NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Saturday, August 21, 2021
Wallowa Lake Dam funding goes through
holders are the Wallowa
Lake Irrigation District —
the owner of the dam — the
Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife, the Nez Perce
Tribe’s Department of Fish-
eries Resources Management
and the Confederated Tribes
of the Umatilla Indian Reser-
vation. Minor stakeholders
also are involved, including
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, which has juris-
diction over bull trout; the
National Oceanic and Atmo-
spheric Administration; and
the Oregon Department of
Environmental Quality.
A year ago, lottery sales
were far too low to fund the
bonds.
“We didn’t collect enough
to spend what we’d autho-
rized,” Hansell said.
The project originally
called for a $16 million refur-
bishment of the dam that
would improve the spill-
ways, include a fish passage,
add more concrete for weight,
replace the five conduit gates
with new ones and to upgrade
the electrical and instrumen-
tation, according to the June
23, 2020, Wallowa County
Chieftain.
Dan Butterfield, president
of the irrigation district, was
encouraged by the news from
the Legislature.
“We keep gaining,” he
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — Now
that the $14 million in state
lottery funds has been
approved by the Oregon
Legislature for the refur-
bishment of the century-old
Wallowa Lake Dam, the big
question that remains is what
kind of fish passage the dam
will include.
State Sen. Bill Hansell,
R-Athena, confirmed last
month the lottery funds were
approved by the Legislature
and Gov. Kate Brown was
expected to sign the budget.
“We’ve got the funding
across the goal line, and now
it’s implementing the applica-
tion of it,” Hansell said. “Now
the baton will be handed off
to where they sell the bonds.”
He said the bonds are
expected to be sold in the
spring of 2022 and the actual
funds will come through
later. He said he is unsure of
the exact timeline.
“As far as I know we’re
back to what we’ve always
done,” he said.
He added the stakeholders
in the dam project can begin
spending on it before getting
the proceeds from the bonds,
but they do so at their own
risk.
The four major stake-
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Swimmers on July 30, 2021, enjoy the water of Wallowa Lake near the Wallowa Lake Dam.
Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Athena, confirmed the Legislature approved the $14 million in state lot-
tery funds being counted on to pay the lion’s share of replacing the dam.
said. “Everything’s looking
good.”
The $2 million difference
between the lottery funds and
the overall cost is supposed
to be made up by “other
sources,” Butterfield said,
adding that the stakeholders
may need to reassess the final
cost given the increasing cost
of building materials.
Jim Harbeck, the field
office supervisor for Nez
Perce Fisheries, said the
latest cost estimates were
from 2017.
“I imagine those costs are
higher now,” he said.
Forecast for Pendleton Area
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SUNDAY
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Butterfield said the stake-
holders have applied for a
grant through the American
Rescue Plan Act that could
help with the extra funding.
He said the project has
been in the works for about 20
years. Now, he said they are
planning to begin construc-
tion in fall 2022 and have it
ready by spring 2023.
“That’s what our engi-
neer’s designing for and plan-
ning for,” he said. “We sure
would’ve loved to have had
that dam this year. … We’ll
be able to go another 8 feet
(of water) with the new dam.
Sunny
75° 55°
79° 46°
Nice with plenty of
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Partly sunny and
pleasant
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PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
74° 46°
82° 56°
81° 53°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
79° 60°
81° 51°
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OREGON FORECAST
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PENDLETON
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Seattle
Olympia
68/56
69/53
80/53
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
76/59
Lewiston
73/57
81/60
Astoria
67/54
Pullman
Yakima 79/54
74/51
76/58
Portland
Hermiston
75/58
The Dalles 79/60
Salem
Corvallis
73/51
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La Grande
71/49
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
78/51
71/46
74/47
Ontario
78/51
Caldwell
Burns
81°
63°
90°
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105° (2009) 38° (1929)
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Albany
73/52
Boardman
Pendleton
Medford
81/52
0.00"
Trace
0.11"
1.93"
1.66"
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WINDS (in mph)
77/52
75/37
0.00"
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4.37"
8.68"
8.51"
through 3 p.m. yest.
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TEMP.
Pendleton 64/43
77/53
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
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HERMISTON
Enterprise
75/55
80/60
78°
58°
88°
57°
106° (1897) 38° (1916)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
73/53
Aberdeen
70/54
77/59
Tacoma
Yesterday
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Spokane
Wenatchee
73/55
Today
Sun.
SW 6-12
W 7-14
WSW 10-20
W 8-16
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
75/39
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Sunrise today
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Fish passage options
But it’s up to the engi-
neer, McMillen, Jacobs and
Associates of Boise, Idaho,
to determine the type of fish
passage that will be included
and to finalize the plans for
the dam.
Wallowa County native
Mort McMillen, the engi-
neer on the project, said a
fish passage to allow both
upstream and downstream
migration of fish is being
worked into the project. It will
Tyson’s claim on feedlot disputed
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
Partly sunny
Having that extra storage will
be huge for this valley.”
KENNEWICK — Tyson
Fresh Meats may have
suffered a blow Wednesday,
Aug. 18, in its effort to take
from a key competitor a stra-
tegically located cattle feedlot
formerly owned by convicted
fraudster Cody Easterday.
