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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 11, 2019)
NEWS Wallowa.com Wednesday, December 11, 2019 A9 Boil order issued to 8 houses after mishap Backhoe broke water main on SW Thorpe Lane By Bill Bradshaw Wallowa County Chieftain A boil order was issued to eight houses on SW Thorpe Lane on the west side of Enter- prise on Monday, Dec. 9, after a contractor’s backhoe hit a water main and broke the pipe, leading to a required testing of the water after repairs were made. “State law requires us to test the water” after such an incident, city Public Works Director Ron Neil said, adding that he didn’t know what potential contaminants could be found. He said Tuesday that he had taken water samples and sent them to a state lab. He said he should know by today or Thursday if the water is fi t for human consumption. The boil order stated that anyone plan- ning to drink or cook with city water in the area should boil it until notifi ed otherwise. The contractor at the accident site – who asked to not be identifi ed – said the mis- hap happened while they were connecting the water main to a double-wide home that had been moved there along Thorpe just off SW Montclair Street. He said a private party had installed the water line and had not dug it as deep as it should’ve been, thus the accident. The contractor said the city got it shut off quickly and his crew covered it up after the city repaired the main. Bill Bradshaw A backhoe sits idle Tuesday, Dec. 10, amid work to connect a home along SW Thorpe Lane to the city water line. On Monday, the backhoe accidentally struck and broke a city water main. After the pipe was repaired and covered up, the city was required to test the water for eight houses along the street for contaminants and a boil order was issued. Public Works Director Ron Neil said he should know today or Thursday if the water is safe. State approves narrower forestry ballot New grants for climate- positive agriculture measures for signature gathering By Ted Sickinger The Oregonian A week after winning a legal challenge to her rejec- tion of three forestry-re- lated ballot initiatives fi led by an environmental group, Oregon Secretary of State Bev Clarno approved three replacement initiatives that would prohibit most of the same practices. Clarno’s said she rejected initiative petitions 35, 36 and 37 because they violated a provision in the Oregon Constitution that says indi- vidual measures can only deal with a single subject. Environmental groups fi led the three measures this year to tighten aerial herbi- cide spraying rules, increase forest stream buffers, pro- hibit logging in steep land- slide-prone areas and pro- hibit confl icts of interest for state forestry board appointees. The new versions deleted passages in the petitions that Clarno found had violated the single subject clause, getting rid of restrictions on confl icts of interest on the Board of Forestry and aerial spraying of herbicides near schools. Clarno’s lack of pro- cess and explanation for the rejection led to the legal challenge by Oregon Wild, a political dustup with Attor- ney General Ellen Rosen- blum, and accusations that Clarno and her deputy, Rich Vial, had rejected the initia- tives on political grounds. Meanwhile, Oregon Wild fi led a new set of petitions — 45, 46, and 47, dubbed the Oregon Forest Water Pro- Rob Davis/The Oregonian Ballot initiatives are planned on forestry practices. tections — without the lan- guage Clarno felt was prob- lematic. Clarno approved the three new initiatives Thursday to move forward with signature gathering. “The meat of what we’re trying to address is still in there, but it’s unfortu- nate that (some of these other provisions) won’t be included now,” said Steve Pedery, a spokesman for Oregon Wild. Pedery contends Clarno and Vial were looking to delay the campaign and remove restrictions that would garner support among voters, such as restrict- ing herbicide spraying near schools. “It was frustrat- ingly political,” he said. Clarno said she appre- ciated that “the chief peti- tioners of these initiatives amended their proposals to meet the constitutional requirements. Voters will now be able to read and decide for themselves on these issues.” The proposed forestry restrictions are wildly unpopular among tim- ber interests as they would restrict clearcutting on steep slopes and aerial herbicide spraying. Three retired loggers backed by the timber indus- try have fi led three of their own initiative petitions to counter what they say are “radical anti-forestry ballot initiatives being pursued by environmental extremists.” Rosenblum refused to represent Clarno in the court challenge fi led by Oregon Wild. That forced Clarno to hire outside counsel. But BARGAINS OF THE MONTH ® While supplies last. YOUR CHOICE 9.99 6 pk. Mega Roll Bath Tissue 284 ultra strong, 2-ply sheets per roll. W 250 270 F4 6 Big Roll Pape Towels 48 sheets per roll. W 207 685 1 M-F 8AM-6PM • SAT 8AM-5PM • SUN 9AM-3PM Sale Ends 12/31/19 last week, a Marion County judge sided with Clarno, saying she was right to reject the petitions. The controversy is ongo- ing as Rosenblum feels that judge’s decision, if upheld, could profoundly disrupt the initiative pro- cess, opening up measures fi led by voters and referred by the Legislature to legal challenge. WILMINGTON, Del. — Corteva Agriscience announced a $500,000 commitment to create the Corteva Agriscience Cli- mate Positive Challenge to catalyze a movement toward climate-positive agriculture. The grant program will be launched next year and reward efforts that off- set carbon emissions and protect the environment while sustaining farms and farmers. The challenge grants will provide fi nancial rewards to farmers who are already advancing innovative cli- mate-positive practices for collaborating with local environmental groups, uni- versities, growers or others in the ag value chain to help scale the effort beyond their own acres. “We understand the chal- lenges farmers around the world are facing as it relates to trade, policy and weather challenges,” said James Collins Jr., CEO of Corteva Agriscience. “These reasons are our primary drivers for announcing this now — to provide incentives for those farmers that have a keen eye for scaling their practices.” Collins fi rst introduced the concept of climate-pos- itive agriculture at last year’s World Food Prize. Since then, the company had meetings with farmers and organizations represent- ing every facet of agricul- ture and food production on the forefront of advancing agricultural sustainability. The discussions explored what it would take to cre- ate a carbon-negative and climate-positive agriculture industry around the world. “Clearly, there’s a thirst and passion to collabo- rate and coordinate so that we can best tackle what is undoubtedly the biggest challenge of our lifetimes,” Collins said. Corteva is already work- ing toward creating mar- ket-driven fi nancial incen- tives for farmers. The company’s subsidiary, Granular, is collaborating with Nori, the world’s lead- ing carbon dioxide removal marketplace. The site connects buyers of carbon offsets with farm- ers who are applying sus- tainable farming practices and provides them with a viable carbon credit market that will generate revenue. “This is just the begin- ning,” Collins said. “There’s so much more we — and all of us working together — can do.”
