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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 4, 2002)
Port considering burning mint waste at Heppner plant By Frank Lockwood Hermiston Herald staff writer |From the Nov. 29 edition of The Hermiston Herald| DEQ has confirmed that the Port o f Morrow' is considering b u rn in g m in t w a s te in th e electrical generating p la n t at Heppner. The question o f DEQ perm its cam e up after a citizen expressed concerns the plant in Heppner was cranking up to bum some mint waste along with the usual hog fuel beginning Dec. 2. The DEQ had not heard o f the planned changes. “ I spoke to the plant contact today and he inform ed me that the Port o f M orrow is just considering what options are a v a ila b le as fa r as fu e l is c o n c ern e d ,” M ark F ish er o f DEQ reported on Nov. 21. So far, the port had not been burning anything but wood fuel in the boiler, Fisher said he was told. The permittee is required to notify the departm ent and obtain approval before making a change in operations, including changing the type o f fuel. B c sa ie Vietzell U o f 0 S e . a p a ;?r L ib r a r y E u ^ s n e , UR 9/4J3 Christmas at the Courthouse just around the corner VOL. 121 NO. 49 8 Pages Wednesday, December 4, 2002 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon ATV Park site bid proposal accepted Proposed ATV park at Kinzua re-load site Camping area----- M orrow C ounty has been notified that they are the successful bidders for the parcel o f land know n locally as the K in z u a R e lo a d . W ith th e successful purchase o f this land, located 33 miles from Heppner on Hwy. 207, the proposed All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) Park w ill be on its way to construction. D ue to fu n d in g contingencies still in the process, details about the park and the purchase are not available. To help w ith the funding, the County has applied to the Oregon Parks and Recreation Departm ent for a grant from the O regon All Terrain Vehicle Program. A grant funded from a portion o f the gas tax and from the issuance o f ATV operating permits. O ne hold-up has been that while the money is in the ATV fund, and has not been affected by the grow ing budget crisis, it was not included in this y e a r's budget. T h u s, the “ S tate E- Board”, a board o f legislatures that will approve the changing of th e b u d g e t, w ill d e c id e on w hether to add the money from the ATV program fund to the budget, so that it can be used this year. The Board meets in January and will hopefully have a response soon after. M orrow County Public Works has been working with a ste e rin g c o m m ittee o f local la n d o w n e rs , g o v e rn m e n t agencies and business owners to develop the initial plans for the park. N ow that the purchase o f the land is p ro g re ssin g , the committee will begin discussing the park in m ore detail. Earlier plans for the park included tent and RV cam psites, m otocross and ATV tracks, and trails, with m any other plans in the m aking as well. Electricity and an 800- ft. well are also available on the s ite . O n c e th e p u rc h a s e is complete, hopefully by March 1, 2003, according to Karen Wolff, executive assistant for M orrow County Public Works, details will be made available. If by som e chance the deal is not closed, the bid deposit m ade by M orrow C ounty is refundable. An interest from people a ll o v e r O re g o n h a s b e e n expressed in this new project, according to Wolff. T here are many families that enjoy this form o f recreation and the park would provide a great opportunity for them . There are also trails in U k ia h , w h ic h w o u ld be complimented by this new area, W olff said. I f you h av e any questions regarding this project, you can contact M orrow County Public Works by calling 989- 9500 and ask to speak w ith Burke O 'B rien , public w orks d ir e c to r , o r K a re n W o lff, executive assistant. ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. C h r is tm a s at th e C ourthouse w ith the first-ever liv e a u c tio n o f d e c o ra te d C hristm as trees will be held Saturday, Dec. 7, at 7 p.m. Everyone is invited to the c e le b r a tio n , h e ld a t th e courthouse, ending the yearlong 100th anniversary. There will be tours, refreshm ents, music and the Cham ber tree auction. There will also be an opportunity to vote on your favorite tree. The auctioneer for the event will be Ken Grieb o f Lexington. P ro c e e d s go to w a rd C h a m b e r n o n -d u es p ro je c ts such as the decorative Christmas w reaths, flow er baskets each spring, and banners as needed. Sponsors o f the event include: Sharon H arrison and Trish Sweeny, Bank o f Eastern Oregon, W heatland Insurance, J o h n ’s O th e r P lace, M urray Drugs and C ountry Rose, The Morrow County Courthouse and Central Red Apple Market. Chamber raffle gun recovered after robbery M o rro w C o u n ty Sheriff’s Office reports that the C h a m b e r ra ffle gun sto le n , W ed n esd ay , N ov. 27, from H eppner H ardw are has been recovered and they have the suspect in custody. Philbert Dean Lossing, 20, was arrested for Theft-1 and Burglary-II. He is lodged at the Umatilla County Jail. A c c o r d in g to th e SherifTs office, the Heppner Fire D epartm ent w as involved in finding and recovering the stolen gun, which was found outside a Heppner residence. O n the evening o f Nov. 27, in a group effort, one part o f th e g ro u p e n te re d H e p p n e r Hardware asking for some items in the back, w hile another person entered asking for a bird stamp. H aving g o tten , C liff G reen, ow ner o f H eppner Hardw are, busy in the back o f the store, Lossing entered the store and took the raffle gun that w as hanging in the front w indow. “ The s h e r i f f 's department did an excellent job,” said G reen o f the d epartm ent’s efforts in recovering the gun. A T, , . . 