BAKER CITY HERALD • TuEsDAY, JuLY 26, 2022 A3
LOCAL & STATE
Morrow County provides water filters to counter nitrates
BY ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
BOARDMAN — From her bed, Jane Kurtz
of Boardman expressed gratitude for a new fil-
tration system that went into her home.
“I want to thank you from the bottom of my
heart,” Kurtz said to plumber Tory Uskoski,
Morrow County Commissioner Jim Doherty
and Ana Pineyro, the county’s communicable
disease and emergency preparedness coordina-
tor. “You guys are awesome.”
On July 14, Kurtz received the first of 350
systems planned to go out to Morrow County
homes to address high nitrate levels, according
to Doherty.
“We’re going to ease into it,” the commis-
sioner said of the installations.
Three would take place on July 14, and
Doherty said he expected six installations a day
in the following week. He described the process
as “taking baby steps,” with installers carefully
approaching the project and learning potential
problems.
Addressing the nitrate problem
Morrow County commissioners declared a
local state of emergency on June 9, following
the discovery of well water that contained un-
safe nitrate levels. Since then, further testing
found other home’s drinking water unsafe, with
nitrate levels above 10 parts per million.
This applies only to some well water. The
city of Boardman has verified its water is safe to
drink. There are private well owners who have
tested their drinking water and found it to be
safe, too.
Concern remains, though, for people whose
well water is rich in nitrates. Many have taken
advantage of clean water that has been made
available to them at sites, including Sam Board-
man Elementary in Boardman. They also have
sought free testing, available at Boardman
Foods in Boardman, among other locations.
Installing the first filters
Tory Uskoski, Blue Mountain Plumbing
plumber, and Travis Gaines, assistant, installed
the first of the filters. They said the devices are
reverse osmosis systems with 2.5-gallon storage
tanks.
Uskoski said this particular installation
was simple and they are within the ability of
DIY-inclined homeowners. However, this is not
Students
Continued from A1
The contingent includes six
girls and three boys, he said.
Seven female students will be
living in one of the homes the
school district bought earlier
this year to house OIS students.
Five male students will live in
the other house, McDowell said.
The remaining students will
live with individual host families.
The district is still looking
for host families for three girls
and one boy from the Isle of
Jersey during their one-month
visit, McDowell said.
International School history
The Baker School District
started the OIS program about
four years ago, but the pan-
demic interrupted progress.
The district also had to
wait for approval of its ap-
plication for a student visa
program under which Ore-
gon will pay the district the
standard per-student rate for
each visiting student.
That revenue is part of the
Workers
Continued from A1
To support their efforts, inves-
tors and local government enti-
ties are addressing some of the
factors which limit the local pool
of prospective employees. In
Baker County, Tweit’s primary
focus in economic development
has shifted from attracting in-
dustries to attracting workers
and keeping the ones who are
here. Some of those strategies in-
volve addressing needs for hous-
ing, child care, and training.
Workers need places to live
In Baker County, housing
construction hasn’t keep pace
with the growing demand.
And that was true even before
the pandemic. Local employ-
ers, such as school districts,
the hospital and manufactur-
ers report that many workers
have passed up jobs here be-
cause they were unable to find
adequate housing.
Population growth accounts
for part of that shortage, as
Baker City’s official popu-
lation surpassed the 10,000
mark for the first time, ac-
cording to the 2020 Census.
In addition, the emergence
of the short-term rentals, such
as bed-and-breakfasts and va-
cation rentals, has reduced the
pool of potential homes even
further.
Tweit places the number of
short-term rentals at about 85
in Baker County. That rep-
resents a significant reduction
in potential homes for local
residents.
Long-term rental options,
which have long been in short
supply, have diminished even
Erick Peterson/East Oregonian
Tory Uskoski, Blue Mountain Plumbing plumber,
adjusts a newly installed filter July 14, 2022, in a
Boardman home.
