Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 2020)
A8 OFF PAGE ONE East Oregonian Friday, February 21, 2020 Brown for $7.5 M in earthquake early warning system Bill also creates program to improve readiness of quarter-million Oregon households By SAM STITES Oregon Capital Bureau SALEM — Oregon would prepare 250,000 households to become self-sufficient fol- lowing a catastrophic earth- quake under legislation advancing in Salem. The legislation, Senate Bill 1537, also would double the number of monitors that would alert public officials to an earthquake. The proposals are the lat- est effort to prepare Orego- nians for what scientists say is inevitable — a destructive earthquake in the Cascadia Subduction Zone that would destroy buildings, roads and more. Some $3 million is being requested by Gov. Kate Brown to fund “Two-week Ready Oregon” within the state Office of Emergency Management. The program would be administered by the Oregon Military Department and aims to give 250,000 Oregon households the sup- plies and expertise to be self-sufficient for two weeks following a natural disaster. That means having enough food, water, first-aid supplies and other emergency items to Photo courtesy of Oregon State University Professor Doug Toomey is one of the foremost seismologists on the West Coast and oversees the University of Oregon’s ShakeAlert program. keep a household functioning for two weeks. The legislation, pending before the Legislature’s bud- get committee, would build out Oregon’s ShakeAlert sys- tem, a network of seismic monitoring stations admin- istered by the U.S. Geologi- cal Survey along the Pacific Coast. The network extends from Northern Califor- nia to British Columbia and feeds into similar programs at CalTech, the University of California, Berkeley, and University of Washington. ShakeAlert monitors seismic activity and allows the Geological Survey to alert counties, cities, utility companies and others before shaking from an earthquake begins. It gives people time to methodically take shelter rather than scrambling in a panic. It also allows utilities to take precautions and shut down critical infrastruc- ture that could be damaged by shaking. A total of $7.5 million would be allocated to the net- work, which currently has around 120 sensors located across the Willamette Valley and Oregon coast. The goal is to set up 250 sensors in Ore- gon by 2023. A team from the Univer- sity of Oregon would install and monitor the stations. Eight team members at UO work to install new stations in the field and monitor activ- ity. One of those on the team is Professor Doug Toomey, seismologist, geophysicist and one of the pioneers of in the use of ocean-bottom seismology. “One of the remarkable aspects about the project is how collaborative and well distributed it has been over its development,” Toomey said. “The University of Oregon actually has one of the stron- ger seismology departments on the West Coast with five active seismologists.” According to Toomey, the benefit of ShakeAlert is its impact on protecting public safety not only in Oregon, but along the entire earthquake zone. “If you think of the impacts we have locally in terms of helping people and helping a water utility save water by shutting off valves, that’s multiplied by many hundreds along the West Coast,” he said. “Funding from the state is critical not only just for Oregon, but our performance within Shake- Alert impacts the resiliency of California, Washington and British Columbia.” Also packed within the bill are provisions that would review dam safety across the state and update the state’s resilience plan. Airport: ‘We got an airport that’s $2 million in debt up there’ Continued from Page A1 clause would stifle business at the airport by creating uncertainty over whether a business could stay long term. City officials countered that the clause wasn’t new to Pendleton airport contracts, and the airport was merely following Federal Avia- tion Administration rules by including it in leases. Both sides seemed to reach a compromise over the summer of 2019, when the city approved language that allows tenants to avoid reversion by either paying a “reversion deferral fee” equal to the value of the property at the end of their lease, or pay twice the standard ground lease rate over the life of the initial agreement. But Pendleton Aircraft Service mechanic Jeff Guen- ther and Wildhorse Helicop- ter Co. owner Brad Wahl, representing airport busi- ness owners, went to Tues- EO file photo A U.S. Army AH-64 attack helicopter makes an approach to land at the Eastern Oregon Re- gional Airport in April 2018 in Pendleton. day’s council meeting to say the lease policy hasn’t been implemented in the way they thought it would. Reading from a pre- pared statement, Wahl told the council that airport staff weren’t offering existing ten- ants the reversionary options spelled out when trying to negotiate a new lease. “We are not aware of any existing or new long- term tenants that have been signed since the policy was passed,” he said. “The com- munity is missing out on new business development as well as expansion of existing businesses because poten- tial investors are holding out until the uncertainty in the leasing policy is resolved and the outcome is known.” Rather than scrap the new lease policy, Wahl and Guen- ther asked the council to send it back to the airport commis- sion to clarify the law. Air- port Manager Steve Chris- man and several members of the airport commission were sitting in the audience. Mayor John Turner called it a “reasonable request,” but warned that airport busi- ness leaders would need to include specific examples of the way the policy is hurting businesses. “We got an airport that’s $2 million in debt up there and I’m leaning on Mr. Chris- man all the time to pay it back,” he said. “Understand, there’s not a huge profit mar- gin up there yet.” The council voted 7-1 to refer the policy back to the airport commission, with Councilor Becky Marks, an ex-officio member of the commission, voting