Aug 30 Sep 5 Sep 13 By SEAN HART EO Media Group JOHN DAY — A Grant County employee has been getting paid not to go to work for five months now. Grant County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Abigail Mob- ley is still employed and being paid by the county, but her last day in the office was Feb. 4, according to records obtained by the Eagle. From Feb. 5 through March 15, she used a combi- nation of vacation, sick and comp hours she had accrued. After two scheduled days off, she was placed on paid administrative leave March 18 and has remained on it through July, the last time card available. From mid-March through July, Grant County has paid her $16,416 in wages. During that time, she also accrued 10 hours of vacation and eight hours of sick leave per month, costing an additional $1,768. Each additional month she is on administrative leave will Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY 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 high 110s low Portland Public Schools nearly scammed out of $2.9M PORTLAND — District officials say Port- land Public Schools was bilked for $2.9 mil- lion when a fraudster posing as one of the dis- trict’s construction contractors hoodwinked employees into green-lighting the payment. The Oregonian/OregonLive reported Dep- uty Superintendent for Business Operations Claire Hertz says the swindle was caught while the millions were still in the fraud- ster’s bank account, and the money should be returned to the district’s Wells Fargo account in the next few days. A letter to district parents from Superinten- dent Guadalupe Guerrero says two employees who approved the payment were put on paid administrative leave. The fraudulent transfer was discovered Fri- day, and Hertz said the district’s money man- agers must now attend a mandatory training on fraud prevention scheduled for Tuesday. She also said no one at the district will be allowed to authorize payments until after the training. 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 cost county taxpayers about $4,200. These figures only include wages and accruals, not other benefits such as health care. Her husband, Undersheriff Zach Mobley, was also placed on paid administrative leave March 18 after two scheduled days off. His March time card shows six days of administra- tive leave until the time card ends March 25. On his April time card, however, nothing is filled in indicating whether the time was actually worked or administrative leave. According to Dominic Carollo, an attorney repre- senting Grant County and the sheriff’s office in response to a public records request by the Blue Mountain Eagle, Zach Mobley was back “actively employed” as of April 25, though Carollo refused to provide the actual dates Zach Mobley was on leave. Zach Mobley earns a salary of $5,123 per month, so each day of leave cost about $170. In response to the Eagle‘s initial records request April 5, Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer said the records may be exempt from disclosure under state statutes that shield information about a “person- nel investigation of a pub- lic safety employee” and “investigatory information compiled for criminal law purposes.” However, neither exemp- tion applies if “the public interest requires disclosure in the particular instance.” Palmer announced his intention to resign as sheriff Aug. 14. The Eagle continues to pursue its records request for other public documents to explain the situation. In April, county officials declined to comment because it was a personnel issue. Abigail Mobley, Zach Mobley, Palmer and the members of the Grant County Court did not respond to emailed requests for com- ment on Friday afternoon. BRIEFLY NATIONAL EXTREMES High 114° in Thermal, Calif. Low 30° in Stanley, Idaho for this dam project.” Community members flooded Brown’s office with calls, emails and letters. Roblan, Rep. David Gonberg, D-Neotsu, and others met with the governor, attempting to change her mind. On Aug. 9, Brown did an about-face and decided not to veto the funding. Mike Harryman, resil- iency officer for Brown’s office, was on the tour at Big Creek Dam No. 2 on Tuesday. “It’s a good thing the gov- ernor didn’t veto the fund- ing,” said Harryman, “or else you’d all be stringing me upside-down by my boots inside the dam.” Racquel Rancier, water policy analyst at the Oregon Water Resources Depart- ment, said the funding is a victory for Newport, but Oregon’s water infrastruc- ture still has a long way to go. “We’ve got to celebrate the little victories,” she said. As the group slogged out of the wet dam intake tunnel, they joked about which of them should get left behind to cover up the constantly flowing seepage holes, like the fable of the little Dutch boy who put his finger in a dike to save Holland. “It’s too bad it’s not that simple,” said Roblan. He glanced sideways at the dam, an uneasy expression on his face. “Let’s get out of here.” County pays more than $18K for five-month administrative leave Forecast for Pendleton Area TODAY dition, according to Stephanie Prybyl, water policy analyst at Oregon Water Resources Department. Funding is scarce. Getting a federal dam grant is highly competitive, and the pool of money is meager. According to Tia Cavender, Newport’s grants consultant of record, the dam project in Newport alone will cost up to $80 mil- lion. But for the current fiscal year, FEMA’s National Dam Rehabilitation Program has a grant pool of only $10 million — for the entire U.S. Cavender said dam owners must apply for small grants — local, state and federal — to raise the money that’s needed, and even then, it won’t be enough. To build the dams in New- port, said Gross, the city will ultimately have to tax its resi- dents to make up for whatever portion isn’t funded. “This small community can’t afford much,” said Gross. “If the tax is too high, they’ll leave.” The timeline, said Caven- der, also poses a challenge. Grant money often comes with strings attached and spe- cific timeline requirements, and the grants can conflict with one another. Funding is even more lim- ited for private dam own- ers, such as farmers who own small reservoirs, according to April Snell, executive direc- tor of the Water Resources Congress. But communities are rally- ing together to make change happen. After the 2019 legislative session, Brown said Aug. 4 she might veto the $4 million appropriation in House Bill 5050 to pay for the Big Creek Dams project. Newport rallied to fight for its water supply. “Coastal Oregonians are tough people,” said Sen. Arnie Roblan, D-Coos Bay. “They usually get ignored in the leg- islature, and it’s their resilience that’s made the difference. It’s the rural folks, the fishermen’s wives and the local groups that have banded together to fight 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 Man drowns at Crater Lake CRATER LAKE — Authorities say a man drowned after jumping off a rock cliff into Crater Lake. The National Park Service says the unidentified 27-year-old jumped at Cleet- wood Cove around 4:40 p.m. Sunday, and did not resurface. Crater Lake National Park spokes- woman Marsha McCabe says the cliff the man had jumped from was about 25 feet high. McCabe says the cliff known as “Jump- ing Rock” is a popular recreation spot and was not a prohibited area for jumping. She says officials have not yet deter- mined exactly why the man drowned. During the summer, the surface of the lake warms up to about 60 degrees Fahr- enheit, but the average temperature of the lake is around 38 degrees Fahrenheit. Swimming is only allowed in the area around Cleetwood Cove and along the shore of Wizard Island. — 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