7 ne department routinely inspects perm itted facilities to m ake sure they are com plying w ith the p erm it co n d itio n s. Among other things, the inspector would look at the type o f fuel b e in g b u rn e d . T h e re a re provisions for 10 or 60 day default approvals, depending on the env ironmental significance o f the change. Significant changes can take six months or longer for final approval. P o rt M a n a g e r G a ry N eal had m e n tio n e d at the B o a rd m a n C ham ber of Com m erce that the supplier o f this mint waste is B&G Farms, a private source said. Legally disposing o f mint waste has become a difficulty for some mint farmers, apparently in clu d in g B& G, w h ich has operations in Royal City, Wash., and in Boardman. It was the subject o f a several-page report in a Tri-City Herald special report o f July 21 - 24, which chronicled pollution, fines, deaths, thefts and illegal d u m p in g as B & G F a rm s struggled with piles o f waste left over from distilling mint. The article also cited “hundreds o f pages o f inv estigatory reports by a d o z e n s ta te a n d fe d e ra l agencies,” and "misadventures” by B&G over the last decade. If the plan goes forward. it will not be the first time B&G ow ners have attem pted to use mint waste to produce electrical energy. B&G earlier this year discussed w ith the Grant County Public Utility District an interest in producing green pow er by burning m int waste. But Grant P U D o f fic ia ls at th a t tim e reported there was no imminent project w ith B&G and they were not in negotiations with B&G toward that end. The Port o f Morrow and B&G had not notified the DEQ o f an in te n t to b e g in supplementing their tuel with mint w aste on Dec. 2, but a citizen notified the DEQ last w eek. The burning o f alternative fuels has b e e n a p p ro v e d by th e departm ent for other facilities, especially if the quality o f the alternative fuel im proves the combustion efficiency. “ W ood w a ste is n ot always the greatest fuel because it is variable and contains high moisture. Adding other fuels w ith higher heating values can improve c o m b u s tio n . H o w e v e r, th e department needs to be notified in a d v a n ce so th at th e fuel properties and constituents can be fu lly e v a lu a te d ,” F ish er reported. “ I reminded (the Port) that they need to notify the Department and obtain approval before changing fuels," Fisher said. Health district prognosis good It’s official. The patient is on the road to recovery and the prognosis is good. A fter near closure several years ago and m onth after m onth o f dismal financial reports, the M orrow County Health District has taken a turn for the better. A ccording to Michael R. Bell & Company, Certified Public Accountants and Consultants, the district is in a “better financial position and m ore stable position” and they e x p e c t th e tu r n a r o u n d to continue. “The balance sheet is m uch, m uch stronger. W e're starting to see a trend as to how the facility has come around. The district is overall in a much better position than last year, w ith a lot more cash and better able to deal with upcom ing problem s," said Konrad Capeller, a cpa with Bell & C om pany, at the d istric t’s m onthly m eeting in H eppner November 25. Bell & Company gave the district an “unqualified opinion" and noted no significant problems in the audit. TTie audit show ed a gain o f $142,930 in excess o f expenses for 2001 and a loss o f $ 133,505 for 2002. Michael R. Bell credited M C H D C E O V ictor V ander Does for his “mature guidance" o f the district and noted that Vander Does was a “big factor" in the district’s turnaround. Bell said that Vander D oes' work to o b ta in P io n e e r M e m o ria l H o s p ita l’s d e sig n a tio n as a " C r itic a l A c c e s s ” h o s p ita l resulted in a dramatic increase in th e d i s t r i c t 's M e d ic a re reimbursement rate, crucial to the district’s financial health. B e ll a ls o p ra is e d M CHD C hief Financial Officer N ic o le M a h o n e y fo r h e r ex p ertise in su p erv isin g the d is tr ic t’s fin a n c ia l m a tte rs, including providing accurate f in a n c ia l s ta te m e n ts an d improved collections. “She does a great job and is a great asset,” said Bell. Bell said that the d is tr ic t's n ex t c h a lle n g e is improving the ailing bottom line o f Pioneer M em orial Nursing Hom e, but he outlined a plan w hich could accom plish that goal. According to Bell, Pioneer M emorial Nursing Home costs are around $ 180 per patient/per d ay . H o w e v e r, th e s ta te reim burses the district at a rate o f only $ 110 per patient/per day. Bell said that a change in the designation from “nursing home beds” to “hospital sw ing beds” could dram atically increase the reim bursem ent rate, w hile still allowing the hospital to retain the beds for nursing home patients. Bell said that the change could in c r e a s e y e a r ly M e d ic a re reim bursements to the hospital/ n u r s in g h o m e as m u ch as $ 3 2 0 ,0 0 0 . V a n d e r D o e s estimated that accomplishing the c h an g e in d esig n atio n from nursing home beds to sw ing beds could take at least tw o years, w hich is about the time that the fed eral Pro S hare pro g ram , w h ic h h a s a llo tte d a ro u n d $240.000 yearly to PM NH the last several years, may run out o f funds. Bell also said that the district would save “very little" by closing the nursing hom e and added that a large part o f the overhead o f running the facility would still remain. CBEC meter reader travels rural areas on motorcycle Columbia Basin Electric Co-Op wants to inform their rural consumers that the contracted m eter reading service, Accu-Read o f Spokane, is now utilizing a motorcycle to travel the rural routes w hile reading electric meters. The local employee, Mike Stahl, rides a red motorcycle w ith an orange-colored helmet. Consum ers should not become alarmed if they see Stahl riding the rural roads, stopping to note meter readings. “All our meter readers carry full identification," said an Accu- Read spokesperson. Anyone w ith questions or concerns regarding suspicious visitors should call the sh en ft's office or 9 - 1 -1. CHRISTMAS OPEN HOUSE ' Friday, December 13th from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. COME JOIN THE FUN! Refreshments, cookies and hot apple cider Morrow County Grain Growers Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396 Ftr fan« ml ■ a t lit « WWW meg ntt