against. Chrisman didn’t speak at the meeting, but in an inter- view Thursday, he continued to defend the reversionary clause. He said the FAA sup- ported the clause because it ensured the airport contin- ues to be used for aviation purposes and it can lead to a self-sustaining operation. Chrisman added that the FAA has granted Pendle- ton $23 million for opera- tions and infrastructure since 1995, and he didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize that source of income. While admitting the reversionary clause had become a contentious issue, he said it was within every- one’s best interest that the airport commission and the business community are on the same page. Legislation: Impact of bill uncertain without economic study Continued from Page A1 small businesses and farm- ers I’ve talked to have, and they’re nervous,” Linsday said. Russell said the bill has been complex and confus- ing since the concept first was put to paper, but what he believes he knows about it is that there will be an unmea- sured impact on local econo- mies and that its benefits are unclear. “This bill has been amended and changed dras- tically again and again and again,” he said. “For me, how do you even know what it says? I can’t be in favor of something that is constantly changing so much that I can’t understand it.” While this year’s legis- lation remains largely the same as last session’s House Bill 2020, which prompted Senate Republicans to leave the state and deny Demo- crats a quorum to vote on the bill, it also includes some changes directed at eas- ing the economic burden on rural communities, and par- ticularly residents and busi- nesses in Eastern Oregon. One key amendment dic- tates that transportation fuel suppliers in the Portland area purchase allowances starting in 2022, while the requirement would expand to all fuel suppliers in coun- ties west of the Cascades in 2025. Remaining counties would have the choice to opt into the program, which is expected to raise gas prices. The funds raised will be used for climate investments but will only be eligible to participating counties. that an amendment would be added that would pro- tect food processors from the costs of regulations pro- posed in cap and trade but he’d yet to see it be added. “WE’RE CONCERNED ABOUT THE FACT THAT LANDMARK LEGISLATION OF THIS TYPE WAS NEVER INTENDED TO BE PASSED IN THE SHORT SESSION.” — George Murdock, Umatilla County commissioner “That doesn’t move the needle for me at all,” Russell said of the amendment. Russell said he’d been told by a sponsor of the bill Food processor Lamb Weston recently opened two plants in Morrow County and Russell said he’d been told by the company that had they known of the costs they’d incur from a cap-and- trade bill, they’d have opened them in Pasco, Washington, instead. But in addition to oppos- ing what the legislation would do if passed, Morrow and Umatilla county com- missioners are opposed to how the Legislature is trying to pass it. “We’re concerned about the fact that landmark legis- lation of this type was never intended to be passed in the short session,” Murdock said Wednesday. “And further, that the inclusion of an emer- gency clause basically pre- cludes future input from the citizens of Oregon.” Critics of cap and trade have consistently high- lighted that the 2020 legis- lative session, which is sup- posed to last just 35 days and end on March 8, wasn’t designed for transforma- tional bills, such as SB 1530. The emergency clause attached to the bill has remained controversial because it allows Gov. Kate Brown to sign it into law immediately after it passes the Legislature. Support- ers have argued the bill’s purpose, battling climate change, remains an emer- gency. But those in opposi- tion still wish for the deci- sion to be up to the people. “This legislation has been extremely divisive for Ore- gon,” Russell said. “Some- thing this divisive should be voted on by the public.” Graduate: More than 12,000 associates working toward degrees, certifications Continued from Page A1 transportation and logistics management. “It aligns perfectly with what we do here,” she said. Live Better U currently offers about 30 different degrees, as well as cer- tifications such as phar- macy technician, through various institutions, with Walmart picking up most of the tab. In Palmer’s case, her degree comes from Bellevue University. She started coursework in October 2018, with new courses every six weeks involving homework, tests, video presentations and discussion boards. Palmer said her cohort of online classmates were from multiple states and represented a diverse array of Walmart positions, from trucking to cashiers to working at corporate head- quarters. She said the net- work she built has given her access to different per- spectives, allowing her to bounce ideas off of associ- ates in other locations and jobs. “I now have friends from all across the country that I’ve worked on projects with,” she said. Charles Crowson, a spokesman for Walmart, said right now there are more than 12,000 associ- ates taking advantage of Live Better U. After asso- ciates finish their degree or certification, there are no strings attached — some are putting their knowledge to use in furthering their career with the company, while others are using it to get a job elsewhere. “If people pursue (some- thing else), there is no ill will,” Crowson said. He said many of Walmart’s future leaders will likely come from Live Better U. “It’s a wonderful oppor- tunity for our associates,” he said. “It’s really encour- aging for our company to see so many people become engaged in it.” Palmer feels the same way, and as a human resources manager, she said she is in a good posi- tion to spread the word to other employees about the benefits of pursuing a degree while they are in a position to do so for only $1 per day. So far, she said, there are a handful of other people in Hermiston who have signed on. “Any time we invest in ourselves and broaden our thinking, it makes us bet- ter,” she said.