Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 21, 1988)
:t »- • »» * »•» EIGHT - Heppner GazeUe-Tlmev Heppner. Oregon Wednesday, Sepíember 21, 1*** Dam ! . - I i Î > lv J ' • ■ » „ « *• Dam still continued from page I " T h e c o n s id e ra tio n is that hydrogen sulfide gas is corrosive to concrete." said D ick Cassidy, chief o f the reservoir regulation and water quality section o f the corps' Portland d is tric t ‘ ‘ So we began some preliminary investigations as to what the impact o f the gas might be on the concrete '* Cassidy's section recommended that the corps install a $150.(MX) mechanical aerator on the bottom o f the reservoir, which would pump oaygen into the deep waters and theoretically prevent the production o f Ionic, corrosive chemicals The recommendation was confirmed by experts at the corps' Waterways Ex periment Station in Vicksburg. Miss . but it was ultimately rejected for lack o f funds A second solution • to drain the water in the summer months when the lake produces algae was also re jeeted because the reservoir is sup posed to be used for recreation and irrigation The corps raised the water level in the reservoir this year to try to mitigate the problem, but it appeared to make matters worse W hile the corps considers its op tions. scientists under contract with the corps continue to study the in triguing forces, seen and unseen, that are affecting the dam O re g o n State U n iv e rs ity oceanographers Robert C ollier and Jack Dymond arc studying the geochemical processes occurring in the dam and reservoir They're tr y ing to figure out how the w ater is in teracting with the concrete and exact ly how much o f the concrete is washing downstream every year “ The main problem is the dam leaks.** C ollier said 'Concrete is not designed to have water running through it I f you d id n't have water running through the concrete, you w ouldn’t have a problem In other controversial words, the leaks came first The chemistry that follows is removing material burn the dam " C ollier and Dymond have found evidence that the dam may be heal mg itself to w>me degree Calcium carbonate leached through the con crete has deposited on some dam surfaces and plugged leaks Although the surface precipitation o f calcite may decrease the dam leakage, it w ill not enhance dam integrity, the scientists say The corps has also contracted w ith U n iv e rs ity of W a sh in g to n oceanographer Marv in L ille y to ex amine a suspected methane presence w ithin the dam Corps o fficials are especially concerned about methane because it is highly explosive and pKentially could result in a more im mediate and catastrophic failure o f the dam than the disvilutmn process M icrobial ecologist Jim Staley is under contract to determine what's going on biologically within the dam matrix Staley has discovered that water w ithin the dam is providing a habitat for bacteria that can change hydrogen sulfide and nitrogen into concrete-corroding ac id compounds "A c id s corrode concrete." Staley said " I f you lin k concrete and add ed acid to it. it would eventually dissolve the concrete There is the potential for corrosion (at W illow Creek) because these bacteria arc there Like cverbody else. Staley is hav ing to develop new techniques to study W illo w Creek Dam because the situation is so unusual " A t W illow Creek, we have a uni que combination o f factors a new dam in a very rich watershed with wale seeping th ro ug h ." he said " I f you haxl a solid concrete structure impervious to water, those bacteria are not there Where the water is. is where the life is anti that's where the problem is ." b y L is a S try c k e r o f T h e E u g e n e R e g is te r-G u a rd Controversy has plagued W illo w Creek Dam near Heppner since the day it was conceived The agricultural com m unity's 1.500 residents argued for years about the necessity, the expense, the design and (he location o f the flood control project that was completed at the tow n's city lim its by the U S Arm y Corps o f Engineers in 1981 And now Heppner’ » citizens w orry that ihc dam. with it's leaks and toxic gas emissions, could fail and inundate the town they were told it would save from a (lash flood "T h e issue has been on the humer since 190.1 when we had the big flood through here " said former mayor C liff Green, 'Over the years, county commissioners and judges through different administrations went to D C . to lobby for co n stru c tion o f a dam here for flood control They basically got nowhere with it " Then in 1971. a summer storm caused a flash fltxid down Sh«>bc Ca nyon that destroyed several houses in Heppner. filled the swimming pool with mud and defaulted m u j on Mam Street In the process o f cleaning up the mess, the Federal