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