The Columbia Press
4
February 26, 2021
Virus: 2020 was deadliest year in U.S. history
Continued from Page 1
“This is a huge decline,”
said Robert Anderson, who
oversees the numbers for the
CDC. “You have to go back to
World War II, the 1940s, to
find a decline like this.”
Other health experts say it
shows the profound impact of
COVID-19, not just on deaths
directly due to infection but
also from heart disease, can-
cer and other conditions.
For those alive in 2021, the
average life expectancy is
now just under 78 years.
“What is really quite strik-
ing in these numbers is that
they only reflect the first half
of the year,” said Dr. Kirsten
Bibbins-Domingo of the Uni-
versity of California, San
Francisco. “I would expect
that these numbers would
only get worse.”
2020 was the deadliest year
in U.S. history, with deaths
topping 3 million for the first
time.
Vaccines
The Oregon Health Author-
ity informed Clatsop County
that 1,000 COVID-19 vaccine
doses will be delivered locally
each week.
Seven hundred doses will
go to the Public Health De-
partment and 100 each will
go to the Safeway-Astoria,
Safeway-Seaside and Costco
pharmacies.
The pharmacies are sched-
uling vaccinations through
their own online registra-
tion systems: safeway.com/
pharmacy/covid-19.html for
Safeway and costco.com/
covid-vaccine.html for Cost-
co.
Ominous milestone
Gov. Kate Brown ordered
all flags at Oregon public
institutions to be flown at
half-staff until sunset today,
Feb. 26, in memory of the
more than 500,000 Ameri-
cans who have lost their lives
to COVID-19. The statistic
includes 2,171 Oregonians.
“Every life lost to COVID-19
is a tragedy,” Brown said.
“My thoughts are with all
those who have lost someone
to this disease and, to all Or-
egonians, I want you to know
I remain committed to en-
suring that we do everything
we can to stop the spread and
save lives.”
Restaurant fined
The Little Brown Hen Café
in Florence was fined $17,800
for willfully continuing to ex-
pose workers and patrons to
the coronavirus disease.
The business did so despite
knowing it was violating a
public health order restrict-
ing all indoor dining while
Lane County was in the “ex-
treme risk” category.
There had been multiple
complaints about the busi-
ness and inspectors from Or-
egon Occupational Safety and
Health were met at the front
door by several people who
threatened them and blocked
their entrance, including one
carrying a firearm, state offi-
cials said.
The cafe had launched a
campaign to keep restaurants
from going under due to what
it contends are overly restric-
tive state rules.
Using his discretionary
authority under state law,
OSHA Administrator Mi-
chael Wood imposed twice
the minimum penalty for a
willful violation. The decision
reflects the need to ensure a
more appropriate deterrent
effect when employers insist
on disregarding public health
measures.
Such willful behavior puts
employees at risk and en-
ables the employer to achieve
a competitive advantage over
businesses that comply with
health and safety standards,
Wood said.
Contamination
cleanup
areas
Port: Cleanup fees excessive
Continued from Page 1
Oil’s tanks to the port’s piers,
and leaking underground
storage tanks.
In 2001, DEQ determined
the responsible parties were
Chevron, Delphia Oil, Harris/
Van West, McCall Oil, Niemi
Oil/ExxonMobil, the Port of
Astoria, Qwest and Shell Oil.
It took another 19 years –
April 2020 -- before an agree-
ment was reached between
DEQ and all the parties, in-
cluding the percentages each
would pay. The port’s share is
12 ½ percent.
“It’s been a long time that
this has been worked on and
one of my fears is that we have
this agreement in place, but
we live in a changing world,”
Isom said. “Maybe there will
be changes at the port or DEQ
that could affect this.”
He has contacted state Sen.
Betsy Johnson, U.S. senators
Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden,
and U.S. Rep. Suzanne
Bonamici.
“This is highway robbery
what they’re doing to us,” Port
Commissioner James Camp-
bell said.
“I hope we don’t get billed
for an article that could be
written about this meeting,”
added Commission Chairman
Dirk Rohne. He thanked Isom
and his staff for taking on the
issue.
It’s complicated because
there are so many parties in-
volved, some of which are no
longer in business or have
been purchased by other com-
panies, and it’s unusual when
a public entity is lumped in
with private companies in one
cleanup cluster, Isom said.
“The question isn’t so much
the legality of it, it’s more so
are we doing what’s right,”
Isom said. “It doesn’t pass the
smell test. … It’s real hard for
me to sign off on the check
monthly when we at the port
still have some staff on layoff.”
So far, the parties have paid
more than $650,000 to the
DEQ to cover its staff time, he
said.
The agreement was “put in
place 20 years ago and we still
don’t have remedies in place.
We just keep paying and pay-
ing and we just need to find
what the end game is.”