Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 6, 1985)
BESSIE VETZELL U OP ORE NEWS PAPER L 10 E U G E N E OR 9 7 4 0 3 The Heppner Gazette-Times M o r r o u i C o u n ty '» H o m e-O w n e d W eek ly N e w sp a p er VOL. IN N O . • WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY«. IMS ' 18 PAGE« rem oval has been eat her 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 SnoM 36 36 29 31 28 27 33 18 21 13 14 6 -6 14 T 2 in 4 m 6 in 1 in 5‘i 8 in T 1)8 11 38 0 0 21 Total precipiataion (or January wa> 51 in bv the (iilx of H eppner 2.» Jan Jan Jan Feb Feti Feti Feb 1 oh Precip Appreciation Day slated at M.C.G.G. M ore ivin ter. Snow H e p p n e r. O regon It Tues Wed Thur>i , Fn . Sat Sun . Mon . High b ig The big day, February 1 ■ Ground Hog Day has passed and whether you call him Punxsutawney Phil. Jimmy the Groundhog, or Heppner Harry, he definately saw hit shadow No doubt it was intensified by the sun's reflection off several inches of snow At least it's a change after 26 days of frozen fog and ice in the higher elevations around Heppner Fred Toombs, manager of Columbia Bas in Electric Co-op reports 26 days of scraping ice from power lines at an anticipated coat of $ 100 .(ion There has been plenty of "weather" this winter jo b in Heppner re c e n tly The snow makes the roads In teresting to drive, at least Dry pavement smooth after construction tends to become boring, but packed snow which vanishes in spots to become icy patches without warning adds interest to driving Monday evening's snow renewed the freshness of the winter wonder land If we have to have another six weeks of winter, at least it's starting out with a touch of beauty from Mother Nature Warmer would be nicer, though The Morrow County Grain Grow ers will hold its annual Customer Appreciation Day this Saturday. Feb 0 at the main M C G G offices in Lexington The day will begin with a free pancake breakfast ser ved from H am until noon Factory representatives will be on hand with product displays from Steiger. Calkins. International liar vester. Briggs and Stratton. New Zealand Fence. Cenex Animal Health. Cenex Tire and Batteries. Cenex Petroleum. Curtis Fasteners Schwerin Concaves, Cummins Northwest Dupont Monsanto arid Dow Chemical Lucky winners will receive the following door prizes a 230 amp Century welder, a Delta Big Dude pickup Uix a 15 amp t>attery char ger, a 10 lb fire extinguisher, a food dehydrator, a parts washer, a 6 gal wet dry shop vac. a Kival can opener a case of ( enex 5IH 15 40 oil and a Yission cookware set The Wheat Growers la-ague the Morrow County Cow Belles, and the Morrow County Extension Service will demonstrate and provide sam pies of tasty goodies Everyone is invited to come and bring a friend f As a lw a ys fre e C ustom er e _ pancake A p p re c ia tio n b re a k fa s t w ill b e o ne of highlights o f Day this Saturday E veryone M C G .G is in v ite d Temporary administrator arrives at Pioneer Hospital E Byron Smith was scheduled to return as temporary hospital admin istrator to Pioneer Memorial Hospi tal Tuesday and spend the remaind er of the week working w ith Hospital Administrator John Ochsner who has resigned to accept a position with Brim and Associates. a hospital management firm based at Port land Ochsner will leave Heppner Friday to relocate al White Salmon where he will manage the hospital Ochsner has boon the administrât or at Pioneer for the past 11 months smith preceded him. as a temporary administrator also employed by Brim and Associates, following the ¿.rsignation of A K "Lucky" Felt In other business concerning the hospital Hospital Board President Marcia Anderson reports that the Board has received a letter from West World, a management firm, which will be discussed at a public Hospital Board meeting Thursday, Feb 7, it Jo pm West World specializes in management of small hospitals and was asked to submit a management proposal for management of Pioneer to the Hos pital Board the Board ban received only unofficial information (rom Jackson and ( oker, the doctor recruiting firm which referred Dr Curtis Thiessen to Heppner. that following the doctor's visit here. Heppner is high on his list, but no decision has been made The Board has not t>oen notified of any other referrals at this time Installation of toxic waste burner proposed at Arlington The Department of Environmen tal Quality w ill hold a public hearing at the Arlington Elementary School C'afetorium February 7, 7 p m to hear public testimony pertaining to the proposed Air Contaminant Dis charge Permit requested by Chem Security Systems. Inc The hearing is a step in the process which began in February. 1984. when CSSI stated its intention to install a polychlorinated biphen yls (PCBi incinerator at the Arling ton Hazardous Waste Disposal site w ith a service area to include all of the states west of the Missippi River, some of Canada and Alaska The Arlington site is located ap proximately 12 miles from Arling ton. is owned by the state and leased to CSSI to operate the site under a license from DEQ CSSI is respon sihle for the Arlington site during the operation and for an additional 30 years after closure Long term responsibility for the site, however, rests with its owner, the state of Oregon PCHs are oil like chemical com pounds that were used as a fire re tardant and insulation in electrical transformers PCBs are known lo cause liver damage and irritation of the eyes. ears. nose, and throat and are suspected of causing cancer As highly persistent compounds in the environment, the PCBs are not readily broken down for safe dispo sal Therefore, burning at extreme ly high temperatures is considered the only practical way to dispose