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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (April 6, 2011)
SCA OrColl E 75 . S68 V. 1 r Spi lyay Tym a 36 no. 7 April 6, £011 April 6, 2011 '.oyote News, est. 1976 University of Oregon Library Received on: 04-14-11 Spilyay tyraoo Voi. 36, No. 07 PRSRTSTD Warm Springs, OR 97761 April - Hawit'an - Spring - Wawaxam 50 cents Biomass energy plant talks continuing Pipeline By Duran Bobb Spilyay Tymoo Northwest Energy Systems Com pany out of Bellevue, Wash., is pro posing a biomass plant to be located just south of the Warm Springs land fill. Biomass renewable energy is pro duced by burning wood waste in a boiler, creating steam that powers a turbine which generates electricity. The wood material to be burned in the plant would come from reserva tion and off-reservation lands. The 38- megawatt plant would produce enough electricity for 35,000 homes. Construc tion would cost an estimated $150 mil- lion. “Our discussions right now are structured in order to allow them to come in and construct the facility, own it, and to operate it for a number of years,” Jim Manion, general manager for Warm Springs Power and Water Enterprises said. “Then over the course of time, the tribes will have the ability to own the facility.” As of today, Tribal Council has not taken action to give final approval of the project. C hief Delvis Heath said “Tribal Council began considering biomass re newable energy several years ago when we realized there is a fuel load building in the forests on our reservation. And this could also bring a much needed Some members are concerned about traffic and air quality issues... economic boost to our community. It would also allow us to go in and har vest dead trees.” N orthw est E nergy System s Co. (NESCO) would be required to finance and construct the plant. The reason it has to be structured this way is that the tax credit for the renewable energy project requires that the developer have a federal tax that can be used. The tribes do not have that federal tax liability. In order to utilize tax credits, the plant is required to be operational by Dec. 31, 2013. “W e’re in d iscu ssio n s w ith NESCO now,” Manion said. “We have indicated an interest on how we get our tribal members trained to have some of these employment opportunities.” If the project goes forward as planned, the biomass plant would generate many jobs during construc tion, and up to 25 family wage jobs at the facility upon completion. In addition to jobs at the plant, there would be up to 75 fuel collec tion positions made available to col lect the fuel. Please see BIOMASS on page 8 N ’Chi Wanapam The N’Chi Wanapam Canoe Fam ily opened the 2011 season with a dedication ceremony on March 26 at Indian Park. Representatives attended from several canoe families: Cherokee, Tulalip, Snoqualmie, ChicKasaw, Quinault, Puyallup, Muckleshoot, Chehalis and the Cowlitz tribes. The WS Canoe Family in July w ill take part in the Paddle to Swinomish in July. During April, the team is doing community outreach. They’ll be root-digging this Saturday. For information on the family, or to participate, call Jefferson Greene at the Museum at Warm Springs, 541-553-3331. The canoe team (above) arrives at Indian Park. The ceremony Included Washat services (right). project on hold By Duran Bobb Spilyay Tymoo Last week, LNG withdrew its appli cation with the Federal Energy Regula tory Commission for a gas pipeline that would have been pardy on reservation. The 220-mile-long Palomar pipeline would have run down the Willamette Valley, crossing over to Molalla, mak ing its way through the Cascades, and over reservation lands on its way to join a larger pipeline near Shaniko. Palomar General Manager Michael Burke gave a number of reasons for withdrawing the application, originally filed in 2008. F irst, the p a rtn e r com pany, NorthStar, filed for bankruptcy in the spring of 2010. Then, demand for com p ressed liq u efied n atu ral gas has dropped during the recession. Also, the term inal at Bradwood which would have been used to process the gas, was terminated. G as in d u s tr y a n a ly s t K en Zimmerman said the Palomar project is the latest in a string o f proposed pipelines in Oregon that have fallen victim to the recession and decreased demand. “I’m not saying Palomar is totally dead,” he said. “But it’s going to take a litde more growth.” Details are being negotiated between Palomar and its new partner, Williams Northwest Pipeline Company: Palomar recently received permis sion to route a portion of its pipeline through the reservation. With a new route, Palomar would be able to avoid national scenic areas near Maupin and in the Mt. Hood National Forest by up to 30 percent. “Palomar has indicated that they would like to continue discussions with us about projects that may be devel oped in the future,” Jim Manion, gen eral manager of Warm Springs Power and Water Enterprises, said. “They’ve officially pulled the request to FERC regarding the pipeline project. However, the indication is that they might want to maintain the agreement for the corridor on the reservation for future use.” At this time, Manion said, those dis cussions haven’t begun. Duran Bobb photos/Spilyay Board approves grant application for elementary school By Dave McMechan Spilyay Tymoo The Jefferson County 509-J School D istrict Board o f D irectors voted Monday evening to submit an improve ment grant application for the Warm Springs Elementary School. The 509-J board met in the elemen tary school library to hear comments regarding the application. Several teachers attended, stating their support for the approach that the school and the district are taking with the application. The stated conditions of the grant do not match the situation at the el ementary school, and for this reason the grant application process has been a problem. “It’s been a horrible experience for many people here,” said first-grade teacher Ronica Comingore. The elementary school became eli gible for grant money through the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The federal law sets student performance standards that apply to all schools in the U.S. Schools that do not meet standards after three years are eligible for grant m oney to help them better meet the goals. But the law includes a limited num ber of options that schools can choose from in order to qualify. The four op tions are: Close the school; hire a private com pany to run the school; replace half the There may be a way to comply with the grant conditions while not disrupting the elementary school... teachers; or replace the principal. Clearly, none of the options apply to Warm Springs Elementary School. And yet the grant money, about $4 million over three years, would be help ful in addressing some needs at the school. Some additional English language mastery programs, for instance, could be helpful in meeting the state stan dards, said elementary school Princi pal Dawn Smith. So the school teachers and staff developed an approach that they say is acceptable: Their application says that there will be a transition period of three years, after which time the school would have a new principal. Principal Smith would take on some new title at the school. This may be a way to comply with the conditions of the grant while not disrupting the elementary school. The board members said the district would not pursue the grant if it means creat ing problems at the school. D uring public comment, Delson Suppah said that the grant process al ready has harm ed the school. The teachers have been distressed by the process, which carries over in to the classroom , he said. Lyle Rhoan asked why there had been no public notice of the meeting. This reflects how the district treats Warm Springs, he said. School district superintendent Rick Molitor said the district would know perhaps in early May whether the grant application is accepted by the Oregon Department of Education, as submit ted. More likely, he said, the department would have suggested changes to the application. M olitor also emphasized the dis trict would not pursue any approach that was against the opinion o f the teachers and staff at the elementary school. J L t \ 4 t
