FOUR - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, June 16,1999
Irrigators should have plenty of water
lone students inducted into National Honor
Society
Students were recently inducted Into the National Honor Society at lone High School. New members are
(left to right): Jeremiah McElligott, Allison Halvorsen, Shelby Krebs, Molly Barrow, Jennifer Thompson,
Charissa Gates, Jeremy Rletmann, Adrienne Swanson, Corey Bennetto, and Ashley Carmack.
Chemical weapons facility marks second year
With the two-year construction
anniversary o f its chemical
weapons disposal facility on
June 10, the Army is one year
closer to destroying its stockpile
of chemical weapons at the
Umatilla Chemical Depot, near
Hermiston, according to a news
release.
"If you haven't seen the
construction site since last June,
it's changed dramatically," says
Army project manager Raj
Malhotra.
"But we haven't
changed our emphasis on safety
and environmental compliance-
those are still our top priorities."
Construction of the Umatilla
Chemical
Agent
Disposal
Facility is about half-complete.
To date, the Army and its
contractors have installed four
facility incinerators. Two will
handle liquid chemical agent.
The other two will process
explosives and empty weapons
casings. Other accomplishments
include finishing the ijiajor
concrete Work, installing 2,600
tons of rebar, and installing
structural steel for the major
buildings, continued the release.
"The quality of the construction
is excellent, and we have a
design that has been proven to
safely dispose of the chemical
weapons,"
says
Chuck
Galloway.
Galloway is the
resident engineer for the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, the
agency
overseeing
the
construction.
In 1997, the Army awarded a
contract of $567 million to
Raytheon
Demilitarization
Company to build, test, operate
and close the facility. There are
currently about 1,200 workers
on site. This number includes
both construction and office
workers. The project is running
two construction shifts.
"We are fortunate to be able to
take advantage of the highly
capable work force in the area,"
says Raytheon project manager
Jay Bluestein. "The result is the
very high quality of the
construction on this site."
During the year, the
construction completion date
shifted from April 2000 to
February 2001. However, the
disposal start date is still on
schedule to begin in October
2001. The project is also on
schedule to destroy the depot's
chemical weapons by the end of
2005.
"We're a year closer to the goal
o f ridding the world of these
weapons and having a much
safer environment," says depot
Commander Lt. Col. Martin
Jacoby.
Among the milestones in the
last year is the depot/community
monitoring program. The Army
and its contractors have begun
quarterly sampling of the air,
soil and water on the depot and
at
several
locations
in
communities surrounding the
depot. These baseline results
will be compared with sampling
done
throughout
disposal
operations. Based on computer
modeling, a state health risk
assessment determined that the
facility would have no harmful
impacts on people or the
environment, the release stated.
Army officials are gearing up
for disposal facility equipment
testing, beginning in the fall.
Residents in the area may see
steam coming from the facility's
stack, as the boilers are fired up.
No chemical agent will be used
in those activities. The Army
will soon publish a toll-free
number people can call to find
out what testing activity is
taking place.
The Army is encouraging local
citizens to come and see the
depot and the disposal facility.
Tours can be arranged by calling
the Umatilla Chemical Disposal
Outreach Office at (541) 564-
9339.
Man sentenced to 18 months
for sex with juvenile
Jack French, who plead no
contest to a charge of sexual
abuse in the first degree was
sentenced June 10 to 18 months
in the custody of the Oregon
Department of Corrections by
Morrow County Circuit Court
Judge Jeff Wallace, according to
a news release from Morrow
County District Attorney David
C. Allen.
French, 60, was convicted for
knowingly
subjecting
a
developmentally disabled 11-
year-old girl to sexual contact in
1994. He will be registered as a
sex offender and will be on post
prison supervision for 10 years.
According to Allen, French
avoided the mandatory minimum
sentence of 70 months prescribed
by Measure 11 because the
criminal incident occurred in
1994, before Measure 11 was
passed. Under the sentencing
guidelines, 18 months in prison
was the maximum sentence
allowed without a departure.
French fled Oregon in 1995,
shortly before trial on charges of
Rape in the First Degree and
Sexual Abuse in the First Degree.
He avoided prosecution until he
was located and arrested on
March 4, 1999, in Clifton,
Arizona. He was then extradited
back to Oregon. Allen said that
they long delay in securing
French's attendance created
several difficulties in prosecuting
the original charge of Rape in the
First Degree, which would have
carried a prison sentence of 36
months under the guidelines.
Allen said that the Rape in the
First Degree charge was further
compromised because French
"was prepared to have medical
experts testify at trial regarding
his erectile dysfunction."
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Gazette-Times ■ 676-9228
Oregon's farmers and ranchers
who depend on irrigation
shouldn't have to wony about
having enough water for
irrigation this summer.
Snowpack, soil moisture,
stream flows, and reservoir
storage- key indicators o f the
statewide water picture— all
point to a plentiful supply for
agriculture and other beneficial
uses of water, according to and
Oregon
Department
of
Agriculture news release.
That hasn't always been the
case in Oregon this decade.
"This is a good reminder that
Oregon's climate comes in
cycles," says Phil Ward, director
o f the Oregon Department of
Agriculture. "A few years ago,
we were worried about having
enough water for agriculture,
recreation,
wildlife
and
municipal uses. Now, things
look very good for the summer
o f 1999. There seems to be
plenty of water for everyone.
However, the dry times will
come back at some point as the
cycle continues."
O f course, it is impossible for
the weather to please everyone.
That especially holds true for
agriculture as some producers
like it on the dry side, others
wet. This year, at least, the wet-
lovers are having it their way.
"The first part o f the season
really piled up the snowpack and
soaked us good throughout the
whole state," says Jon Lea,
hydrologist with the U.S.
