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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 7, 2015)
News FLOOD Continued from Page A1 Àows of 1,500 cfs. Because of the loss of vegetation caused by ¿re, “a 10-year storm would be dev- astating, according to (BAER) ¿gures,” )erguson said. The BAER team included hydrologists and engineers and )erguson said the methodolo- gy they used to arrive at those numbers is sound. “The reasonableness of their (calculations) is evident,” he said. )erguson is now working with BAER team members, Army Corps of Engineers of¿- cials and other agencies to pro- duce a map that shows exactly how the creek would react af- ter a 10-year storm and at what spots the damage would likely occur. He expects to have that done in about two weeks to a month. )erguson has been tasked by Grant County Court with helping coordinate all the var- ious restoration efforts by lo- DUMP Continued from Page A1 “This action strikes the right balance between public safety and protection of natural re- sources,” Pedersen stated in a news release. One of the rules that was waived allowed the DEQ on Sept. 23 to issue Grant County a special permit to dig a trench speci¿cally for ¿re-related de- bris. The permit for this so-called “limited purpose trench” is good for six months and can be renewed one time for an addi- tional six months if necessary, said Susan Christensen, DEQs natural resource specialist. The department also waived the $500 fee the county other- wise would have had to pay for the permit. Clark’s Disposal contracts with the county to operate the Wednesday, October 7, 2015 cal, state and federal agencies aimed at mitigating the danger of a catastrophic Àood. Grant County Court Com- missioner Boyd Britton said the county is trying to be very proactive about preparing for such a Àood and he would rather play the role of Chicken Little and be wrong than not prepare properly and have a disaster. “I’d like to be real proac- tive about this as much as pos- sible,” he said. )erguson said a lot of ef- fort is gong into addressing the issue — “A lot of powerful people are working on this. It hasn’t gelled yet but I feel like it’s going in the right direc- tion.” But, he added, there’s little that can be done right now to prevent a catastrophic Àood from occurring if a major storm hit the area today. Such a Àood would bring a lot of debris with it and if that debris didn’t get cleared out rapidly, it could quickly take down bridges near Can- yon City, he said. To prepare for that scenario, the county plans to move excavators into strategic areas so debris can be cleared quickly to prevent bridges from plugging up. An alarm system to alert people to imminent Àooding, which the BAER team recom- mended, is another thing the local community can do quick- ly to prepare for Àooding, )er- guson said. Canyon City Mayor Steve )ischer said the BAER esti- mates are a worst-case scenar- io “but if it even comes close to the worst-case scenario, the potential for property loss and damage could exceed what the ¿re did.” )ischer has discussed the issue with )erguson and city council members and has been told the county court is wait- ing for permission to remove 50,000 yards of material out of the creek bottom to mitigate the Àooding potential. Canyon City will assist the court on that effort, he said, in- cluding contacting all property owners along the creek and getting their permission for people conducting the creek debris removal to enter their property. John Day City Manager Peggy Gray said the possibility of a disastrous Àood is a major concern and the city is focus- ing on informing the public about the danger and urging them to get Àood insurance. The city included informa- tion in this month’s utility bill directing residents where to ¿nd more information about Àood insurance. City of¿cials will also walk up and down Canyon Creek and identify hazards, Gray said. “Anything we think could be a hazard, we’ll try to elimi- nate that hazard prior to spring and runoff,” she said. “We want to be prepared for what could come down the creek and the public needs to be aware of what the risks are.” According to a BAER team report, it will take about ¿ve years for vegetation to recover in watersheds affected by the ¿re. “)lood potential will de- crease as vegetation re-estab- lishes, providing ground cover, increasing surface roughness and stabilizing and improving the in¿ltration capacity of the soils,” the report states. transfer station outside John Day and normally hauls refuse on large trailers to Boardman. The property where the transfer station sits used to be a land¿ll, which closed in 1995. The trench, which has al- ready been dug, is located on the old land¿ll site. Transfer station staff will direct people to the trench and there is no cost for disposal of ¿re debris, Christensen said. Pieces of scrap metal in- cluded in the ¿re damage will be recycled through the transfer station. There are already about four dump truck loads of ¿re debris stockpiled near the trench and it will quickly be pushed in, said Grant County Court Judge Scott Myers. The trench is 80 feet long, 24 feet wide and 10 feet deep and will hold about 2,800 cubic yards or 280 dump truck loads, he said. While there is an estimated 4,000 cubic yards of ¿re-re- lated debris throughout the area where the 110,000-acre Canyon Creek Complex ¿re burned, the county anticipates the trench will be more than large enough to hold the ¿re de- bris that actually makes its way there, Myers said. The county will be reim- bursed up to $75,000 by the state for the cost of creating the trench and disposing of the ¿re debris, Myers said. The DEQ also waived a fee associated with septic systems and the management of asbes- tos. A site evaluation is required to reconnect a septic system following ¿res to ensure major components are not damaged and the fee for this service can reach $750. The department is not charging this fee to landowners affected by the wild¿res and is expediting the evaluation pro- cess, said DEQ Public Affairs Specialist Greg Svelund. “These people have lost so much already, it just didn’t seem right to charge them that fee,” he said. The department has already conducted about a dozen site inspections for septic system reconnections in Grant County and will continue to respond rapidly as more landowners call for this service, Svelund said. Grant County Court worked with state of¿cials on the clean- up issue from the beginning of the Canyon Creek Complex ¿re and Myers said the results are positive for county residents. “It’s been a great deal all the way around,” he said. “Every- body’s done yeoman’s work on this one.” Contributed photo Medical appointment or just errands? Whatever the outing, Julia Haney is ready to hit the road. HANEY Continued from Page A1 “The tricky thing with brain injuries is that there are a lot of unknowns, and they just don’t have all the answers,” she said. One thing all the doctors have agreed on, Cammie said, is that children are re- silient, and that Julia has been a good candidate for having a great recovery. Julia loves all foods, and enjoys listening to music and being sung to. “Her favorite toys are any that make or play music,” Cammie said. The Haneys are grateful to their family, friends and others in the community for their thoughts, prayers, cards, packages and dona- tions. “We wouldn’t have been able to make it through such a dif¿cult time without them,” Cammie said. Also high on the family’s gratitude list are Julia’s cur- rent doctors and therapists. Cammie said, “Because of them, she continues to improve a great amount each week.” She added they give spe- cial thanks to Dr. Ginger Vaughn and the Blue Moun- tain Hospital staff who were on duty the night they rushed Julia to the emergency room. “There is no doubt that their quick and skillful ac- tions, along with the won- derful treatment she received at St. Luke’s in Boise, saved her,” Cammie said. Pro Saw Shop and a Whole Lot More WANTED Information leading to conviction of trespassers and/or poachers on Silvies Valley Ranch 00 $2,500 REWARD Approximately the first of September, a nice mule deer buck was killed and left to rot on our ranch. Last year, four poachers were caught and prosecuted, and four other dead elk were found rotting. Please help us catch trespassers and poachers who have no respect for private property rights and who give all hunters a bad name. If you legally wound an ani- mal that comes onto any of our property, please come to ranch headquar- ters at Bridge Creek and we will help you find and clean it at no charge. Otherwise, do not go onto our property unless accompanied by a Silvies Valley Ranch associate. We will press charges, sue for damages, and are actively patrolling our property with ATVs, by horseback, and videocams. CALL Silvies, Oregon A5 02131 Blue Mountain Eagle Sheriff Glenn Palmer 541-575-1131 Sheriff Dave Ward 541-573-6156 Colby Marshall 541-573-5150 x110 www.silviesvalleyranch.com 1-800-SILVIES