Erick Peterson/East Oregonian
Jane Kurtz of Boardman and Ana Pineyro, Morrow
County communicable disease and emergency pre-
paredness coordinator, discuss Kurtz’s water issues
July 14, 2022.
the case for every situation, he said.
“Everyone is a little different,” he said.
Installation could become complicated at
some homes. And some people, he added,
might lack the ability or knowledge to perform
any installation at all.
He said the filtration systems will need main-
tenance, including a change of filters between
one and three years, depending on the level of
nitrates in filtered water.
According to Doherty, this first installa-
tion was necessary, though many other homes
might be in even greater need.
“Sad to say, this one was one of the low ones,
at 28 (parts per million),” he said of Kurtz’s
home.
He added different agencies have varying lev-
els of acceptability. Some groups, he said, take is-
sue with water that has nitrate levels over 5 ppm.
Water processed through the new filtration
units has a negligible nitrate level in most cases.
“If you get some of those extremes that we’re
district’s projects that the OIS
will bring in more in reve-
nue for the district than it will
spend. A financial projection
that the school board reviewed
this spring estimated a sur-
plus of $28,000 from the first
year, with surpluses rising to
$134,000 the second year and
to $248,000 the third year.
Those projections include
the district’s payments on
the two homes the district
bought, one for $295,000 and
one for $490,000. The district
estimates it will spend about
$85,000 more for renovations
of the two homes.
In addition to bringing in-
ternational students to Baker
City, a goal of the OIS is to
make it easier for local stu-
dents to study abroad.
“We just need to build those
pathways for those opportu-
nities and that’s what we’re
doing right now,” Witty said.
“The next three months will be
building more of those.”
Among the countries that
local officials have had discus-
sions with are Germany, Ecua-
dor, Wales and Japan.
“The benefit of what we’re
doing now is using that mo-
mentum and, let’s be honest,
any revenue that comes in
above the tuition that we invest
back into this program is really
dedicated then in sending our
kids abroad and all of these
unique opportunities,” said
Thomas Joseph, OIS principal
and instructor and its only full-
time employee.
Joseph said he is looking at
potential exchange agreements
with schools in Ecuador.
“It’s a phenomenal fit. Most
schools are in the capital of
Ecuador and both schools
want to take students from the
United States,” he said.
Joseph said he has wanted
to engage South America, and
one of his visions is to bring
students together in a col-
lege-level course, writing 121,
to discuss world issues in a re-
search-based course.
He said issues such as agri-
culture are of common inter-
est in Eastern Oregon, South
America and Mexico.
further due to higher prof-
its in the short-term market.
In addition, landlords have
been frustrated by renters who
damage property or don’t pay
rent. This concern has been
increased by legal protections
for renters and other regula-
tions, especially during the
pandemic. Those who can
find a house to rent also find
high prices, often putting the
option out of reach.
To address the housing
need, several building and
renovating projects are in the
works in Baker City.
Veterans Village, near the
Leo Adler Parkway on H
Street, broke ground this sum-
mer and is scheduled for com-
pletion in 2023. The project is
intended to provide affordable
homes for veterans.
While being developed pri-
marily by private investors,
it also involves the Northeast
Oregon Housing Authority
and other government and
nonprofit entities.
Several private home proj-
ects are in various stages of
development around Baker
City. These include a develop-
ment between Birch Street and
the freeway, another on Baker
Street across from Sam-O
Swim Center, and one in South
Baker near Colorado Street.
In addition, Tweit said res-
idential units are being devel-
oped in the former Antlers
Hotel building and the build-
ing behind it.
While Tweit sees promise in
these ventures, he emphasizes
that the housing scarcity will
not be solved quickly. With
an estimated nine-month
construction time for a single
house, it will take some time
before the demand is signifi-
cantly reduced. Other factors
such as inflation and rising in-
terest rates will also impact the
housing market.
