Mahoney heading to
national finals
50¢
VOL. 141
NO. 24
10 Pages
Wednesday, June 15, 2022
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Dirksen retiring after 41 years
By Bobbi Gordon
Morrow County School
District superintendent,
Dirk Dirksen, will be retir-
ing from the district after a
career spanning 41 years.
His last day will be June
30. A retirement party is
scheduled to honor Dirksen
Thursday, June 16 at the
Port of Morrow.
Dirksen, 64, spent 15
years with the district as a
teacher at Columbia Mid-
dle School and Riverside
High School. He was also
assistant principal at Riv-
erside for seven years and
principal for eight. The
past 11 years he has spent
as the superintendent for
the district.
Dirksen told the Ga-
zette that he and his wife,
Rose, have no set plans for
retirement right now. They
plan on traveling, golfing
and “puttering around”
on their 10 acre property
in Boardman and have no
plans of leaving the area. He
and Rose have been married
Dirk Dirksen
for 42 years and have two
children, three grandchil-
dren and another on the
way. Their son, Shawn,
lives in Gresham with his
wife, Grace, and they are
expecting a baby any day.
Their daughter, Elizabeth,
lives in Boardman with
her husband, Germain, and
their three children, Avery,
Eli and Theo.
Dirksen was born and
raised in Vale, OR, grow-
ing up on a dairy farm. He
graduated high school in
Vale, then went on to col-
lege and graduate school
in LaGrande at Eastern
Oregon State College. He
has spent his life living in
Vale, LaGrande and Mor-
row County.
He said it is difficult to
leave his position as it is
“what he has always done,”
but he is ready for the next
step in the journey. When
asked what he will miss, he
said, “I will miss the cama-
raderie the most with staff
and students.” He plans to
get back to helping out with
youth sports now that he
will have more time.
“I have really enjoyed
my time working in Mor-
row County and I appreci-
ate the opportunity to meet
so many outstanding people
in Heppner, Irrigon and
Boardman,” Dirksen noted.
“Morrow County School
District has many opportu-
nities for students and the
support around the students
that make the opportunities
real. The community part-
Mr. Dirksen when he was a
math teacher at Riverside
(1984-85)
ners in Morrow County are
second to none. Combining
their efforts and the efforts
of teachers and parents,
students have a great leg
up in their journey. I am
very proud of the 95 percent
graduation rates and that
students in Morrow County
have the option of receiving
their associate degree from
BMCC in high school and
many have done so,” he
continued.
Blane Mahoney won the saddle as the champion steer wrestler.
Blane Mahoney has
now qualified to attend the
National High School Ro-
deo finals in Gillette, WY,
to be held July 17-23. Ma-
honey earned the top honor
County declares state of emergency for nitrate
tainted drinking water
Doherty meets with 37 state agencies, says situation ‘pretty harrowing’
ing with one voice,’ and I
looked around the meeting
and frankly everyone in the
meeting looked just like
me. I looked at our board,
the city council, health dis-
trict and the port boards all
looked the same frankly,”
Doherty says pointing out
that no Hispanic people
were in attendance.
After the DEQ fine
Doherty convinced other
commissioner to allocate
money for well water test-
ing and he also personally
began going door to door
with a Spanish speaking
county health care em-
ployee, and what he found
was disturbing. I went into
these areas where 90 per-
cent English is a second
language. Hispanic areas,
and what we began to find
almost immediately was
pretty harrowing,” Doherty
says of his experience one
Sunday interviewing people
at their homes.
“We had questionnaires
that went along with it. I
can tell you it was beyond
alarming. I said at one point
to a reporter, I did not want
to knock on the next door
and ask the next question,
have you had XYZ chal-
lenge (health issues related
to drinking nitrates). “I
embarked on the notion
of what is environmental
justice?” Doherty said of
his experience. “These are
the folks that make this
county tick,” he says of the
Hispanics. “We are going
to be a majority minority
county and certainly in
that area (of contaminated
wells) they make up 75-80
percent of the folks. Some-
body has to step out and
do the work for them. We
can’t let them go through
the devastation they are
going through,” Doherty
said in urging for action on
the problem, including en-
acting the emergency decla-
ration. He said his Hispanic
health care employee at
one point asked, “Who’s
coming to the table? Who
is coming to help us?”
Doherty said even the
groups at last week’s spe-
cial commission meeting
did not include any His-
panics. “Everyone who is in
here today looks very much
like me, right?” He sug-
gested the county should
maybe start talking about an
“Hispanic advisory council
for some of these things.”
Meeting with 37
state agencies
Doherty said prior to
last Thursday’s special
meeting, he and county
emergency manager Paul
Gray had met in a confer-
ence call with 37 different
state agencies to talk about
the nitrate problem, and
they had all urged action.
“The state started coming
to us and saying you need
some help; why haven’t you
brought in your office of
emergency management?”
