Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 21, 1988)
-, * • V- . r •.sf -C . ’ « % . • .* • •» * • '•« «X * • • •. . - • a. '.•S'** •' f m 0 z - * •** ' Ul 'v *• . . ’ • • * ..* • / ’ ^ - 'S * X '• •/ •••. . ■'*. * « • » \ . : : 3 ! T. News stories claim Willow Creek Dam unsafe WETZ CLL \ • • * é '■* . * 1 • * , » < • •*] I ' f * * • - . ” •• * « •^ • C. ' « . > ‘ V • ,A% 0 . * , . # r . i « . * « * » -*•» ., • • . - iV 7 *• * - * ■ i » I * '. - » 'T ♦ • t K. > 5 ” V • T -, * ‘ \ - • -*v ' • . The Heppner Senator Hatfield speaks during dedication of Willow Creek Dam, July 1983 K d U o r'i note imes a zette The following copyright story a/t peared in Surukis s edition o f The t.ugene Register (¡mini by Lisa Strycker of The Eugene Register-Guard issue." according to the memo "W e urge you to fund remedial ac non during fiscal year 1988 and not to place tins program on the shelf " No such action was financed for 1988, hut the studies continue Although they can tell the dam is leaking, Heppner residents know very little about the troubles beset ting their com m unity’ s largest land mark, and they resent being left in the dark "W c can sec it's disintegrating hut they're not telling us anything.” complained Ed H ictm tru. whose hack yard looks out on the dam's wet face ‘ They were looking for a sparsely settled area they could ex periment on w ith this new type o f dam. and now we re stuck w ith it ” Die W illo w Creek project is the w orld's first dam to be built entire ly w ith roller compac ted concrete It sits just upstream o f Heppner on W illow Creek, a tributary to the Col unihia River From the start, the 169 foot dam leaked like a sieve between the one foot layers o f compacted concrete A $2 m illion grouting project four years ago stopped some o f Ihe flow But recently, the dam began show mg signs that the seepage may he promoting decay o f the concrete Used To determine whether the struc tural integrity ot the dam is at risk, studies arc under way on the geochemistry, m icorbiology and hydrodynamics o f the dam’s seepage waters Privately, corps staff members complain o f bureaucratic irrespon sihility and toot dragging at W illow Creek O ffic ia lly , the corps mam tains it has taken the proper steps to m onitor the dam ami to ensure its safety As much as H2 metric tons o f the dam's utX).(XXI ton structure arc Icaihing out ot the concrete and washing downstream every year, ac cording to estimates prepared for the corps Although the annual dissolu lion rate represents a small fraction of the total dam mass, si icntists warn that dciay may t»c occurring in nar row zones .uul could rcsuli in loc.iliz ed weakening The degradation threatens the dam's "stru ctu ra l in te g rity " and raises questions about the "health and safety ot the public and the employees o f ihe p ro je c t." accor ding to internal memoranda written by corps stall in |9h6 and I9H7 Ihe corps was warned that pro blems would result it the dam was built In 197 3, a Washington State U niversity siientist under contract with the corps conducted a pre impoundment study ot the W illow ( reek area I he predictions that en vironment.il engineering professor 33 iIIlain I unk made then have all come true and worse He foresaw that beiause ot chemicals and manure associated with agriculture and i.ittle prodm lion m the W illow ( reek watershed the reservoir would be enriched with nutrients that would teed a prolusion ot blue green algae He predicted tin* algae would bloom, die silt to the bottom ot the reservoir and decom pose, m the prixess depleting m ygen Irom Ihe depths and creating potsomms and corrosive substances, such as hydrogen sultidc and am morniim A massive dam built five years V O I. 106 NO. 3« W ednesday, September 21. I9XH H eppner 25‘ ago with a novel construction tcchm 8 Pages que is divsolving at the city lim its o f Heppner. threatening to wipe out the north central Oregon community with a catastrophic flood it was designed to prevent