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About Cannon Beach gazette. (Cannon Beach, Or.) 1977-current | View Entire Issue (July 31, 2015)
6A • July 31, 2015 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com By Dani Palmer Cannon Beach Gazette The city of Cannon Beach closed off a portion of its beach last week after a pump station quit and spilled 11,000 gallons of untreated sew- age onto the sand in front of the Wayfarer Restaurant and Lounge. On the morning of July 20, around 5:30 a.m., the internal power supply to the Gower Street pump station’s com- puter stopped working and alarms routed through the unit never went off, Public Works Director Dan Grassick said. It was when one of the city’s Public Works’ employ- ees walked along the beach around 7:30 a.m. that the spill was noticed. $n emergency overÀ ow pipe, permitted by design by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, sent the sewage onto the beach in- stead of the middle of town. “We immediately re- sponded,” Grassick said. “We removed about three inches of sand in the area. It (the sewage) didn’t go all the way out to the surf.” The pump was manually restarted and Grassick noted that seven workers, including himself, were ¿ nished with cleanup by 1 p.m. that Mon- day. McEwan Construction as- sisted with heavy equipment. It’s that “busy time of year,” so a couple of Public Works’ employees were on vacation, he added. The area was cornered off, signs were put up and DEQ along with the Oregon Emer- gency Response System were noti¿ ed about the incident. No closure needed? Ecola Creek Watershed Council Chair Mike Manzu- lli said warning signs should have been more clear about what exactly happened. They read, “Warning. Contaminat- ed drainage. No water play.” “The day of the spill, I witnessed dogs drinking the Gower Street water and nu- merous children playing in and around the spill area,” Manzulli said. “When I vis- ited the site the day after the spill with City Manager (Brant) Kucera, we found sig- nage 100 yards apart so that there was no way to know the site may still be contaminated when walking north on the beach.” Grassick noted that they did put out more signs after speaking with Manzulli. The watershed chair said the city should have “closed the beach until the outfall wa- ter tested safe” and informed the public about the spill. There weren’t any notices posted on the city’s website or elsewhere, Grassick said, because the beach didn’t need to be closed. The area was “adequate- ly signed,” he said, and the contaminated water was only about an inch deep and didn’t make it out to the ocean. It went about 200 yards before ending in the sand. A tale of two tests The city tested samples from the affected portion of the beach daily, and by Wednesday, numbers were below state health advisory levels, Grassick said. To err on the side of cau- tion, staff waited until Friday to take signs down, when the sand had 144 organisms per 100 milliliters of water. Going by freshwater stan- dards, running an E. coli test, the state threshold is 406 or- ganisms. When the city tested the water on Monday, right after the spill and before cleanup, E. coli results were “maxed out” at 2,400 organisms. Those numbers began to drop rapidly the next day, after cleanup was complete, Grassick added. The Surfrider Foundation ran enterococcus tests, ¿ nd- ing 3,130 organisms per 100 milliliters on the beach, 132 in the outfall and 10 in the ocean on Tuesday. That health advisory level is 158 organisms per 100 mil- liliters. Grassick said the entero- coccus and E. coli tests are different with separate thresh- olds. The enterococcus test is the standard for marine water and the E. coli test for fresh- water. Thomas Lossen with the Oregon Beach Monitoring Program said a public advi- sory would have been issued discouraging water contact had the contaminated water met the ocean. With the enterococcus test, Grassick said the level was below the threshold in the outfall, but “sky high” on the beach. Factors such as the water sitting under the hot sun with seagulls depositing fecal mat- ter into it may have made the enterococcus bacteria multi- ple, hiking its test results, he said. The challenge, Grassick noted, is differentiating the growth from a true contam- ination issue that’s a health concern or a natural process. “Therein lies the dilemma we have,” he said. Not generally harmful themselves, the presence of enterococci and E. coli may indicate pathogenic bacte- ria that can cause short-term health effects, such as diar- rhea, cramps and nausea if ingested, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. It could’ve been worse “It’s serious anytime you spill sewage,” Grassick said, but he added that it was a mi- nor amount “relatively speak- ing.” If the incident had gone unnoticed for several hours more, there could’ve been tens of thousands of gallons spilled, he added. In 2008, DEQ ¿ ned Cannon Beach $1,365 for the