Emergency Management Administration was contacted The agency promptly designated a flood plain, required Heppner residents to obtain flood in vu ranee and imposed regulations that effectively stopped any new con struction downtown " A t that point, the idea o f the dam was revived and it was a very hot question." Green recalled, "M o s t o f us on the council opposed H and tried to fight the regulations <nhcr ways It finally reached the point that the dam seemed to he (he only thing that would save the downtown core area Basically, we built the dam to save M ain Street fro m governm ent regulations, not from water (ireen advised the town's residents to vote lor the dam in a referandum election even though he thought it Shaw works towards * F: S Eagle Scout award . • r z*1.' V • " • • .s * V- * ■ • <• 1 • * * I » • I r ; - . ' V , * ,•»,►» V . *• \+ . ..í í ’ 1 . * . ' , !> i. . ■ <• ■«."* * > . k > . t ¡1* , \* r' ■ a It is estimated that levs than I % o f all boys who join the Boy Scouts o f America as Cub Scouts ever reach the ultimate rank o f Eagle Scout. the last one from Hcppncr was Perry Cooper, in 1978 J J Shaw o f Hcppncr is nearing completion o f the goal he set when he joined in 1979 He has 4 o f the required 2 1 merit badges remaining He is in the middle o f the major scr vice project required o f all Eagle Scout candidates J J has designed a service project to landscape a problem area at Hope Lutheran Church He has also work cd to o b ta in d on atio ns and volunteers An Eagle Scout can ' : r ''A - ; « í ' A - : ' f i i . • • , - : USED CAMERAS. LENSES. TRIPOD. DARK ROOM EQUIP.. BULK FILM, GUARANTEED * ’i , r,/X fc y, -í* a F r e e l a n c e P h o to 5 6 7 -5 2 5 8 3 2 1 R id g e w a y H e r m is to n , O R Mon-Sat 9 a m.-6 p.m. '■ , >’ 4’ l P i ? ív 7 “ Sunday by appt. V ' * - V : ‘V |¡ B > r • r -, +& - - p s ... <, ■ A • ' ; > ( • *+** ¡' • y# ■ ** f b . < * ^ v , ‘v V * i • i.* ¿ +■;}?*? V v , ' « F t J • 'I f .'t ' 5 V kJ f rk 4 • .iV* • '••■“ • ’i f > It's a fraud i f you’ re told you have w on the R eader's D igest Sweepstakes and can pick up your prize by paying $40 C O D (the magazine says it doesn't operate this way). It 's a fraud i f you are asked to pay $10 for a Soc ial Security Number or enter a Soc ial Security Sweepstakes The Social Security Adm inistration says it’ s cards are free and it runs no sweepstakes 03 58 J , 0 j Saturday, Sept 24th Live Music 9 00-2 00 Country Variety sound by “CROSS 7 X)W \" Thursday, Sept 29th "Under The Big Top Circus 7 00 8 30 p.m. Presented by Ring Royal - Heppner Fairgrounds Saturday Oct 15th Basque Barbeque 7 00 9 00 pm . Live Music 900-2 00 am Friday Oct. 28th High School Homecoming Dance 10 00-1 00 a m. Breakfast 1 00-2 00 a m Saturday, Oct 29th Halloween Costume Contest and Dance Live Music 9 00-2 00 a m J A.......is "n e ri m e n u s AG r/ b y L is a S try c k e r o f T h e E u g e n e R e g is te r-G u a rd BOOK D # H EP PN ER E I.K M E N T A R k SCHOOL Tentative Lunch Menus Sept. 2b-.Ml M onday - C h ic k e n , potatoes gravy, vetctahlc. dessert, m ilk Tuesday - Surprise Salad Bar W ednesday - Potato bar. vegetable, peanut butter cookie, fru it, salad bar Thursday - Casserole Friday - G rilled cheese sand wiches, pickles, vegetable, fruit, m ilk SAM BO AR D M AN E L E M E N T \R Y T entative l unch Menus Monday Sloppy Joes. cum. fruit, cookie, m ilk Tuesday Weiner wraps, chicken noodle soup, vcgic stix, apples, cake, m ilk Wednesday Haystacks, meat, cheese. Icrtuce, chips, green beans, fru it, graham crackers, m ilk Thursday - Hot turkey sand wiches. potatoes gravy. cranhemcs. mixed vegetables. Rice Krispic Treats, m ilk Friday - Hamburger cook out. chips, vcgic stix. apples, icc cream sandwiches, m ilk R IV E R S ID E H IG H S C H O O l T entative Lunch Menus Monday Taco Munchskin. cot tage cheese, vcgic Mix. blueberry m uffins, nulk. salad bar Tuesday - Tuna or peanut butter sandwiches, vcgic soup, cheese Mix, pudding fru it, milk Wednesday Chicken nuggets, tartar/xweet A sour sauce, potatoes, butter, com . red Jcllo cake, salad bar Thursday Breakfast croissants, hash browns, cheese stix. mixed fru it, strudel, m ilk, salad bar Friday Hamburger cook-out, chips, vcgic stix. vcotcharoox, bananas, m ilk 0 ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ 0 J £ hv M arie Struthers Art auction to be held in Hermiston Sept. 24 ___ hv M a rie Struthers " A B rief H istory «if T im e " by Steven Hawking is still at the lop o f ihe non fiction best seller list and ileservedly s«i This little book, writ ten in evervilay English, presents the hist«iry o f man's utvierstanding o f the universe in clear and concise language sans yard long formulas ami patronizing lectures W ritten tor the layman, the only equation included is Einstein's E