ANDREW CUTLER
Publisher/Editor
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
WYATT HAUPT JR.
News Editor
JADE McDOWELL
Hermiston Editor
SATURDAy, MARCH 27, 2021
A4
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
A tip of
the hat,
a kick in
the pants
A
kick in the pants to everyone
involved in the illegal dumping of
radioactive waste in an Arlington
landfill.
According to reporting by Oregon
Public Broadcasting, more than 2.5
million pounds of radioactive frack-
ing waste ended up in the landfill along
the Columbia Gorge after a North
Dakota company, Goodnight Midnight,
contracted a company called Oilfield
Waste Logistics to dispose of fracking
waste. According to Columbia Waste
Management, the company that oper-
ates the Arlington landfill, Oilfield Waste
Logistics “misrepresented” the nature of
the materials.
This week, OPB reported, Oregon
Department of Energy decided it was less
risk to the health of landfill workers to
leave the radioactive waste where it is than
to try to extract it and haul it to another
state. Workers were already unknowingly
exposed to the materials when the waste
came in.
The department also fined Oilfield
Waste Logistics and Columbia Waste
Management — and rightly so. But the
amounts ($308,656 and $60,000, respec-
tively) seem paltry and are unlikely to
provide any real deterrent to large compa-
nies illegally dumping dangerous materi-
als in Oregon in the future.
A tip of the hat to those running for
election in May. Hermiston and Pendle-
ton school districts, in particular, have
multiple contested races for school board
seats that, at times, no one has run for at
all. Anecdotally, it seems school boards
around the state are seeing more interest
this year, likely because decisions regard-
ing COVID-19 have highlighted how
influential those positions are.
Of course, quality is as important as
quantity when it comes to political races,
and we hope candidates prove wise,
competent and well-informed. Competi-
tive races have a way of forcing candidates
to articulate their positions and make their
case, and draws additional attention to the
issues. That’s always a win.
A tip of the hat to the collaboration
in Hermiston between Agape House and
Hispanic Advisory Committee Chair Jose
Garcia to bring food and clothing to farm-
workers. Agape House Executive Direc-
tor Mark Gomolski estimates they have
provided supplies to approximately 4,800
people so far.
Workers in industries where long hours
are the norm and paid vacation isn’t read-
ily available can have a difficult time visit-
ing food pantries during their operating
hours, so it makes sense to provide a more
accessible opportunity.
EDITORIALS
Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the East
Oregonian editorial board. Other columns,
letters and cartoons on this page express the
opinions of the authors and not necessarily
that of the East Oregonian.
LETTERS
The East Oregonian welcomes original letters
of 400 words or less on public issues and public
policies for publication in the newspaper and on
our website. The newspaper reserves the right
to withhold letters that address concerns about
individual services and products or letters that
infringe on the rights of private citizens. Letters
must be signed by the author and include the
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The phone number will not be published.
Unsigned letters will not be published.
SEND LETTERS TO:
editor@eastoregonian.com,
or via mail to Andrew Cutler,
211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801
YOUR VIEWS
Science is as clear as
science can be
In Oregon’s 2020 legislative session,
for the second year in a row, Republicans
walked out of the Capitol breaking the
quorum and preventing many important
proposals from being discussed and voted
up or down on the floor. Chief among these
was a well-crafted bill to establish a mean-
ingful greenhouse gas emissions program
for the state which would have reduced
emissions and provided economic support
for rural Oregon and other disadvantaged
Oregonians.
By firmly throwing their fellow Orego-
nians, our children and grandchildren,
under the oncoming bus of climate chaos,
Republicans essentially forced the Gover-
nor to sign Executive order 20-04. This
charges state agencies to develop plans
that establish an Oregon Climate Action
Plan to achieve the goals of the above 2020
legislation.
Initially,some agencies began well
by energetically trying to reduce green-
house gas emissions or remove them from
the atmosphere. Others were resistant
or simply and falsely claimed they were
already doing everything they could.
The science is as clear as science can
be, Earth is spherical, COVID is real, and
human-induced greenhouse gas emis-
sions are driving us towards a cliff beyond
which life as we know it will be devas-
tated. Rural Oregonians demand an effec-
tive Climate Action Plan.
Trisha Vigil
Medford
Bad plans by the Democrats
The Border Patrol recently reported
that the border “is not secure” as they
are overwhelmed with the number of
immigrants crossing illegally. The
immigrants are evidently responding
to the promise of amnesty given by
Democratic candidates during the last
election. Why would the Democrats
make such a promise when it was clear
that this would encourage individuals
from many nations to cross our border
illegally?
It is obvious that this is a blatant
power grab by the Democrats, as they
know that about two-thirds of the immi-
grants will vote Democrat once they are
given the vote. Think about it. There
are more than 12 million illegal immi-
grants now in the U.S., and they are now
coming over the border by the thou-
sands each year.
The Democrats also have introduced
legislation to offer amnesty to a million
farmworkers under the guise of provid-
ing needed labor. Many of these workers
will not stay in farming long if they can
find a better paying job, so the legisla-
tion will not help farmers very long, but
will increase the size of the Democratic
voting base.
Finally, there will be an attempt
to eliminate the filibuster, which will
lessen the power of the minority party.
All the major Democrat leaders are on
record in the past as saying they would
not support this move.
Why now? This is an additional
attempt to increase power, while collec-
tively making make it more difficult for
any party to compete against the Demo-
crats in the future.
Are we witnessing the end of the
two-party system?
George Petersen
Redmond
The predicted disaster that
didn’t happen
The Arctic Ocean is warming up,
icebergs are growing scarcer and in
some places the seals are finding the
water too hot, according to a report to
the Commerce Department from the
Consul ate at Bergen, Norway.
Reports from fish ermen, seal hunt-
ers and explorers all point to a radi-
cal change in climate conditions and
hitherto unheard of temperatures in the
Arctic zone.
Exploration expeditions report that
scarcely any ice has been met as for
north as 81 degrees 29 minutes.
Soundings to a depth of 3,100 meters
showed the gulf stream still very warm.
Great masses of ice have been
replaced by mo raines of earth and
stones, the report continued, while at
many points well-known glaciers have
entirely dis appeared.
Very few seals and no whitefish are
found in the Eastern Arctic, while vast
shoals of herring and smelts, which have
nev er before ventured so far north, and
being encoun tered in the old seal fishing
grounds.
Within a few years, it is predicted
that due to the ice melt the sea will rise
and make most coastal cities uninhab-
itable.
I must apologize. I ne glected to
mention this report is from Nov. 2,
1922, as reported by the Associ ated
Press and published in the Washington
Post 98 years ago. This must have been
caused by the Model T Ford’s emissions
or pos sibly from horse and cattle farts.
Al Os min
Heppner
CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES
U.S. PRESIDENT
Joe Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
GOVERNOR
Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court Street
Salem, OR 97301-4047
503-378-4582
U.S. SENATORS
Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
La Grande office: 541-962-7691
Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
Pendleton office: 541-278-1129
REPRESENTATIVES
Bobby Levy, District 58
900 Court St. NE, H-376
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1458
Rep.BobbyLevy@state.or.us
Greg Smith, District 57
900 Court St. NE, H-482
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1457
Rep.GregSmith@state.or.us
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE
Cliff Bentz
2185 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6730
Medford office: 541-776-4646
SENATOR
Bill Hansell, District 29
900 Court St. NE, S-415
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1729
Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us