A2 The BulleTin • Tuesday, decemBer 13, 2022
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BY GEORGE PLAVEN
capital Press
PORTLAND — Eastern
Oregon and Washington
could become a regional hub
for producing hydrogen fuel
under a proposal recently sub-
mitted to the U.S. Department
of Energy.
Obsidian Renewables, a
Portland-area solar energy de-
veloper, has applied for $700
million in funding from the
federal energy department to
help build the project, which
includes two anchor hydrogen
production facilities, in Moses
Lake, Washington, and Herm-
iston.
The hydrogen would be
stored and transported around
the region via pipeline, pro-
viding lower-carbon fuel for
ports and businesses.
As part of the Biden ad-
ministration’s goal to achieve
100% clean energy nationwide
by 2025, the federal govern-
ment set aside $8 billion from
the Bipartisan Infrastructure
Bill to create up to 10 regional
hydrogen hubs. Applications
were due in November.
Ken Dragoon, director of
hydrogen development for
Obsidian Renewables, said the
company faces stiff competi-
tion for the money — likening
it to winning the lottery.
The region is already an un-
derdog in the energy depart-
ment’s selection process, Dra-
goon said, compared to places
like Appalachia where there is
more opportunity to cut into
the production of fossil fuels,
or the Gulf Coast where there
is already hydrogen infra-
structure in place.
But the Northwest does
have some advantages, he
added. First, there is ample re-
newable energy on the power
grid from hydro, wind and
solar resources that can be
used for making clean hydro-
gen. Second, both Oregon and
Washington have passed tar-
gets for lowering greenhouse
gas emissions, driving de-
mand for alternative fuels.
“We’re getting outreach
from entities in the region that
want our product,” Dragoon
said. “They’re coming to us.”
The hydrogen would be
made using a method known
as electrolysis, coursing elec-
tricity through water to sepa-
rate the hydrogen and oxygen
molecules. Because the elec-
tricity would come from wind
and solar power, that would
make it green energy.
According to the project de-
scription submitted to the en-
ergy department, the hub will
serve data centers, utilities,
food processors and a variety
of tech companies in the re-
courtesy of Obsidian renewables gion. A map of the hub shows
roughly 550 miles of pipeline
Eastern Oregon and Washington could become a regional hub for
extending from the two an-
producing green hydrogen under a proposal recently submitted to
the U.S. Department of Energy. Obsidian Renewables, a Portland-area chor sites in Moses Lake and
Hermiston, connecting to 15
solar energy developer, has applied for $700 million in funding to
industrial parks across both
help build the project, which includes two anchor hydrogen produc-
states.
tion facilities in Moses Lake, Washington, and Hermiston.
Oregon
State
Hospital
reports
outbreaks
PORTLAND
Portland company proposes hydrogen hub
B
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mark Graves/The Oregonian file
The city of Portland has increased the number of homeless camp sweeps, such as this one on June 28.
City increases homeless-camp sweeps
BY NICOLE HAYDEN
The Oregonian
In mid-October, the city of Portland
removed more homeless encampments
than at any point since the start of the
pandemic, sweeping 87 in a single week.
And last month, city contracted work-
ers again worked to remove as many
tents camps as possible, clearing away
nearly 80 in a week.
In October and November, the aver-
age number of sweeps increased fivefold
from the first three months of the year,
when clearing 15 a week was typical.
Overall, homeless encampment re-
movals increased in April and May,
when Mayor Ted Wheeler ordered an
unprecedented mass sweep of the Old
Town neighborhood, and have contin-
ued to climb since then. Those increases
came as Wheeler piled up rationales for
clearing more camps, including emer-
gency declarations that banned camping
along high-crash corridors and, later, safe
routes to schools.
It’s unclear where the people who lived
in those camps have gone. But Port-
land-area shelters don’t have room for
most of them, and city and county data
indicate most people uprooted from
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all Bulletin payments are accepted at the
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P.O. Box 6020, Bend, Or 97708. check
payments may be converted to an
electronic funds transfer. The Bulletin,
usPs #552-520, is published daily by
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Periodicals postage paid at Bend, Or.
Postmaster: send address changes to The
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all staff-prepared news copy, advertising
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may not be reproduced without explicit
prior approval.
camping on public land don’t want to live
in group shelters.