MC-’ and Hawking doesn't even ili-nund that >« hi uruJerourul that From flat earth theories through the " B ig Bang" and beyond he takes you on a chronological (rip through the merky relms o f physics, where it all hegan and where it may (or may n«K) tic going Steven Hawking is an eminently qualified guide for this j«>urncy Handicapped w ith l^ iu Gehrig's Disease since early adulthood. Hawking has. nevertheless, been in the lorefront o f theoretical aMro- phy sics for the laM 20 years Unable, now. even to speak unaided, he has produced some o f the moM lucid theories and clarifications of thexmes in the field " A Bnct History o f T im e " is a condensalKin o f all the progress made in the field o f physics since Aristotle Hawking brings phrases such as "sub-atom ic p a rtic le ", "M n n g lhc»iry" and "b la ck h o le " into jk - i \ | c \1 ivc for the non physKiM w ith a skillful pen Even if you were never able to pass Algebra II in high schtml. this hook w ill fascinate you It can he found, along w ith a couple o f dozen other heM sellers, at the Heppner Public Library See you there' l N \V D O N ’3 o n A V I Pettyjohn's Your Woodstove Headquarters * Blaze Kings * New Tnulblazer * Stove Puls * )’l(K- * Chimmney Cleaning Supplies PETTYJOHN’S firm i lu'ldt-i Suppl? Way Heppner 424 lynden 676-9157 MiimimmmiiiiiiimiHiimmiimimiMiimiiiHHHii WALLPAPER SELL-A-THON 30% to 50% [O FF M A N U F A C T U R E R S S U G G E S T E D R E T A IL P R IC E 5 BOOKS H u n d re d s of P A T T E R N S to choose from . 10/22 Ruger Western Knife Box of A m m o (Prizes) 0 STRINGS • WEAVES • FABRICBACKED AND S O LID V IN YLS • PREPASTED PAPERS SCREEN PRINTS • PHOTO M U R A LS ( C P M H i A t l M f * « M C « MOT M K l U O f O t f A mm W Hermiston'» Perceptor chapter o f Beta Sigma Phi w ill hold their 15th Annual Art Auction September 24 at Thompson Hall on the Um atilla County fairgmunds in Hermiston The ikmrs w ill open at 6 p m for the preview and silent auction TTic live auction begins al 8 p m Admission at the door is $3 per person Dierc w ill be approximately lOt) pteccs o f art entered with the pro ceeds going to the Hermiston High Sch«'iil hand trip scheduled to Vicn na. Self Reliance Group and the Pioneer Humane Society A mi-host bar w ill he available with hors d ’oeuvres fumisfxrd hv the sorority The auction is open to the public Come have a fun evening with us FROM * , # J < r< r ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ Deadline Sign-Up Sept. 30 f f t . p u b lic ity would jettpardize the already embattled dam at Elk Creek The U S Supreme Court has agreed to hear the fe«Jeral govern ment's appeal o f the ruling that Mop ped construction on ihe Elk Creek Dam Meanwhile, the «lam sits half finished at a height of 81 tcet. a third o f the completed height o f 249 feet The Galessille Dam in Douglas County was completed in 1986 us ing the roller compacted umMrution technique said John Youngquist. water reunirccs coordinator for the county The 167 foot high «lam cost $14 milli««n, a savings from the $17 m illion projected tor an earth filled dam Galessille Dam ikvel»>pcd seven major cracks running through the dam body fro m upstream to dtiwnstreani. th«>ugh which water leaked Dam experts say the crack ing occurred because a ilclay in c«m- struction required some o f the work to he done during the hot summer scasiin The roller compacted con crete had a short time to mature and had cooled quickly during the first winter, resulting in (he cracking "T hey were very easy to re p a ir." YoungquiM said. "Before the repair, the leakage was 1.000 gallons per minute The leakage is now in the ncighNirh«MKl o f 120 galUins per minute It is leaking But it is not leaking beyond what is normal The r«iller-ct>mpactcd concrete technique uses conventional earth rrmving equipment that allows the structure to he built very rapidly, making it much less expensive than conventional mass concrete The m ixture l«ioks and handles much like damp gravel fill, hut hardens into concrete with strengths that sh«>uld equal conventional mass concrete At W illo w Creek and at Elk Creek, the cxincrete is maile by quar rying rock from atmvc the reservoir area, processing it into sand and gravel sizes and combining it with sand, cement, fly ash and water The roller-compacted concrete, which is much dryer than conventional ct>n cretc. is tran\p*irtcd to the site, spread in layers using large dozers and com pacted using heavy vibratory rollers The world's firM m ller compacted concrete dam at W illo w Creek near Heppner signaled the Mart o f a re v o lu tio n in g ra v ity dam construction Since W illow Creek was com pleted in 1981. more than 2U m llcr compacted dams have been started through« u t the w orld, including the highly controversial Elk