NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Thursday, January 21, 2021
Farmworker safety program comes in under budget
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
FSFS funding by county
The Oregon Watershed En-
hancement Board awarded
305 applications statewide
for funding through the
Food Safety and Farmwork-
er Security Program, provid-
ing direct payments to reim-
burse farms for COVID-19
worker protections.
The number of approved
applications are broken
down by county:
• Hood River — 50
• Marion — 49
• Yamhill — 29
• Wasco — 24
SALEM — A program
to reimburse Oregon farms
for complying with costly
COVID-19 worker protec-
tions came in well under
budget during the 2020
harvest season.
State lawmakers are now
considering what to do with
millions of dollars that are
leftover.
Oregon OSH A, the
state’s Occupational Safety
and Health Administra-
tion, implemented emer-
gency rules last spring to
strengthen fi eld sanitation,
housing and transportation
protocols at labor-intensive
farms, such as fruit orchards
and vineyards.
In response, Gov. Kate
Brown allocated $16 million
to the Food Safety and Farm-
worker Security Program,
which provided direct
payments to farmers for
the expense of meeting the
OSHA rule — things like
buying or renting additional
portable toilets, reconfi gur-
ing cabins to ensure 6 feet of
social distance, and arrang-
ing more buses to transport
workers to the fi eld.
As it turns out, $16 million
was more than enough. Just
$5.6 million was spent before
the program expired on
Dec. 31, 2020, leaving $10.4
George Plaven/Capital Press, File
Oregon OSHA implemented a temporary rule to protect ag-
ricultural workers from spreading COVID-19, including a pro-
vision requiring one portable toilet for every 10 workers in
the fi eld. A state program to help farmers buy equipment has
expired with millions of dollars left over.
million remaining, accord-
ing to a Jan. 5 report from
the Oregon Department of
Administrative Services to
the Oregon Legislature’s
Joint Emergency Board.
It is not precisely known
what will happen to that
money now. In a statement,
Nikki Fisher, press secretary
for Brown, said the state is
discussing priorities for
ongoing COVID-19 relief.
“There is a clear need to
continue to work to protect
migrant and seasonal farm-
workers during the COVID-
19 crisis,” Fisher said. “And
we know that there are
growers who are doing the
best they can to mitigate the
spread.”
The Food Security and
Farmworker Safety Program
was intended to help Oregon
secure its food supply chains
while minimizing health
risks for frontline workers,
Fisher said. It was adminis-
tered by the state Watershed
Enhancement Board, in
collaboration with the state’s
Department of Agriculture,
Health Authority and Hous-
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
ing and Community Services
Department.
Met a Lof t sga a rden,
OWEB executive director,
said 228 farms participated
in the program, estimating
at least 21,000 farmwork-
ers benefi ted from enhanced
safety measures.
Initially, the program had
strict caps in place to ensure
there would be enough fund-
ing left for late-season crops.
Once it became clear that
would not be an issue, Lofts-
gaarden said those caps were
lifted and the program was
expanded to cover the cost
of face masks and other
personal protective equip-
ment.
Approximately $1.85
million was authorized in
Morning fl urries
A couple of snow
showers
36° 30°
37° 26°
Mostly sunny and
chilly
Snow and rain,
mainly later
Cloudy, cold; p.m.
snow showers
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
39° 26°
36° 26°
37° 27°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
40° 22°
42° 26°
39° 29°
40° 29°
OREGON FORECAST
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
46/38
36/29
39/31
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
35/30
Lewiston
46/38
39/31
Astoria
48/38
Pullman
Yakima 40/27
44/36
40/34
Portland
Hermiston
49/37
The Dalles 37/31
Salem
Corvallis
48/38
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
38/29
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
50/39
45/26
41/29
Ontario
40/31
Caldwell
Burns
43°
25°
42°
29°
60° (2010) -32° (1930)
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
48/39
Boardman
Pendleton
Medford
50/37
0.00"
0.34"
0.84"
0.34"
0.13"
0.84"
WINDS (in mph)
40/26
40/25
0.00"
0.44"
1.00"
0.44"
0.86"
1.00"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 37/29
46/36
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
36/30
43/36
42°
28°
42°
28°
67° (1968) -18° (1930)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
44/35
Aberdeen
35/23
37/27
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
46/38
Today
Fri.
NNE 4-8
NNW 4-8
NNE 4-8
NW 4-8
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
46/28
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
7:28 a.m.
4:46 p.m.
11:40 a.m.
12:58 a.m.
Full
Last
New
First
Jan 28
Feb 4
Feb 11
Feb 19
FAREWELL BEND —
A dark and remote stretch of
Interstate 84 east of Baker
City is considerably brighter
in 2021.
Plus you can buy fried
chicken.
And there are fuel pumps
and restrooms for potentially
more pressing needs.
The Huntington Travel
Plaza, part of the national
TravelCenters of America
network, recently opened
beside the freeway at Farewell
Bend, about 50 miles from
Baker City.
The plaza fi lls a retail void
dating back nearly a decade in
the mostly unsettled 73-mile
stretch of freeway between
Baker City and Ontario.
The former truck stop at
Farewell Bend, which included
a motel, closed in May 2011
and the buildings were later
removed.
That truck stop opened in
the 1970s.
For much of the time since
the truck stop closed, the
only place to get a meal and
High 78° in Fullerton, Calif. Low -17° in Silver Bay, Minn.