Doherty relates. He said
his contact with the affect-
ed people shows there is a
“complete lack of education
or understanding out there.
A lot of these folks, proba-
bly one third of them, out
of the 68-70 of the wells we
tested, were high enough
(in nitrate concentration)
to cause some pretty severe
health issues.” Doherty said
he talked to Morrow Coun-
ty Health District Adminis-
trator Emily Roberts who
asked him, “Why hasn’t
this risen to the level of an
emergency in this county?”
Doherty said he did
not want to get sidelined
by placing blame and ar-
guing who did what, just
saying while many of the It was also asked if it was
people he talked to were even necessary to have the
buying drinking water, 20- emergency.
“A couple of months
30 “were consuming the
water and didn’t know why ago I worked with some
they shouldn’t.” Doherty congressional funding bill
to see if we could
said others knew they
get some funding
shouldn’t but didn’t
for this and that
know why. “Some of
was my first step
them (Hispanics) said
into this nitrate is-
they didn’t think they
sue,” said county
could have clean wa-
emergency man-
ter. Some said this is
ager Paul Gray. “I
our fate. We don’t get Paul Gray
did not know much
to have clean water,” County
about the nitrate
Emergency
Doherty related.
issue until I start-
However, before Manager
ed digging deeper
the vote was taken
to eventually approve the into it. You talk nitrates
emergency declaration, an with me, I thought hot dogs
hour-long discussion was and bacon. It does worry me
held among commissioners, quite a bit,” he said while
emergency personnel and highlighting the advantages
some citizen who weighed to having the emergency
in with comments during declaration to work with.
“For us to get state
the online zoom meeting.
dollars and state help we
Concerns state will
have to do a declaration of
take over
One question that came emergency,” he explained.
up was a worry the county “Some of these wells were
would lose control if the at five times the recom-
state were brought in under
-See EMERGENCY/PAGE
the emergency declaration.
TEN
E L E VAT E YO U R A DV E N T U R E
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ext 204
NEW
2022
FOR
By David Sykes
tal Quality (DEQ) fined
In a special meeting last the Port of Morrow nearly
week, county commission- $1.3 million for violating
ers voted to declare a state its wastewater permit by
of emergency over nitrate dumping 165 tons more
contaminated water found nitrate than allowed over
in private drinking wells a three-year period, trig-
around the Boardman and gering new awareness and
Irrigon areas. The emergen- urgency of the problem.
cy declaration will allow
The port is appealing
the county to access money the DEQ fine and is also
and resources from the state building the first of three
of Oregon to help provide anaerobic digesters that
clean water and other ser- will help treat some of
vices to those affected by the nitrate it has been pro-
the contamination.
viding to local farms to
Commissioner Jim irrigate their crops. Nitrate
Doherty was the driving is used in fertilizer, and
force behind the emergency crops such as potatoes and
declaration, and as chair- wheat are processed at the
man, scheduled a special port. The processing puts
meeting last Thurs-
the fertilizer into the
day for the vote.
wastewater which
The commission
then finds its way into
normally meets ev-
the groundwater and
ery Wednesday, but
then drinking water
Doherty pushed for
wells. County officials
the special session
emphasized the con-
saying the contam-
tamination is found
ination is so bad
only in private wells
in the rural areas Commissioner and not in the treated
of north county he Jim Doherty water used by the cit-
couldn’t wait until
ies of Boardman and
the regular meeting the Irrigon.
following Wednesday.
Following the fine and
Commissioner Melissa the renewed awareness,
Lindsay was traveling, and Doherty, who admits the
video-zoomed in from an problem has been disre-
airport to attend. Commis- garded by himself and other
sioner Don Russell was not county leaders for many
able to attend.
years, took up the nitrate
Nitrogen in north coun- troubles as his number one
ty drinking water is nothing issue. He says ethnicity
new and has been present may be playing a part in
for many years, however, why the problem has been
in January the Oregon De- ignored for so long. Ac-
partment of Environmen- cording to Doherty, the
majority of those affected
by the contaminated water
are Hispanic, but those
dealing with the problem
are all Caucasian.
“Five years ago, I came
on board (as a commis-
sioner) and I wanted to at-
tack the nitrate challenge,”
Doherty said at last week’s
special meeting. “And
during discussions I heard
people saying, ‘It is so
wonderful to have everyone
in the community present
at this meeting and speak-
as the 2022 Oregon High
School Rodeo steer wres-
tling champion at the state
finals held in Prineville
last weekend, cinching his
spot on the Oregon national
team.
Blane placed in the top
three in all three rounds of
state competition. He won
a saddle and a buckle as
well as earning more than
$3,000 in high school ro-
deo academic and athletic
college scholarships from
the state finals.
Mahoney plans to work
on the family ranch this
summer and will rodeo and
study Ag business at Blue
Mountain Community Col-
lege in Pendleton this fall.
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