Creek Dam on a Rogue River tributary in Southern Oregon and a county built dam on a tributary ot the South U m pqua River The U S A rm y C orps o f Engineers ilcckJcd to use the new r o lle r -com pac ted c o n s tru c tio n mcthtxl at W illow Creek inMead o f traditional c«*ncrctc, ro c k fill or cm hankmenl «lams to save time and nw>ncy. although the corps has spent at least $2 5 m illion beyond the original $Y4 7 m illion construction com f«*r studies and wx>rk on the «lam to reduce leakage and corrosion pnv blcms that threalen to destniy the structure W h e th e r the p ro b le m s documented at W illo w Creek w ill arise at the other dams remains to he seen lrss«»ns learned at W illow Creek have heen used to improve the ineth«xls for cxvnMructing roller compacted dams elsewhere "T h e technology o f that type o f construction has progressed rapid l y , " said W illiam Branch, ch ie f o f the hydraulics and hydrology branch within the engineering division of the c«>rps'Portland district "W e lc u m cd a lot from constructing Hcppncr, which has gone to benefit the engineering community " W illow Creek Dam is the corps' last completed project in the Nor- thwcM The corps was in the process «if building the $119 m ilium Elk Creek Dam when a tcileral judge halted conMruction laM year because the corps hadn't fu lly considered h«>w increased water temperatures and turbidity caused hy the dam on Elk Creek would atlcct salmon and and steelhcad in the Rogue River Sources w ithin the corps say the agency has not made public the pro blems developing at W illo w Creek because o f fears that such negative \ 142 N . M a i n f w m m School Lunch Menus wasn't necessary for flood control In 1981. Heppner residents voted 297 272 to give the corps the go ahead to build the dam But most residents--even those who voted in favor o f the p ro je c t-fe lt the project had been shoved down their throats by the federal govemmnet W ith the help o f Sen Mark Hal field, residents were able to get money appropriated for the project and it was built, as cheaply as possi ble w ith a revolutionary ro lle r - compacted concrete construction method Without the political pressure, the corps probably would not have built the dam because it doesn't meet the usual corps criteria, said W'llham Branch, chief o f the hydraulics and hydrology branch w ithin the corps' engineering division in Portland " I t was something we were not pushing at a ll, " Branch said "T h e dam itself at W illow Creek had a benefit cost ratio below I. which going by our Mandards. we would not build ihc d a m ." The dam is designed to protect the town from a flood down W iliow and Bairn Fork creeks, hut in recent years most o f Heppncr's flooding has come from Shobc Canyon southwcM o f the town ot Hinton Creek to the northwest Town residents generally are satisfied with a flash flood warning syMem install ed in those two watersheds W ith all the problems at W illow Creek Dam. many residents say they'd have been happier with a war ning syMem on W illow Creek and Balm Forks than the looming, leak ing concrete structure " I have always questioned the credibility o f the project and the corps pertaining to the project." said Hcppncr resident Kit (ieorge. whose front yard view is dominated hy the dam " I don't think this Jam was ever justified and I don't think they could ever juMify building it Now we have it, we're stuck w ith it and we have to make the best o f i t " a Heppner Elks 358 { V 6 7 6 -9 IN 1 . FRAUD WATCH Prizes Galore!!! ■ • Chief Rathbun’s Tips ____ Friday, Sept 23rd • HUNTERS NITE '5 M All You Can Eat Rib Feed at 6 00 pm . • >. yr. duiatc must dev elope organizational and leadership skills, he cannot do the project alone Saturday. August 27. scouts from Troup 654 m Hermiston (the iroup J J joined and in which he has serv ed as senior patrol leader and junior assistant scoutmaster when the local troop disbanded) w ill be spreading gravel and digging out the area where railroad ties w ill go to establish beds o f plants and flowers J J has spent several hours prepar ing tor this activity beginning last winter when he took measurements o f the area w ith a foot o f snow on the ground A design has been on the bulletin board at the church since the project was approved by the coun c il this spring At a later dale, men from the church w ill be asked to assist with the placement o f the 8 'x 8 " x 8 " oak railroad ties to be used as retaining walls in the bank HEFFNER ELKS LODGE COMING EV ENTS ' Willow Creek dam was first of its kind Mfct *iuup W J M Mr.m Street Rtr«et Hermiston H e rm isto n Mam Red White Blue Bldg _______ Open 7 Days A Week a If . ) SALE STARTS SEPTEMBER 28 ENDS OCTOBER 27 PETTY JOHN’S 424 Lynden Way. Heppner ** 676-9157 or 676-5001