St. Stephen’s Preschool
Registration for 2022-23
Program for
3 and 4 year olds
Sept. - May
Mon. - Thurs., 8-11
Call: 541-523-4812
Email: bakerststephens@gmail.com
http://www.bakerststephens.org/preschool.html
getting, like a 68 or 70, the filters do a great job,
but the higher you get, the harder it is to pull
down,” he said.
He added the systems still can reduce nitrates
to drinkable levels, but filters require more fre-
quent changing — maybe once every three
months, rather than every year or more.
Doherty said these filters in the future may
be adjusted so they can protect from arsenic,
lead and coliform bacteria. For now, however,
such work is outside the county’s scope.
“That’s outside of our emergency, which is a
nitrate emergency,” he said. “In the short term,
we just want to get something that will pull
these nitrates out.”
He added it is a “great idea” for homeowners
to test their wells for other contaminants.
Nitrate problems started years before
Kurtz said she had mostly avoided drink-
ing her well water, as she preferred the taste of
bottled water and flavored drinks. That said,
she has consumed a fair amount of well water;
Kurtz cooked with it, used it for making coffee
and even swallowed it in her shower.
“It looked like water,” she said, for decades
she believed she was not in danger.
It didn’t look as though it was unsafe to
drink, she said, as it was clear. Kurtz said that
she felt especially protected by heating it, but
she now knows that boiling the water doesn’t
remove nitrates.
In 1978, according to Kurtz, she moved into
her home. At the time, she tested the water. She
said she was told that she would be fine drink-
“Just bring kids together
around targeted issues that af-
fect us regionally and just have
kids meet kids, the entrepre-
neurial aspects of that proba-
bly speak for themselves. This
is exciting,” Joseph said.
Witty said they OIS staff
have had conversations with
officials from a high school in
Japan. He said an agreement
with that school would be a
boon for the program.
“We’re stoked about having
that potential because in Or-
ing the water if she used a water softener. Kurtz
added that only recently she learned that a water
softener alone would not make her water safe.
She said she doesn’t blame contaminated
water for all of her health woes, though it may
have contributed to some of her problems.
Nitrate consumption has been linked to ill
health in people with low immunity, including
children, pregnant women and individuals who
are already sick.
Pineyro showed up at her home one day, go-
ing door to door recently, and asked to test the
water. Kurtz welcomed her to do that.
Kurtz said she doesn’t blame any person or
industry for actions they may have taken to put
nitrates in her water. Many of the responsible
people, she said, are long gone, and were acting
with the best knowledge they had at the time.
Standing at Kurtz’s bedside, Doherty said
he agreed with her assessment. He added that
companies doing business in the area now are
operating with better practices, and they, too,
are concerned.
“Twenty-five or 30 years ago, when this des-
ert was blossoming, folks just went out every
year and put on 200 or 300 pounds of nitrogen.
It’s just what they did. Now, they’ve got preci-
sion measuring and dispensing of fertilizers,”
he said.
Doherty said he favors action that keeps
businesses open, while also improving their
techniques.
Another Boardman homeowner, Gary
Klinger, said he received a water filtration unit,
too. He said county officials tested his water
and found his nitrate level to be around 5 ppm.
For years, he said, he has used the water for
cooking and drinking, but he “didn’t think any-
thing about it.”
After hearing about local concerns about
nitrates he investigated. According to Klinger,
though some agencies would consider his water
drinkable, he would rather be safe than sorry,
which is why he asked for the filtration system,
which was provided free of charge.
His complaint, he said, is that the filter is
only for his kitchen. He would prefer a system
that would remove nitrates from all his water,
regardless of where he received it.
“I should be able to drink from my hose and
not have to worry about it,” he said. “I’m grate-
ful for what I have. Don’t get me wrong. I’d just
like it to be a little different.”
egon, that is tied to the third
language taught in Oregon,
especially around the Portland
Metro suburbs,” Witty said.
He noted that the OIS will
be working with students
across the state, not only in the
Baker School District.
Concern about potential cost
Some residents expressed
concerns this spring about the
cost of the OIS program when
the school board voted to buy
the two homes.
