REGION
Tuesday, December 28, 2021
East Oregonian
A3
Groups oppose more pollution at Boardman plant
By JORDAN RANE
Columbia Insight
BOARDMAN — Portland
General Electric’s request to
increase pollution at its Boardman
fracked gas power plant drew fi erce
opposition from public health and
environmental advocates.
PGE’s proposal to signifi cantly
increase toxic emissions at Carty
Generating Station had its final
public hearing Dec. 17.
If the Oregon Department of
Environmental Quality grants
the request to modify emissions
at the 440-megawatt, fracked-gas
power facility in Boardman, carbon
monoxide and volatile organic
compound output will increase
signifi cantly.
The modifi cations would amount
to a 300% increase in CO levels and
more than 800% for volatile organic
compounds,, according to an Octo-
ber report from Columbia River-
keeper.
“DEQ’s current plan to exempt
fracked-gas power plants like Carty
from its so-called ‘Climate Protec-
tion Program’ means DEQ should
be doing more to rein in pollution,”
stated Columbia Riverkeeper.
“Calling the site a ‘fracked-gas
plant’ is not entirely accurate,”
stated PGE spokesperson Allison
Dobscha in an email to Colum-
bia Insight. “Both fracked and
unfracked gases are transported
through the same pipelines, so the
natural gas we use to generate power
at Carty comes from a combination
of sources. This permit … refl ects
updated technical data and won’t
result in any actual modifi cations to
the plant. The updated permit also
establishes more stringent short-
term emissions limits than the previ-
ous version.”
When it opened in 2016, the
Carty Plant was viewed as an
emissions improvement over its
neighboring predecessor, PGE’s
Boardman Coal Plant, sharing the
same location about 15 miles south-
west of Boardman and the Colum-
bia River.
PGE shut down the plant in late
2020, making it the last coal-burn-
ing power plant in Oregon to cease
operations. The plant released an
estimated 2 million tons of green-
house gas emissions per year,
according to PGE.
“Part of the purpose of (closing
BCP, opening Carty) is to move
away from coal and move toward
cleaner energy resources,” a PGE
communications consultant told
Oregon Public Broadcasting late last
year. “One of our long-term goals is
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
by more than 80% by 2050.”
Dobscha noted PGE has since
updated its clean energy targets,
aiming to “achieve zero GHG emis-
sions from power served to custom-
ers by 2040.”
A three-fold increase in carbon
monoxide and an eight-fold increase
Michael Durham/Contributed Photo, File
Portland General Electric has asked the Oregon Department of Envi-
ronmental Quality to allow its Carty Generating Station in Boardman to
produce more pollution. Thousands of public health and environmental
advocates opposed the request by the DEQ’s Dec. 17, 2021, deadline to
submit comments.
in volatile organic compounds
amounts to “a massive increase in
air pollution … and a proposal that
deserves more investigation,” wrote
Dan Serres, Columbia Riverkeeper
conservation director. “VOCs are
of particular concern because they
combine with nitrogen oxides and
sunlight to form low-level ozone
(smog).”
Columbia Riverkeeper in a press
release Monday, Dec. 20, stated
community members and activists
submitted thousands of comments
to DEQ in opposition to PGE’s
request.
“In addition to the thousands of
comments submitted by individu-
als, Columbia Riverkeeper joined
14 other community and environ-
mental justice organizations in call-
ing on DEQ to deny PGE’s request,”
according to the press release. “The
groups highlighted the signifi cant
threat this pollution increase will
place on surrounding communities
— which are disproportionately
low-income and Black, Indigenous,
and People of Color communities
— and urged DEQ to take aggres-
sive action to reduce Carty’s emis-
sions limits and protect surrounding
communities from increased expo-
sures.”
Kate Murphy, community orga-
nizer with Columbia Riverkeeper,
said in the release the focus must be
on aggressive pollution reductions,
not clearing the way for more harm-
ful pollution.
“PGE’s proposal to increase
harmful pollution is a serious envi-
ronmental justice issue and is a
danger to public health and our
shared environment,” according to
Murphy. “Thousands of community
members have spoken up in opposi-
tion, and DEQ is obligated to protect
our communities and our air from
this threat.”
Peter Cornelison, Friends of the
Columbia Gorge fi eld representative
and Hood River resident, added his
voice to the opposition.
“The Columbia River Gorge
National Scenic Area and its
communities are plagued by air
pollution from several sources,
including the Carty Generation
Station,” Cornelison said in the press
release. “The Oregon DEQ must
carry out its mandate to improve air
quality in the Columbia Gorge and
deny PGE’s request to increase its
pollution.”
According to PGE, the emissions
modifi cation at Carty Generating
Station is necessary due to both the
closure of the Boardman Coal Plant
and new information about emis-
sions levels needed to run the power
plant according to its normal sched-
ule and capacity.
— The East Oregonian
contributed to this report.
Wildhorse hire boasts Umatilla County looks to make
exciting background health offi cer a county employee
Moore’s history includes
stand-up comedy with
famous performers
East Oregonian
EDITOR’S NOTE
By ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
This story is part of an annual series
by the East Oregonian called “Our
New Neighbors,” which introduces
the community to people who have
moved here in the past year.
MISSION — Wildhorse Resort &
Casino’s new director of information
systems has wrapped up six months on
the job.
Fran Moore took the post in June,
and Wildhorse in a
press release touted his
“expertise in gaming,
point-of-sale and other
net work syst e m s ,
along with his abil-
ity to communicate
highly technical ideas
Moore
to laypeople.