of the chemical DEQ lists the following current federal rules for liquid PCB dispo sal I ) less than 50 parts per million must be disposed of in a sanitary landfill, burned as a fuel, or disposed of in a PCB disposal site. 2> 54b500 parts per million must be disposed of at a PCB authorized disposal site such as the Arlington site, a PCB incinerator or high efficiency boiler. and 3) 500 4- parts per million must be incinerated in a PCB Incinerator Prompted by the environmental adverse effects from exposure lo PCBs. Congress passed the Toxic Substance Control Act of 1976 The act banned the manufacture of PCBs alter January l, 1979. their distribu tion in commerce effective July I, 1979. and dictated that all PCBs must be destroyed by 1990 It also directed the Environmental Protec tion Agency to regulate the market ing and disposal of PCBj KPA regulation» nave eliminated PCB production and use in food and food slick industries. PCBs in closed systems such as transformers may continue in use until their useful life is ended When taken out of service, they must be properly disposed of within one year says the DEQ "Public Information Package ” CSSI officials have indicated to DEQ I a need for a short "pay back" period for the proposed incinerator since PCBs for burning will drop off sharply after 1988 The liquid PCB incinerator which CSSI has proposed to build would have a 1 2 million gallon design capacity and a 1 0 million gallon nominal operating capacity Incineration of PCB liquids pro duces a number of air pollutants says DEQ Complete combustion of PCBs generates water vapor, car bon dioxide, and hydrogen chloride (HO). Like other combustion pro cesses, nitrogen oxides, sulfur di oxide, carbon monoxide, and vola tile organic compounds can be for med from the nitrogen in air, the sulfur in the fuel, and by incomplete combustion In this case, particu late, hydrogen chloride, nitrogen oxides, and carbon monoxide would be produced For the proposed incinerator, e missions would be controlled by limiting the formation of pollutants during combustion and by operating pollution control equipment itic incinerator is designed to complete the combustion of PCBs and prevent the formation of other toxic com pounds Special features are incur poruted in the combustion chamber design to improve combustion and reduce the formation of air pollu tants After leaving the combustion chumber and passing through con necting ductwork, the gases would tie cooled then pass through two scrubbers and a demister bet ore exhausting through a 76 foot high stack Scrubbers are a type of equipment used to remove pollut ants Watrr, is sprayed over the top of each scrubber and passes down through packing material to a drain at the bottom As the gases pass up through the packed tied conlanun ants are absorbed by the liquid The contaminated water would, in this case, be chemically treated and discharged to liquid waste disposal ponds currently in use at the site DEQ says that comments on re lated issues such as the size of the Events planned for county's Pacific during the World War II in the U S Navy Following this 100th birthday South hr continued teaching and retired as f- • ' X ( S f l Bud Clar-fc to speak By DELPHAJONES Plans are now in the final stages for the February 16 birthday party for Morrow County The program will begin with the Boy Scouts presenting the flag and the Star Spangled Banner will be sung by Norita Marquardt from Portland A lovely decorated "1885 1985 ' cake will be served with the dinner The event will feature two speak ers Jack Morton, a former Hepp nente received his eighth grade dploma in 1977 in Heppner Hr attended BSU of Oregon. M S. Col lege of Education. and served in the Dean of Students from Oregon Col lege of Education 196.1 81 Hud Clark. Portland Mayor is the other scheduled speaker for this meeting Clark's family back ground is in Morrow County There is special music planned from the Irngon area, lone, and from other parts of the County The "Grand Squares” will enter tain following the dinner The winning essay "History of Morrow County" will be read by the junior high school student who wrote it The dessert scene picture will be presented to the winner A plaque will be presented to the town which was judged to have held the "best" celebration for the centennial la-xington held a celebration last summer Irngon held special cen tenmal ev ents in conjunction with its Watermelon Festival Boardman combined the centennial and Har vest Festival celebrations Hep; held special centennial events at the same time as the Merchants' Day and lone elementary school is plan mng for each class to study pioneers and aspects of local history with emphasis on details of local lone history and the Morrow County Centennial which will culminate with an open house at the school on April 23 A good time and delicious dinner is planned so try to attend our celebra tion We would appreciate it if those who plan to attend will call or send in the available registration to help determine the number to prepare for service area, transportation, and potential (or spills of the hazardous materials will also ho heard at the February 7 hearing but only testi mom pertaining lo the proposed air contaminant discharge |>ermit will tie evaluated at this time Governmenl regulations have al lowed (luids with low levels ot i’CBs to In- stored permanently in contain ers at the Arlington repository Substances containing high lev els of I’CBs from Oregon and Washington have been stored at the Arlington waste site beforr being shipped to Texas for burning Currently, says DEQ. less than zi.otxi gallons a year of liquids with under 5(H) parts per million I’t Bs are