U S Arm y Corps o f Fngmeers docum ents exam ined by the Register ('ward indicate that the agency is well aware o f the problems at ihe dam. but o fficials have given no warning to the I ,3(X) residents who stand to lose life and property in a torrent o f water that could he • • unleashed in a dam breach "W e have a potential hazard here and all the components arc present that could cause a breach.” said corps lake scientist lh>ug Larson, who has cntensively studied the W illow Creek project "W hether or not this occurs depends on whether or not the corps decides to do something to prevent it " To date, the corps has spent more than SMK),(*X) studying the dam's problems, but a promising solution that would cost about SI 30.(XX) was shelved because o f a lack o f funding, , according to staff memoranda Preliminary results from corps- • tlM ___ financed studies indicate that the in Members of the presi. h o sp ita l t,i‘f . t> . fM T ■, and re p re s e n ta tiv e s of the Morrow novalivc dam, built in layers of con County Medical B oard in sp e cts A e' M * - : q t r a m b u la n c e on th e o c c a s io n o f its visit to the crete stead o f being poured into a L e xin g to n airport last W e d n e sd a y coneretc form , is being dissolved bv water and by to xic chemicals by M arie Struthers F lig ht" facilitates transfer ot patients I lie smaller plane has a maximum originating in ihe nutrient enriched At first sight the C’csna 421 leeks to the hospital after XcroMedicaTs range of 4 hours (or Him miles) and reservoir behind it small hut the job that it decs as one arrival at the airport W hile corps documents am! scicn of Blue Mountain AeroMedicuTs travels about twice as last as a l ikely candidates lor transjxirt bv lists warn of the threat o f a dam twi) fixed wing air ambulances is helicopter n uking the trip from fixed wing ambulance include hun failure, corps engineers insist that l.aGrandc to Portland in about l ' i very big Based ai Grand Rhonde ting accident victims, burn patients, the dam is sale at present hours According to pilot Barry. ' Hospital, the little plane can a*, cardiac ctncrgcncies. or any patient I would agree that there appears miles v isihility and a I 3*10 toot ceil eomplish the flight from Latirande that cannot be adequately stabilized ing arc m inimum requirements to be some dissolution ot the con to larxington A irport in 3 1 minutes at available facilities In nearly all Together with the condition of the crete.” said Dennnis Hopruan. chief This time can vary depending on cases an attending physician deter landing site, this inform ation deter of the concrete and dam safety sec weather conditions hut the plane was mins whether a patient's condition mins whether a flight w ill he attemp lion of Ihe Portland district corps ot right on time last Wedcnsday after warrants transjx>rt be air Frequent ted The second plane, a Cesna 441 lice "B u t it’ s stable ami sate now noon when representatives from the Is land transport is quicker and Conquest, is both larger ami faster Still, engineers want to doselv Morrow Counts Medical Board The Conquest can and docs make safer, particularly during severe monitor the structure and conduct local EM I ’s, doctors, hospital stall flights to Montana and Nevada studies to find out how much ot the weather conditions or when the and members of the press gathered destination hospital is quite near concrete is dissolving, where i t ’ s Inside, the C42I is equipped to to meet it at the airport ( >nce Aero Medical is called in. the dissolving and whether it’ s com transport one patient and three On hoard were Greg Sanders. appropriate plane is dispatched passengers in addition to the pilot promising ihe dam’ s strength in Ihe F light Service C oordinator lor quickly, staffed with health care per The stall on board can he adjusted long run Grand Rhonde Hospital anil a flight sonnel to meet the specific needs ol paramedic 4, K J Schrank, RN . a to accomodate almost any kind