Department of Agriculture's
Natural Resources Conservation
Service. "It bodes well for
agriculture. The soil moisture
has been good all year. We've
had very good to excellent
snowpack. With demand for
water not too great yet, there is
still plenty of water stored in the
reservoirs."
Temperatures have been cool,
keeping crops from developing
as fast as some farmers would
like. But looking ahead to any
long period of hot and dry
conditions this summer, most
areas of the state should weather
the weather very well.
How did things get so good?
It started with some heavy
snows in the mountains and
plenty of rain in the lower
elevations last fall and early
winter. Combined with a strong
carryover of water in Oregon's
irrigation reservoirs from last
year, and a slow but steady snow
melt this spring, and you have
all the ingredients for a sunny
outlook when it comes to water.
"Most every user should have an
adequate or better than adequate
water supply this summer," says
Lea.
The numbers back up his
claim. Triple digit percentages
are commonplace.
Year-to-date precipitation
numbers around Oregon* range '
from a low of 99 percent of
average in the Owyhee-Malheur ■
Basin to a high of 127 percent of
average in the Willamette Basin.
Snowpack figures remain very
high for this time of year, with
the Willamette, Hood River and
Rogue Basins reporting large
amounts of snow still on the
ground, in excess of 300 percent
of average.
It's June and snow still has
been falling in higher elevations.
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In fact, as of June, of the 19 sites
in the Willamette Basin in which
mountain snowpack is measured,
record high amounts have been
established at 14 of them. A few
records
have
also
been
established in the Rogue and Mt.
Hood drainage areas.
Cooler than normal
temperatures have kept the
statewide
snowpack
from
melting as fast as normal.
Officially, the water year
begins every October. For this
year, it started off with a bang.
"October,
November,
December were all very wet
months for the most part and
really piled up the snow," says
Lea. "We also had a lot of
rainfall during that time."
Reservoir storage is also high.
Lake
County's
Thompson
Reservoir reports 129 percent of
average.
Reservoirs in the
Lower John Day are "only" at 94
percent of average. Nearly all
reservoirs report a better than
100 percent of average amount
of water.
"Most of the reservoirs had
very good carryover from last
year," says Lea. "They had a
decent summer in 1998 in which
they didn't utilize all of the water
in the reservoirs. They refilled
them over this winter and are
now at or near capacity. The
demand on those reservoirs is
just now starting to take place.
We'll
soon
start
seeing
diversions to irrigation systems."
For the rest of the summer, an
ideal scenario would include a
limited number of real hot days
and a little bit of rain every once
in awhile just to keep things
from getting too dry. Lea would
like to see another sizable
carryover of water in Oregon's
irrigation reservoirs.
All factors considered, Lea
and company are forecasting a
range of very healthy stream
flows for Oregon this summer:
Klamath Basin, 169-271 percent
of average; Rogue-Umpqua,
148-269 percent of average;
Lake County, 173-256 percent of
average; Hamey County, 162-
208 percent of average; Upper
Deschutes-Crooked,
122-186
percent of average; Willamette
Basin, 111-164 percent of
average; Mt. Hood, 130-147
percent of average; Upper John
Day, 118-130 percent of
average; and Owyhee-Malheur,
89-121 percent of average.
Even though Oregon appears to
be in a wetter cycle, Lea is not
about to predict with certainty
just how the rest of this year, let
alone next year, will turn out.
"Things are considerably
different than a decade ago when
we were having drought
situations," he says. "But there
is nothing that says that next
year will be a repeat of this year
or maybe it will be a dry year
again. You take what you get
when you get it and go from
there."
Even though most Oregonians
appreciate sunshine, it is
probably better for agriculture to
receive too much water than not
enough. That shouldn't be a
problem heading into the
summer of 1999.
High school students weld
panels for fair
Chris Peck (left) and Kyle McDaniel weld animal panels for the
Morrow County Fair.
State conservation Field Day
The 1999 Oregon Wheat
Growers
League
State
Conservation Field Day will be
held on June 23 at the Grande
Ronde Angus Ranch in Cove.
Grande Ronde Angus Ranch
is owned and operated by Bob
and Sharon Beck, along with
their son and daughter-in-law,
Rob and Tish Beck. The Grande
Ronde Angus Ranch is located
in rural Union County.
The ranch is a diversified and
vertically integrated crop and
livestock operation.
Crops
grown include wheat, grass,
lettuce and spinach for their
seed; peppermint and evening
primrose for their oil; oats,
barley, wheat, alfalfa, grass and
sugar beets.
In addition to the farm crops,
they have a beef cattle operation
and timberland that provides
grazing as well as the benefits of
a managed forest.
The field day includes a
barbecue lunch at noon hosted
by the Union County Crops and
Conservation Day sponsors and
the Oregon Wheat Growers
League. Following lunch are
remarks from Judy Rea, Wheat
League president and others.
A tour of the timber
management lands will complete
the
day,
showing
the
management practices the Becks
are involved in with their cow
herd.
The morning tour of Union
County farms will begin at 7:30
a.m. at the Western Farm
Service and bus transportation
will be provided for those
wishing to go on the tour. The
public is invited to attend the
activities on June 23 to view the
conservation efforts of the Union
County farmers.
For additional information,
contact DuAnn McCarty at the
OWGL office (541) 276-7330.
The Union County Crop and
Conservation Tour is also
scheduled for Wednesday, June
23, beginning at 7:30 a.m. at
Western Farm Service at their
Island City Branch (2.6 miles
NE of Island City on Highway
82 - Booth Lane). Bus
transportation will be provided
for those wishing to go on the
tour.
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