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 *