Alan Kornfeld, an attor-
ney for bankrupt Easterday
Ranches, disputed Tyson’s
claim that it was blindsided
in January when Cody East-
erday sold the North Lot to
Agri Beef for $16 million.
Tyson had made a “soft,
no-cash” $10 million offer
for the lot, Kornfeld said,
undermining Tyson’s claim
that Easterday never gave it a
chance to top Agri Beef.
“The debtors vehemently
dispute that Tyson did not
have an opportunity to bid,”
Kornfeld said.
Tyson says it’s now will-
ing to pay $25 million for the
lot and has asked U.S. Bank-
ruptcy Judge Whitman Holt
in Yakima to give it standing
to challenge the sale to Agri
Beef on behalf of Easterday’s
creditors.
In court filings, Tyson said
the $16 million paid by Agri
Beef was “woefully inade-
quate.” It didn’t mention a $10
million offer.
Holt, who has yet to rule on
Tyson’s motion, said Tyson’s
account bears on whether he
will allow the company to
intervene in the bankruptcy
proceedings.
“If what you (Kornfeld)
just said is accurate, that in
January of 2021 there was a
$10 million offer from Tyson,
I think that’s highly germane
to the standing issue because
the narrative in (Tyson’s)
motion is deeply inconsistent
with that,” Holt said.
Tyson’s lawyer did not
respond to Kornfeld at the
hearing, conducted by phone.
Efforts to obtain comment
from Tyson on Aug. 18 were
unsuccessful.
Cody Easterday, 50, is
scheduled to be sentenced
Oct. 5 for defrauding Tyson
out of $233 million. He also
defrauded another company
of $11 million by billing
6:03 a.m.
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Last
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High 104° in Zapata, Texas Low 24° in Bodie State Park, Calif.
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Aug 29
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NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
for cattle he never actually
bought or fed.
Tyson uncovered the
scheme in December and
talked to Easterday about
buying his cattle feeding
operation to start making
restitution, according to court
records. Tyson said it learned
about the sale to Agri Beef
too late to go to court to stop
it.
Shortly after the sale, East-
erday declared bankruptcy. In
March, he pleaded guilty to
one count of wire fraud.
After Agri Beef bought
the feedlot for $16 million,
an appraiser valued it at only
$9 million. Tyson claims the
appraisal was flawed.
Holt remarked that the
difference between the sale
price and appraisal “sure
suggests something is wrong
with that appraisal.”
Kornfeld said the appraisal
was based on the operation’s
size and did not take into
account its closeness to Tyson
and Agri Beef plants.
“Tyson’s offer was right
where the appraiser came
out,” Kornfeld said.
IN BRIEF
First
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
be determined by the stake-
holders based on the plans his
firm comes up with.
“Everybody has their pref-
erences,” McMillen said. “We
haven’t arrived at the final
selection. … We’re working
really good as a group.”
The fish passage is a
crucial element of the dam’s
new design. In fact, Harbeck
said, state law requires the
inclusion of a satisfactory fish
passage.
There are different options
for the type of fish passage.
The tribe prefers a “volitional
passage” — one that allows
fish to ascend to or descend
from the lake at their own
volition. That allows adults
to swim upstream to spawn
and juveniles to swim down-
stream once hatched.
“It lets fish pass when
they so choose as opposed to
putting some type of human
time stamp on it,” he said.
Jeff Yanke, a watershed
manager with the ODFW,
said it’s up to the engineer to
select a type of passage.
“We’ve been talking
concepts and it’s up to them
to pick one,” he said.
The “volitional passage” is
often known as a fish ladder.
Another option is the “trap
and haul” option, which is a
type of water elevator to
move the fish, Yanke said.
Woman faces charges of
molesting Walla Walla
teen on her own porch
WALLA WALLA — A Walla Walla teen
girl was allegedly molested and assaulted by
a woman she didn’t know on her own front
porch and lawn, according to paperwork filed
in Walla Walla County Superior Court.
The accused woman, Wendy M. Whit-
tle, 54, appeared in court Tuesday, Aug. 17,
following her arrest Aug. 16 by the Walla
Walla Police Department. Judge M. Scott
Wolfram set her bail at $10,000 and ordered
her to be assessed by Comprehensive Health
for any mental health issues.
Whittle was charged by prosecutors later
in the week with third-degree child moles-
tation, fourth-degree sexually motivated
assault, immoral communication with a
minor and second-degree trespassing, accord-
ing to court documents.
According to the documents, Whittle
walked up to a residence on East Chestnut
Street and started harassing the 15-year-old
girl and her family and friends who were
gathered there.
Whittle then allegedly tried to burn the girl
with a lit cigarette and then stroked the girl’s
leg and began making sexual remarks to her
while she was inches from her face, according
to the court records.
Whittle reportedly touched the girl in the
face, pushed her and followed her around
the front yard of the residence, continuing
to make sexual advances, including touch-
ing the girl’s breast at one point, according
to the records.
The girl and witnesses who later spoke
with police reportedly tried to get Whittle
to leave the property repeatedly, the records
showed, but Whittle kept following the girl
around the property.
— Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
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