o f W e’ re not jumping to com lu the patient to he transported medical emergency including ia r critical care nurse and F M T V and sioris ’ llopman said "W e ’ re look Although not lor , asiul use- it is nice M ike’ Barry, pilot In response to d isc care and severe trauma mg .it it \nv prudent person would to know that (lie little plane (li.it does I ransport to any appropriate hospital many questions, the crew described We .ire approaching ibis the same the big job is there tor the real w ithin range is routine and coopera the capabilities ami limitations o f the wav we would look at any other tvpc emergencies lion w ith ambulances and helicopter tw o Ccsnas e m p lo ye d b\ ot potential problem that we have services such as Portland’ s " l i f e AcroMedical w ithin our dam safety program ( orps si icntists are primarily con ccrned alvout the processes under I v mg the decay, arguing that what's happening to the dam shouldn’ t be happening "N ohodv who designed and c n Morrow County I ivestm k ( ¡rowers I own and Countrv Dav s has been strutted this dam was aware ot w M orro w County C utileW omen scheduled tor the week o l January 9. would happen."said I arson, who Morrow ( <nintv (¿rum Growers |9H9 w ith the banquet to he held on has a doctorate in limnology the l mutillu National Forest. Kinzua I rulav the 13th I h e v iLites were set s iie m e o t lakes II ihev had been Corporation, ONI I xtcnsion Set at the recent Town and Country aware, ihev either would not have vice. Small Woodlands Association. S teering C o m m itte e m ee ting , The lu s t Gasp ( io lt Tournament built the dam or would have done Morrow s\S( I) Heppner ( hamtx-r chaired bv W ayne I vans w ill he this Sunday. September 23. something to avoid these pri »blems of Commerce, the port ol M orrow . I "he theme lor this years event w ill at the W illow Creek Country Club Concerns about the structural m Willow Creek Park District, the I Iks be " ( hir Future, Our C ountry. < hir This is 18 hole team play with the tegrity ot W illow Creek Dam are ex C lub, and i< Alto K id s’ ’ Included may be a panel front nine being Best Ball and the pressed in a number of corps Commodity meetings w ill he held discussion ^v county high school back nine. Chapman docum ents, in c lu d in g a 1987 on Friday. January I I Ih eS W ( D. students about th eir concerns, Play w ill begin at 9 a m memorandum from the corps' i hie I ihe Livestock Growers, the Wheat follow ed by a question anil answer Entry fee is S I3 per team Teams o f the engineering division to the League, the ( attleWomen and the pern k I may be men men. men women, or He could not predict because Small Woodlands Association w ill chief ot die operations division in the A wine lasting event lor Ihursday women women Portland district, which is respond neither he nor anyone else knew ex meet at the Elks A ll are welcome evening w ill be repeated, with Sorop No. 13 is Gambler's Hole blc fo r the dam aclly how a roller compacted dam to sit in on their meetings timists hosting this v c jr Lunch w ill be served "W a te r quality at W illow Creek would behave how severely the The next planning meeting tor M any o rg a n iz a tio n s are Lake has been identified as both a water chemistry would erode Ihe Town and Country is scheduled tor cooperating to put on Town and puhlu health issue and a dam satetv dam Tue v lu v . Oc tober 4. 7 30 p in T c Country Days, including M orrow tension Conference Room Countv Wheat Growers league. Air am bulance service just m inutes away /■ U r, : Y <*1 - Flan ahead for Town & Last gasp golf Country '89 tournament September 25 by Oy m United Wav kickoff Sept. 22 - 23 Sept 13 - Sept. 1 Tue*. Weds Thurs. Frl. Sat. Sun. Mon. High low P m H4I 50 0 87 50 0 79 47 .0 .38 .0 65 61 01 36 7.3 47 .20 60 41 .15 '' • 1' Morrow County's Hom ^Ow ned Newspaper . / - L - ' .y Weather Report I The United Way of M orrow County 1988-89 campaign o ffic ia l ly hegins this week with kicko ff celebrations m tw o communities Thursday, September 22 in Board n un . there w ill be free Pepsi, hot dogs and balloons in front ot hcgler's Nenlrv Market Irom 3 p m to 3 p m Friday. September 23 ■ i s n a there w ill be free hot dogs. Pepsi .uul balloons between the Post ( Mfice and the Shoe Box in Heppner The Heppner booth w ill he open Irom I I a m to I p m Brochures and other information w ill he available Everyone is invited to stop by and e njoy the refreshments L o w e s t R a te s 00. * - • .. .. • * » . - • «. •• * • • •• • • • s 9 - " » W * i , *f • -. . —• ! f ' i .j '. . 