landfilled at Arlington In addition. DK q estimates that 50.000 plus gallons a year ot liquids with over jot) parts per million I’CBs are received (rom the existing service area for shipment to an approved out of stale incinerator Oregon generates only small amounts of high level liquid FCB waste Fort land General Electric currently sends only two truckloads per year to Arkansas for incineration In addition. Pacific Power and Light. Tillamook PUC. Eugene Water and Electric Board and other Oregon PI Ds send small amounts of PCBs to the Arlington site Existing amounts are projected to decline as PCBs are removed from use DK q says that the incinerator proposed at Arlington would be regulated by three state permits including an Air Contaminant IBs charge Permit, a PCB Incinerator permit, and a Water Pollution Con Irol Facilities Permit, and by one federal permit The Air Contaminant Discharge Permit would require that PCB destruction would have to be at least 99 W9 percent This means that less than one pound of PCB either by «•rubber waste or emitted from the stack would remain for every one million pounds of PCB fed to the incinerator DEQ has not yet received applica lion for a Water Pollution Control Facility Permit which will be need ed for handling scrubber water used to clean the incinerator stack DEQ requires that the water be collected, neutralized conveyed and dischar ged to synthetically lined evapora lion ponds A no-disc barge restric tion would be placed on the holding ponds The Federal Toxic Substance Con trol Act iTSCA' requires a permit only for the operation of a PCB incinerator, not for building one Because the size of the service area is directly related to the am volume of PCBs brought through Oregon, the increase in amount of PCBs transported on Oregon high ways would be significant Accord- mg to CSSI estimates. j I hhi I onr million gallons of liquid PCBs would la- incinerated at the Arlington site Forty percent of this volume would la- generated from northwestern states and <0 percent would la- generated by California and other western states and transported lo Arlington DEQ cites Public Utility Com mission’s estimates that 2,057 ve hides carrying all types of hazar dous materials passed by PUC station No IH 0 ? on Highway 97 near Klamath Falls during a recent one month penial The additional ship mrnt of P<'Bs exported from Califor nia on all routes would la- approxi E. Byron Smith moldy 20 vehicles per month or aohut one percent of the shipment of all hazardous materials on Highway Candidates m ast 97 Hazardous materials are defined by federal and state laws as t hem file before Feb. 14 iculs which meet certain standards Filing deadline (or candidates because they are igmtahle, cor seeking positions in the March 26 rosive. acidic or toxic election is 5 p m Feb 14 Prim ary transportation routes Filing requirements include oh would be along Highway 97 to I 84 taming a form from the county clerk from California to Arlington Trans portation routes from other states or elections office and tiling it along with a $10 filing fee or a petition would include I 5. I 205, I 90. High bearing the signatures of 25 register w.i> N . and I m From the Northwestern stales, ed voters, at the Morrow County PCBs would be stopped in bulk, in Clerks office at the county Court house in Heppner drums and transformers, says DEQ Positions open in Morrow County There would he a large number of include transporters Port of Morrow Three directors Most of the balance uf the ship merits would be transported from positions 1. 3. and 5 Morrow County School District Chemical Waste M anagement's Board One director at large posi Kettleman Hills site near Bakers field, California The material lion Morrow County School District would be assembled in bulk form and transferred to 5,000 6.000 tanker Advisory Committee Seven mem trucks Only a small amount of bers Heppner la-xington. jxmitions PCBs would be shipped in non CSSI 4 and 6. lone la-xington. jxisilions 2 and 3. Boardman Irrigon positions trucks says DEQ The PUC does not require special '3, 4 and 5 Boardman Rural Fire District training for drivers transporting PCBs and there is no restriction on Three directors positions 1.2 and 3 Boardman Cemetery District transportation routes The PUC does require carriers to register and Two directors positions 1 and 2 Boardman Park A Recreation obtain a permit for transportation of District Two directors positions 4 hazardous materials CSSI ollicials have indicated to and 5 Heppner Water Control District DEQ that drivers of CSSI trucks are given training in proper procedures Two directors positions 1 and 2 Heppner Rural Fire District for shipping PCHs and spill response if an accident occurs DKQ says Three directors positions I. 2. and that the CSSI driving record is very 3 Heppner Cemetery Maintenance good. and that CSSI officials have District Two directors positions 2 further stated that they would volun tardy notify the PUC and DCQ of and 3 Irrigon Cemetery District one transportation routes and shipping dates and would submit to state director position I Irrigon Rural Fire Protection Dis inspections near state borders CSSI drivers would transport approxi trict Three directors positions 1, 3 mately 60 percent of the PCBs and 5 lone Lexington Cemetery Dis destined for the Arlington site DEQ concludes that it is difficult trict two directors positions l and to assess the potential for serious 2 . Budgets for the Morrow County liquid PCB spills If the incinerator is constructed, the volume of liquid School District and county govern PCBs transported through Oregon ment will also be decided at the March 26 election would increase substantially 4 T *