“I’ve had a lot of
varied experiences,” Moore said during
a phone interview. “I continue to learn
and grow. And I hope to have many
more experiences.”
Moore started with Wildhorse in
June after speaking with Wildhorse
CEO Gary George, according to the
press release. The CEO described the
job to him. It sounded interesting, so
Moore took it.
Moore’s history includes employ-
ment as a senior systems engineer
for Visa. While at Visa, he set up
data centers and trained personnel in
Europe, Latin America, Singapore and
Hong Kong. In addition, he worked for
computerized bookmaking systems in
Las Vegas. He was employed for Amer-
ican Wagering, InfoGenesis and more.
While at Cash Creek Casino Resort
in California, he started as technical
support but was promoted up to vice
president of information technology.
According to Wildhorse’s press release,
Moore worked for TribalNet, too, and
served on boards relating to gaming,
hospitality and leisure.
But his background and experience
go beyond his fi eld of work.
He was born in Las Vegas and raised
in Sacramento. He moved to Walla
Walla in June shortly after taking the
Wildhorse position.
Moore’s worldly and art-fi lled life
has included studies at Chabot College,
Holy Names University and UC Berke-
ley in California. In college, he discov-
ered comedy and he followed that up
with work as a stand-up comic for
Tommy T’s Comedy Club. He worked
in other places, too, working along-
side such performers as Kevin Pollak,
Sinbad, Jay Leno and Janet Jackson. His
stage work includes an adaptation of the
Greek tragedy “Antigone.”
Working alongside comedians,
Moore said, he would often spend time
in their company and get to know them
as people. Some of these comics are just
as they seem to the public, according to
Moore. Robin Williams, for instance,
was “always on,” according to Moore.
As he has spent around half a year,
commuting 40 minutes one way from
Walla Walla to Pendleton for work,
Moore has become familiar with the
area. He said he enjoys the “quaintness”
of the area — that everyone in Pendleton
seems to know one another. Walla Walla
is nice, too, he said, as it is a “wine and
college town” that is “conducive to his
lifestyle,” he said.
Moore said he lived an exciting
life and stepped away from it to have
a family. He now has a wife and two
grown daughters.
“I have no regrets about that at all,”
he said.
And Wildhorse is a good fi t.
“I’ve got a wonderful staff ,” he said.
“It’s great to be working with such well-
versed individuals.”
PENDLETON — Umatilla
County Public Health is look-
ing to add positions and bring
its health offi cer under its roof.
As the Local Public Health
Authority, Oregon law requires
the cou nt y
health depart-
ment to have a
health officer.
Dr. Jon Hitz-
man serves in
that role, but
he does so as
Lundgren
an appointment
and th rough
a contract with Professional
Locum Associates.
That contract expires Friday,
Dec. 31, and Alisha Lund-
gren, the assistant director of
Umatilla County Public Health,
in a memo is asking the county
board of commissioners to
create the offi cer position in the
health department.
The county board takes
up the request when it meets
Wednesday, Dec. 29, at 9 a.m. in
room 114 at the Umatilla County
Courthouse, 216 S.E. Fourth St.
The county health depart-
ment also is asking the board
to create two new positions,
according to memos..
The department recently
received a federal COVID-19
school-based health and recov-
ery grant. The county plans to
use the grant to hire an offi ce
assistant to increase services
at local school-based health
centers.
And Umatilla County Public
Health wants to add a supervisor
position.
The department received
funding from the Legislature
through the Oregon Health
Authority to support public
health modernization. The
investment created several posi-
tions to perform this additional
work, according to the memo,
and to help oversee this work,
the health department wants to
make a new program manager
position.
“The funding for this posi-
tion is being fully provided,”
the memo states. “This also
includes a regional component
for which Umatilla County will
be the fi scal agent.”
In other business, the county
board is considering a request
from administrative services
to spend about $6,250 to hire
a company to film mortgage
books.
The books crowd a small
office in the basement of the
courthouse, according to the
memo from Dan Lonai, head of
county administrative services,
and scanning and fi lming the
books would allow the country
to dispose of the hardcopies and
free up offi ce space.
And the board is consider-
ing a deal to allow the West-
land Irrigation District to use
some of county’s water pump-
ing capacity from the Colum-
bia River.
For more information about
the meeting, visit the coun-
ty’s website, www.co.umatilla.
or.us, and click in the board of
commissioners’ agendas page
under the department tab.
LOCAL BRIEF
Irrigon City Council
honors Matlack
IRRIGON — The Irrigon
City Council during its meeting
Tuesday, Dec. 21, honored Ken
Matlack for 20 years of service
on the council.
Matlack, Morrow County
sheriff , stepped down from the
council in October. He appeared at
the meeting with his wife, Shirley
Matlack, and said the move freed
up time for other interests.
Irrigon Mayor Margaret
Anderson praised Matlack for
his service.
“Ken has done a lot for this
community,” she said. “We
appreciate him.”
Anderson, who has worked
with Matlack since 2012,
credited Matlack’s ability for
critical thinking. Also, she said
he will be missed on the council.
Irrigon City Manager Aaron
Palmquist wished Matlack
well and said the city has yet to
advertise the opening. Whoever
the council selects will serve
the remaining three years
of Matlack’s four-year term,
ending with the next election.
—EO Media Group
Erick Peterson/East Oregonian
Ken Matlack receives an award
Dec. 21, 2021, from Irrigon Mayor
Margaret Anderson for 20 years
of service on the Irrigon City
Council. Matlack, Morrow County
sheriff , stepped down from the
council in October.
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