The stepped-up clearing of encamp-
ments was made possible by doubling
the number of contracted camp removal
workers since the start of the year, said
Cody Bowman, the mayor’s spokesper-
son. In 2021, the city had 35 workers
under contract, and by September 2022,
there were 70.
That increase set the tone for what the
mayor’s office was ultimately building up
to: declaring that camping would not be
permitted anywhere in Portland outside
of large city-designated camps. Instead,
unhoused people will be offered a spot in
a one of those city-run camping sites for
homeless people plus some form of ad-
diction treatment or mental health care, if
needed. If they do not accept one or all of
these offers and choose to continue camp-
ing in unsanctioned areas, they will be
cited by the city, which could trigger court
appearances, fines or arrest warrants.
Officials in Wheeler’s office say the
new rules will go into effect by 2024,
though they say the first of six planned
city-run tent sites, which will cluster up
to 250 people together, could begin op-
erating as soon as May 2023. City leaders
jump-started their plan by approving $27
million at the end of November to begin
constructing the city-run sites. Some of
that money will also be used to hire new
homeless outreach workers and workers
who conduct sweeps.
In the meantime, sweeps continue to
increase as houseless people’s interest in
moving into shelters continues to de-
crease. In June, the city began tracking
how many people who were swept used
a shelter bed for at least one night after
workers offered them that option. From
June to November, interest in utilizing a
shelter bed following a sweep dropped
by 24%.
To be sure, on dry, mild nights, peo-
ple are more apt to sleep outside versus
during severe weather.
When workers offer someone a shelter
bed during a sweep, they also provide a
ride to that shelter and storage for their
belongings, among other services, Bow-
man said.
“Despite a growing homeless popu-
lation, numerous shelter beds in Mult-
nomah County go unused most nights,”
Bowman said. “Portlanders living outside
in unsanctioned, self-sited campsites de-
cline shelter offer for a variety of reasons.”
LOCAL BRIEF
Bend Park & Recreation
District holds food drive,
amid increased need
Citing an increased need for
food bank resources locally,
the Bend Park & Recreation
District is holding a drive-thru
holiday food drive on Satur-
day, an effort to fill the Neigh-
borImpact Food Bank.
The district is asking people
to bring canned foods, includ-
ing proteins like chicken or
tuna, soups and stews, vegeta-
bles and fruit and dried black
and pinto beans and lentils.
Two locations will be open
for donations from 10 a.m.
to 2 p.m. Saturday: the Bend
Senior Center entrance of the
Larkspur Community Cen-
ter on 1600 SE Reed Market
Road; and the parking lot
across from The Pavilion on
1001 SW Bradbury Drive.
Garth Brown, food resource
specialist with NeighborIm-
pact, said in a press release
that “the number of people
who need food bank resources
has increased 20% over last
year,” increasing the need for
items to fill pantry shelves.
Donation bins are also
available at Juniper Swim
& Fitness Center, Larkspur
Community Center, The Pa-
vilion and the park district of-
fice during regular business
hours through Jan. 2.
The district is asking people
not to bring glass packaging.
— Bulletin staff report
Three units at the Oregon
State Hospital are under med-
ical isolation due to outbreaks
of COVID-19 and influenza.
Amber Shoebridge, a
spokesperson for the state psy-
chiatric facility, said two of the
units are shut down for coro-
navirus outbreaks, and another
because of the flu. She said the
isolation protocols go into ef-
fect when there are at least two
patients on a unit with a virus.
It was not immediately clear
how many patients are ill.
Patients living on the af-
fected units will be “strongly
encouraged” to stay in their
rooms and to wear masks
when out of their rooms, Shoe-
bridge said, but they will not be
prohibited from roaming about
the common areas of the unit.
All treatment will occur within
the unit, and patients will stay
in their rooms for meals.
Staff who work on the af-
fected units must wear N95
masks and a face shield when
working with patients, she said.
A spokesperson for the
state’s largest disability advo-
cacy group, which works with
state hospital patients, said pa-
tients have been complaining
of not being able to get tested
for COVID-19, even when
they’re symptomatic or have
been exposed.
“As we’ve learned, without
access to regular testing, pa-
tients can continue potential
spread while they wait to be-
come symptomatic,” said Tom
Stenson, the deputy legal di-
rector for Disability Rights Or-
egon.
Hospital officials could not
immediately be reached about
the availability of testing.