'J v * ’ •-. • ' V , ' .. - s, • .> - w -¿I i 5 .V V * ,i^ v r ‘ . / *S f » " -V r r * . *>] V • . v* i , - — i I H ê • -z ’ J V _ v- • . j , v Y. . ^ IV . . iV •<> - ‘ . * -s • ! %CK *»'s >•» -iu* . -'d V - ’ :* • -• , * >1 ’' ' i » ' >.»■ • v continued page 8 Market Report «• ; <*S4* 1 « 1# o - f i M v* s 'l t - f ' I R ! W * Sr (| M o n d a y . V j » i . 19 Soft While *4 4 ' *4 47 *4 4H ’ 4 SO » 4 S I *4 S 3 *4 A4 • V *• . . v »■« 1 4 »I 07 T $1 08 T W t *3 HA ' r Bariev Aug 89 • .* *• " ■ •• • ,J - - • *s- I . , y • Hl ‘• ‘ V 'Ç *. • ' in T o w ” . ' 1 • • / )o u r Vfonn H e l p i n f i Your N e i g h b o r s " Mf MBt r r 0 1 C ■ j • •.-t * .V • . ! * ^ ,» • '• * • '. But m 1983, corps employees noticed a rotten egg smell in the in spcclion tunnel that runs the length o l the dam le th a l hydrogen sullide gas was seeping Irom the reservoir into the com rete in such concentra lions that corps employees were re quired to wear gas masks when w orking in ihe dam's gallery The corps immediately began siu dying the cause and c tte its o f the h vdrog en s u llid e and other chem icals, in clu d in g explosive methane tfi.it ajipeared to he prodm eil m the oxvgen depleted deep lake water A rlin g to n • H e p p n e r • lo n e ■ -t . .1 • * "^S 4_ J P w w # • v„ # •* . — % j •’ * ’ ’ V - • • • i* - 1 * * ' *1 •« • Besiiles the potential for corrosion o f the concrete surface -xposed to the reservoir, the leaks between layers in W illow Creek Dam provide additonal surfaces where corrosion can take place That seepage w ithin the concrete, scientists now know, provides a watery breeding ground for bacteria which can generate sulfuric and n itric acids that are even more cor rosive to the vulnerable concrete than hydrogen sulfide. "People d id n't believe me when I told them what was going to hap pen th e re ," said Funk, who now directs the stale o f Washington Water Research Center " Y o u ’ ve seen the big caverns like Carlsbad and Oregon Caves What happens is there’ s been enough acid in the soil for the breakdown o f the limestone v i it creates big caverns I'm not say ing the dam is going to have big caverns in it 1 am saying it w ill break the concrete down They're going to have to vtop the breakdown o f the dam " The co rp s used the n e w ly pioneered technique o f ro lle r- compacled conc rete at W illow Creek to save time and money. The $34.7 m illio n dam was constructed bet ween 1981 and 1983 with only about one founh the materials and about tw o thirds the cost typical for a con ventional conc rete dam o f the same size ' There were fairly substantial dollar suv mgs between the cheapest normal way o f constructing the dam versus the roller compacted con c re te ." said W illia m Branch, chief o f the hydraulics and hydrology brunch w ithin the corps engineering division in Portland In its efforts to save money, the corps has bought itself a problem o f potentially huge proportions At first, W illow Creek Dam ap peared to suffer most from leakage After it was filled in 1983. the leakage was close to 3 3**1 gallons jxt minute, seeping thnmgh the con crete and pouring o ff the face o f the dam m torrents A m ajor grouting p ro ie it greatly reduced the flow to a steady stream ot about I AO gallons per minute W H E N YO U R 0 LD CAR G IV E S U P NEW n A ljK OF D E ‘ a ste rn (jrvq cn AUTO LOANS S ee U s For •» - i J iK T : V 1- ' ‘ t * , %»' ■ *F 4 *.▼ ^ 4 - ».