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
gas between Baker City and
Ontario was at Huntington,
which is about a mile off the
freeway about 5 miles north of
Farewell Bend.
Karam Singh of Vancou-
ver, Washington, owns the
new 12,000-square-foot travel
plaza, operating as a franchi-
see under TravelCenters of
America.
“I’m looking forward to
becoming part of this commu-
nity, bringing new jobs to the
area and offering drivers a new
place that is like home,” Singh
said.
The new travel plaza
employs about 50 people,
said Tina Arundel, director
of communications for Trav-
elCenters of America in West-
lake, Ohio.
“There is a need for our
services on this busy stretch
of highway in Oregon,” said
Barry Richards, TravelCenters
of America president.
Unlike the previous truck
stop, the new Hunting-
ton Travel Plaza does not
have a motel. It does include
two restaurants — Champs
Chicken and Naughty Chile
Taqueria — with a third, the
Huntington Bar and Grill,
opening soon.
Other amenities include
150 parking spots for semi-
trailers and 40 for cars, eight
diesel fueling and 12 gaso-
line fueling stations, and a
3,000-square-foot travel store
that includes fresh deli items.
For commercial truck driv-
ers there is a lounge, six show-
ers, a fi tness room and laundry.
A truck service center is
scheduled to open in 2022,
Arundel said.
The 40-acre travel plaza is
in Malheur County, just east of
the Baker County border.
The Singh family, which
owns three gas stations in
the Portland area as well as
convenience stores, will buy
the property from Amin Alib-
hei of Atlanta, who manages
the company that owns the
property, Deep Singh told the
Baker City Herald in Septem-
ber 2020.
Alibhei’s company bought
the property in October 2019
for $775,000, according to the
Malheur County Assessor’s
Offi ce.
The land previously sold for
$450,000 in June 2013.
IN BRIEF
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
direct payments for farms.
ODA and Oregon State
University also partnered
to distribute 3 million free
KN95 masks for agricultural
employers with support from
the program.
Despite coming in well
under budget, Loftsgaarden
said she is confident the
program was marketed
aggressively for producers
to take advantage.
“We never in this state,
or in this country, have run a
program like this,” she said.
“None of us knew up front
what the ultimate cost was
going to be.”
OW EB f u nded 305
total projects through the
program. The vast major-
ity, 74%, were for fi eld sani-
tation, as farmers had to
roughly double the number
of portable toilets and
hand-washing stations avail-
able to workers.
Some 14% of the applica-
tions were for housing modi-
fi cations to ensure workers’
beds would be 6 feet apart or
separated by an imperme-
able barrier, such as Plexi-
glass. The remaining 12%
was for providing additional
transportation, since workers
had to be spaced 3 feet apart
inside vehicles.
Hood River and Marion
counties accounted for
nearly one-third of the appli-
cations awarded. The crops
that were covered represent a
vast swath of Oregon agricul-
ture, including pears, cher-
ries, wine grapes, hazelnuts,
sweet potatoes, onions, corn,
nursery stock, Christmas
trees and hemp.
“We feel pretty confi-
dent, reaching out through
(the media) and agricultural
organizations, that we got
to the folks who needed the
program,” Loftsgaarden said.
Jonathan Sandau, special
assistant to ODA Director
Alexis Taylor, said nobody
was turned away from the
program.
“We were prepared, hope-
fully, for whatever came at
us,” Sandau said. “I think
we were able to provide
complete assistance.”
Truck stop opens at Farewell Bend
By JAYSON JACOBY
Baker City Herald
37° 31°
• Clackamas — 17
• Washington — 11
• Linn — 8
• Polk — 7
• Multnomah — 6
• Umatilla — 6
• Lane — 5
• Malheur — 4
• Douglas — 3
• Klamath — 3
• Jackson — 2
• Josephine — 2
• Benton — 1
• Jeff erson — 1
Blue Mountain Land Trust
doubles its protected acreage
WALLA WALLA, Wash. — The Blue
Mountain Land Trust, a local nonprofit,
recently acquired a conservation easement
on 6,798 acres in Oregon, doubling the agen-
cy’s protected acreage across Southeastern
Washington and Eastern Oregon.
The Land Trust, aimed at protecting fi sh
and wildlife habitat, forests, grasslands and
agricultural land in the Blue Mountains by
collaborating with communities and land-
owners, purchased the Wheeler County ease-
ment in December 2020 from Terry and Peggy
Long.
The now-protected acreage will provide
protection and preserve the habitat for elk,
mule deer, upland birds and other wildlife in
the area and will reduce the threat of develop-
ment that could disrupt the area’s habitat and
geologic features, the Land Trust announced
last week.
The property is in Mitchell, adjacent to the
Painted Hills National Monument, the release
stated.
The acquisition took more than three years.
Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board and
Natural Resources Conservation Service are
the project funders working with the Blue
Mountain Land Trust, the release stated.
The property contains 3.1 miles of Bear
Creek, an Endangered Species Act-listed
salmon, and steelhead spawning stream.
Restoration efforts have been underway by the
property owners, working with other partners,
such as The Confederated Tribes of Warm
Springs, the Oregon Department of Fish and
Wildlife, and Wheeler Soil and Water Conser-
vation District.
— Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
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
ice
50s
60s
cold front
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