discharge of 85,000 gallons of untreat- ed sewage onto the beach. That spill resulted in a tem- porary beach closure and was caused by failure of an air compressor at a facility pump station. A portion of it eventually reached the Paci¿ c Ocean with the tide. “11,000 gallons of raw sewage may be a minor amount to Dan Grassick, but for those of us that cherish our health and coastal natural resources, raw sewage in our streams and on our beaches is a very big deal,” Manzulli said. Randy Bailey, an inspec- tor for the Cannon Beach Sewage Treatment Plant with DEQ’s Water Quality Division, said DEQ has re- quested a follow-up report on the cause and will determine whether any enforcement ac- tion needs to be taken. Grassick said no one on staff was around when this particular pump station’s warning system was de- signed, so it’ll be changed to an alarm independent of the station’s computer unit to pre- vent similar incidents in the future. ‘We immediately responded. We removed about three inches of sand in the area. It (the sewage) didn’t go all the way out to the surf.’ Public Works Director Dan Grassick BU SIN E SS DIRE CT ORY P AINTING Licensed • Bonded • Insured CCB# 89453 Randy Anderson 36 Years Experience Anderson Painting (503) 738-9989 • Cell (503) 440-2411 • Fax (503) 738-9337 PO Box 140 Seaside, Oregon 97138 www.andersonpainting.biz “ Custom Finishing ” C ONSTRUCTION “Helping shape the character of Cannon Beach since 1973” Residential • Commercial • Remodeling New Construction • Storm Damage Repair Full Service Custom Cabinet Shop 503.436.2235 www.coasterconstruction.com • CCB# 150126 H EATING & C OOLING Expert Service, Repairs & In stallation Residen tial & C om m ercial G as, O il & E lectric Fu rnaces D u ctless System s • Fireplaces W ater H eaters • H eat P u m ps & A C C om m ercial R efrigeration L icensed & Bonded L ocally O w ned & O perated C annon B each, O regon CCB#1992 05 Contaminated water closes portions of local beach 503-440-6975 coastheating@ gm ail.com L ANDSCAPING GARDENER arcadia organic landscaping & design 503.440.1491 arcadialandscaping@hotmail.com lcb 9071 C ONSTRUCTION B OB M C E W AN C ONSTRUCTION , INC . C A N N O N B E A C H P O L I C E LO G July 12 July 16 12:17 a.m. 1400 block of South Hemlock Street: assault. David V. Thorne, 67, of Sidney, British Columbia, was arrested for assault IV, intentionally or reck- lessly causing physical injury to another, and transported to the Clatsop County Jail. July 14 6:15 a.m. Fifth and Fir Streets: suspicious circumstances. After further investigation, a subject was found operating a vehicle without an ID, insurance or reg- istration. Due to the vehicle not being mobile during contact, a warning was given to fi x all is- sues before traveling down the roadway. July 15 12:41 a.m. Highway 101 and Warren Way: driving under the in- fl uence. Sheila R. Leftwich, 22, of Portland, provided a BAC of 0.10 and was preliminarily charged with DUII and an unlawful or un- signaled turn. 9:33 p.m. 100 block of North Hemlock Street: animal complaint. Police received re- port of a dog bite. The victim was taken to Providence Sea- side Hospital by family and the dog was released to the owner. A bite form was faxed to the county. July 17 1:48 p.m. Hemlock Street and Coolidge Avenue: suspicious circumstances. Police received report of a stranger pulling up beside a pedestrian, following her slowly, rolling down his win- dow and stating, “I wouldn’t run from me if I were you.” An offi cer placed a note on the window of the unoccupied suspect truck, re- questing he make contact with the police to advise his intent in contact with the female. refused to pay the amount for cab fare. He and the cab driver came to a civil compromise. for DUII and driving uninsured. He refused to take a breathlyzer and was later released. July 18 July 19 2:33 p.m. 400 block of Fir Street: theft of services. 6:11 p.m. Warren Way and Hemlock Street: A subject was cited for driving uninsured and no operators license. The vehicle was impounded. 10:31 p.m. 600 block of Beech Street: driving under the infl uence. Gary A. Herman, 48, of Cannon Beach, was arrested 1:00 p.m. Spruce and Ad- ams Streets: accident. An offi cer responded to a motor vehicle crash. 1:54 p.m. First and Hemlock Streets: assistance rendered. A subject felt someone may have tampered with the bike lock se- curing his family’s bicycles to a rack. The code wasn’t working and the lock appeared bent. U pcom in g Tastin gs Aug 1 Aug 8 A u g 15 A u g 22 A u g 29 • K ram er V ineyard s • A nam C ara C ellars • L ujon C ellars • A ngel V ine • E lk C ove V ineyard s “Best W ine Sh op on th e O regon Coa st.” - W ine Ju lia S hack H ours D aily • 11:00am to 6p m Tasting R oom H ours S at • 1:00p m to 5:00p m 124 N . H em lock , C an n on B each 503.436.1100 • w w w .beach w in e.com M IKE AND C ELINE M C E WAN 503-738-3569 34154 H WY 26, S EASIDE , OR P.O. 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