Blue Mountain
EAGLE
The
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– PAGES A8-A9
Grant County’s newspaper since 1868
W EDNESDAY , M AY 13, 2015
• N O . 19
• 20 P AGES
• $1.00
www.MyEagleNews.com
Mystery fumes seep into JD homes
A contractor for the nearby Educa-
tion Service District construction project
By Scotta Callister
hired by SWCD. It indicated the source referred Kehrberg to an industrial hy-
Blue Mountain Eagle
of the odor is a solvent.
gienist, who took air samples and rec-
“It’s not a petroleum product,” she ommended some venting in the crawl
JOHN DAY – Neighbors in South- said. She said the hygienist is coming to VSDFHDVDWHPSRUDU\¿[7KHRGRUZDV
west John Day are complaining of town Wednesday to do more testing and LGHQWL¿HGDVDVROYHQWEXWWKHVRXUFHUH
noxious fumes emerging in their base- PHHWZLWKRI¿FLDOV
mains unknown.
ments.
Jason Kehrberg, SWCD manager,
Kehrberg said the hygienist took soil
&LW\RI¿FLDOV±LQFOXGLQJWKH-RKQ said the problem cropped up at the agen- samples to see if anything might have
'D\SROLFHFKLHI¿UHFKLHIDQGSXE F\¶VEXLOGLQJLQ0DUFK±¿UVWDVDIDLQW been dumped on the property, but that
lic works director – were regrouping occasional whiff of odor, and then be- wasn’t the case.
in the area this week to try to pin- came more persistent.
He said with the venting, the air qual-
point the cause and extent of the
“It built up over time to where it was LW\ LQ WKH RI¿FH VSDFH LV PHHWLQJ VWDQ
problem.
almost unbearable,” he said.
dards again.
Some neighbors just began smell-
The staff checked the crawl space for
The hygienist returned about two
ing the strong odor in the recent days, signs of some kind of leak, and opened weeks ago and took more samples, Keh-
EXWWKHSUREOHP¿UVWZDVUHSRUWHGWZR all the windows and doors to air out the rberg said. He found the problem had di-
months ago at the Grant Soil and Water RI¿FHVGHVSLWHWKHFKLOO\ZHDWKHU
minished, “but it’s still there in the crawl
Conservation District building on Can-
“People had to wear coats to work,” space.”
yon Boulevard.
he said.
The agency may need to install more
City Manager Peggy Gray said the
7KHDJHQF\QRWL¿HG-RKQ'D\SROLFH permanent venting to control the prob-
city has just received a copy of a prelim- DQG¿UHRI¿FLDOVDQGFDOOHGWKHSURSDQH lem, Kehrberg said.
inary report from an industrial hygienist company to check for leaks.
He said he’d been told solvents usu-
Consultant says culprit is some sort of solvent
Man
held in
Dayville
stabbing
Reeling in some
FUN
Blue Mountain Eagle
DAYVILLE – A Day-
ville man who offered a
friend a place to stay the
night was stabbed ear-
ly Sunday morning, the
Grant County Sheriff’s
Office reported.
The investigation in-
dicated that Michael
Wenzel allowed a friend
to stay at his residence
on South Fork Road.
Sheriff Glenn Palm-
er said that about 4
a.m. the friend broke
through a bedroom door
and attacked Wenzel
with a butcher knife.
Wenzel was stabbed
in the forehead before
he could fend the man
off and, with help from
his girlfriend, disarm
him.
Monty Smith was ap-
prehended and taken to
Blue Mountain Hospital
and then to the Grant
County Jail. On Monday,
he was transferred to
the Juniper Ridge Acute
Care Facility in John
Day, Palmer said.
Palmer said Wenzel’s
forehead cut did not re-
quire medical attention.
The case has been
forwarded to the dis-
trict attorney, the sheriff
said.
ally dissipate over time.
“We were hoping it was localized,
and would just dissipate,” he said.
However, new reports in the neigh-
borhood indicate the substance is on the
move.
Rob Raschio, who lives on South-
west 4th Street, said his family noticed
the strong odor about four days ago in
their basement.
Thinking there might be an oil leak,
he called a heating oil company to check
it out and was told the problem was also
occurring at other nearby homes – and
that it was not heating oil.
Raschio said the smell is noxious,
adding that “some people were getting
migraine headaches from it.”
Raschio’s hoping people will report
the problem and share information, so
VRPHRQHFDQ¿JXUHRXWWKHVRXUFHDQG
extent of the problem.
