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About The Columbia press. (Astoria, Or.) 1949-current | View Entire Issue (July 17, 2020)
4 T he C olumbia P ress July 17, 2020 Fish plant woes Continued from Page 1 ery gallon of water the airport uses, it sends 5 gallons of sewage to the treatment plant. Rain runoff makes up the largest share of what’s headed into the sewer system, which means the treatment plant works overtime on “sewage” that isn’t very dirty. Warrenton has issues as well. The city has 89 miles of pipes in its water system and as much as 40 percent need to be replaced. In 2005, the port signed an inter- governmental agreement with War- renton to develop a joint solution. The solution has yet to be realized. Airport Manager Gary Kobes told city commissioners the port con- ducted a smoke test to find leaks a month ago and, more recently, used specialized cameras to peer through the pipes at the airport and the U.S. Coast Guard air station. “We didn’t find any immediate op- portunity to solve a big part of the problem,” Kobes said. The port also is working with the Department of Environmental Qual- ity to ensure any wetland issues are resolved. “At the end of the day, we’ll end up with 11 acres readily developable,” Kobes said. The preliminary proposal from Scoular, a company that turns fish byproducts into pet food, is estimat- ed to send 20,000 gallons per day to Warrenton’s treatment plant, using as much as 4 percent of its capacity. The extra capacity isn’t a problem in dry summer months, when the fish processor is most interested in operating, said Stelzig, the public works director. But processing in the winter, and even in April or October if it’s rainy, could be a problem. “Regardless of whether this thing happens, we’re going to continue to see these types of proposals,” Stelzig said. Later this fiscal year, the city will spend up to $200,000 evaluating all of its facilities, including plans to im- prove the treatment plant. “We are dedicated to partner with the city of Warrenton and move this project forward,” said Robert Stevens, Port of Astoria commissioner. “If it can be done, we want to see it done. But it’s got to be something better, not making things worse.”