During an April meeting,
Heather Dallstream, who is the
parent of a student in the dis-
trict, urged the board to reject
a proposal to buy the second
home.
Dallstream said that al-
though she sees potential
value to the OIS, she objects to
spending money from the dis-
trict budget on something that
she believes will benefit com-
paratively few students com-
pared with other possible uses
of the dollars.
Cass Robertson Vanderwiele
September 2, 1946 - July 11, 2022
Cass Robertson Vanderwiele, 75, was
born on September 2nd, 1946. He left this
earth, after a long battle with cancer, on
July 11th, 2022.
Cass always loved to
play in the dirt, which
made a lot of sense
because his parents, Julius
and Marie Vanderwiele,
were the children of early
excavating people here in
Baker County.
He went first to
Catholic school and then to
Baker High. During those
school years, he worked
in his grandparents’ gravel
pits near what is now
the Sunridge Motel. He
would shuttle trucks to
job sites when he wasn’t
in the pit. This may not
have been strictly legal,
but things were done a
little differently back then,
right?
After graduating high school, Cass
went to Eastern Oregon College. He then
moved to Pendleton and attended Blue
Mountain Community College. There he
met Patience Jane Miller, the love of his
life. After a brief three-month courtship, on
September 9th, 1967, they were married.
They lived, briefly, in La Grande, then
moved back to Baker, where they had
their first son, Cass Christopher (Casey)
Vanderwiele.
Over the years, Cass worked at many
different places. Among those were: the
City of Baker, Sackos Excavating, and
Babbler Brothers (Baker Redi-Mix.) For
a short time, he owned Cass Vanderwiele
Excavating.
His son, Corey Michael Vanderwiele,
was born on January 10th, 1978. Then
in 1980, he went to work for a long-time
friend, Howard Logsdon, building forest
roads.
The family moved into his parents’
home in 1984, after both his father and
mother passed away.
After Casey graduated in 1988, Corey
asked why Cass was always gone during
the week. Subsequently, in May of 1989,
he started Triple C Redi-Mix, as a family
business. Cass absolutely loved working
with his wife, sons, and daughter-in-law,
Tara. In September of 2021, the business
name changed to Triple C Redi-Mix, dba
Sand & Gravel.
He greatly enjoyed interacting with
people in the community and on projects
of all sizes. During his many years at Triple
C, he loved nothing more than being in the
pit, on a Cat dozer, or on
an excavator.
Though he worked
hard for his family, he
always made time for
various boards throughout
Baker County. He held
the office of president for
both OCAPA and ICAPA.
He shared the advice and
knowledge he’d gained
over many years of earth
moving and shaping.
Throughout his lifetime,
he was the recipient
of many awards, the
highlight of which was
the Rocky Award through
OCAPA.
Cass was preceded
in death by his mother,
father,
many
family
members, and several recent career-long
friends. To carry out his legacy, he leaves
his wife, two sons, a daughter-in-law; his
two beloved granddaughters, Dawson
and Campbell, and his grandson by
employment, Jordan Morrison.
There will be a Celebration of Life/
Anniversary Celebration for Cass, on
September 10, 2022, from 4:00 PM-
6:00 PM at the Thomas Angus Party
Barn, 42734 Old Trail Road, Baker City,
OR 97814. Friends and loved ones are
welcome to stop by at your convenience
between those times. It will be a time to
visit with Cass’s family and offer them
love, support, and condolences.
Memorial contributions can be directed
to: Colton Accounting, on Church Street,
in Baker.
Cass loved making sure the children
of Baker who were in need had a great
Christmas. A foundation will be created to
honor his wishes in his name.
The family would like to thank everyone
who has reached out with condolences,
and heartfelt words of endearment, for
Cass. We have been overwhelmed by your
kindness, which truly is a testament to his
character and what he meant to this little
Eastern Oregon town.
To leave an online condolence for
the family of Cass, please visit: www.
grayswestco.com.