“Whatever the problem is, we need
to know what’s going on,” he said.
Buddies catch a big mess
RI¿VKDW(QULJKWSRQGV
Blue Mountain Eagle
M
T. VERNON – The fish
were biting and the com-
pany was good at Gail and
Shirley Enright’s Mt. Ver-
non ranch May 1.
Members of the John Day Elks Lodge
and other volunteers paired up with invited
students from Grant School District No. 3
schools for the third annual Elks Fishing
Buddy Derby.
When young Sebastian Hodge was asked
E\%LOO)LHOGVKRZPDQ\¿VKKHFDXJKWWKH
reply was, “twenty-eleven dozen.”
See FUN, Page A12
OCA schedules
midyear meeting
in John Day
Blue Mountain Eagle
JOHN DAY – The Oregon
Cattlemen’s Association is
coming to Grant County next
month.
The organization will hold
its midyear event Wednes-
day-Friday, June 10-12 at the
Grant County Fairgrounds in
John Day.
The theme is “Branded.”
“The theme rings strong
in the ranching community
as cowboys and cowgirls are
dedicated to taking care of
their land, community, and
animals,” said Kayli Han-
ley, communications direc-
tor. “That is something that
will never change. It is their
brand.”
The program will fea-
ture presenters from across
the state and as far away as
Washington, D.C. Topics will
include agribusiness, wolves,
endangered species and pri-
vate land acquisition, as well
as updates on political issues,
the Beef Council, and other
matters.
In addition to the presen-
tations, there will be a golf
scramble, a local FFA barbe-
cue lunch, a Young Cattle-
men’s Committee fun night,
and dinner meetings.
In a release, the associa-
tion noted its deep roots in
agriculture, dating back more
than 100 years as a voice for
ranchers across Oregon. Start-
ed with 12 cowboys concerned
about providing quality beef,
the association now boasts
more than 2,000 members.
For more information, visit
orcattle.com or call 503-361-
8941. May 31 is the registra-
tion deadline.
S TUDENT ART
Left: Angler AJ
Dickens measures
a fish he caught,
Marilyn Raymond
standing by to help.
Top: Young anglers
had assistance
from Elks fishing
buddies at a May
1 derby event held
at Gail and Shirley
Enright’s Mt. Vernon
ranch.
Contributed photos
Tom Winters
Ranchers
ridin’
into town
Rebecca Batease
Grade 10
Grant Union Junior-Senior
High School
Teacher: JJ Collier
MNF projects draw world travelers
Travelers take home
lessons from woods
By Scotta Callister
Blue Mountain Eagle
JOHN DAY – Local foresters and
land managers went into export mode
last week, providing lessons in resto-
ration and collaboration to a contingent
of visitors who will take the informa-
tion home to 14 foreign countries.
The visitors were in Grant County
May 6-8 as part of the International
Seminar on Forest Landscape Resto-
ration. The seminar began April 27
with programs and coursework in Port-
ODQG IROORZHG E\ D ¿HOG WULS WR %HQG
and then John Day.
The group leaves Portland for home
this Wednesday.
In Grant County, they visited the
Camp Creek restoration area, the Mar-
shall Devine restoration and harvest
The Eagle/Scotta Callister
International tour participants gather around Brian Cochran,
Tribes restoration ecologist, as he describes the scope of work
to restore mine tailing fields and a healthy river course on the
Oxbow Conservation Area.
project, and the Oxbow Conservation
Area.
The latter, owned by the Confeder-
ated Tribes of the Warm Springs, gave
them a closeup look at a major river
relocation project, one that includes a
stretch of relocated channel and exten-
VLYHZRUNWRUHFRYHUPLQHWDLOLQJ¿HOGV
It was an eye-opener for many of the
19 participants, described as mid-career
land managers from nations including
Malawi, China, Brazil and Philippines.
“We don’t have this kind of resto-
ration,” said Silvia Lopez, a biologist
from Guatemala, noting the extensive
work at the Oxbow.
While some parts of the project
looked too costly for projects back
home, she said, she felt there were
good ideas to take back and try. She
said much of the challenge in her area
is coping with impacts from intensive
agriculture and also the loss of habitat
to commercial uses and housing.
6DPXHO .R¿ 1\DPH D SDUWLFLSDQW
from Ghana, said the tour offered good
information about “the basic principles
of restoration – These are things we
can take home.”
He was intrigued by the collabora-
tive effort of many of the projects, and
felt it would help to involve “the peo-
ple outside the bureaus” in the work.
See MNF, Page A12