Wyden awards Murray
50¢
VOL. 144
NO. 2 8 Pages
Wednesday, January 10, 2024
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Sykes reappointed BOC chair
Commissioners continue to take beating over ASA, circuit
court building
By Andrea Di Salvo
The Morrow County
Board of Commissioners
reappointed Morrow Coun-
ty Commissioner David
Sykes as the board chair
at its Jan. 3 meeting in
Heppner.
The position of board
chair had previously rotated
among the three positions,
but the current commis-
sioners chose to switch to
a yearly election when they
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Morrow County Com-
PLVVLRQHU-H൵:HQKRO]ZDV
elected vice chair.
No controversy sur-
rounded the election of
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tension was definitely in
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Commissioners meeting of
the year.
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nor the comments were as
numerous as at the Dec.
20 meeting in Irrigon, the
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criticism on the county’s
Ambulance Service Area
(ASA) plan and the new
circuit court building, as
well as threats of a recall.
Morrow County Health
District CEO Emily Rob-
erts opened the public com-
ments by telling the com-
missioners that the current
ASA creation process was
not following the process
laid out in the 1998 ASA
plan.
John Kilkenny of Hep-
pner said the health district
has been providing great
service for decades and he
saw no reason to change
providers based on that
performance.
He also reiterated com-
ments from the Dec. 20
meeting, saying that he
objected to ASA wording
about the county being
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provider.
At the last BOC meet-
ing, Morrow County Ad-
ministrator Matt Jensen had
said publicly that the word-
ing had been in the 1998
plan and had not changed.
Kilkenny argued that the
language had changed “sig-
nificantly” and that the
1998 plan had stated the
health district would retain
those assets.
“A million and a half
dollars of assets are to be
retained by the Morrow
County Health District.
The new language says that
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by Morrow County,” said
Kilkenny. “That’s just total-
ly unacceptable language.
No business, no ranch, no
other public entity would
enter into a contract with
anyone in which their assets
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During a presentation
to the Heppner City Coun-
cil Monday night, Jensen
again said the wording had
not changed, but that the
problems in interpretation
came from the fact that
Morrow County would
replace MCHD as the ASA
administrator in the new
plan.
Due to the concerns
over the wording of that sec-
tion, however, Jensen told
the Heppner City Council
that the wording had been
removed completely from
the draft ASA plan.
Meanwhile, Tim Col-
lins of Heppner was at the
BOC meeting last week to
voice continued concerns
about the proposed site of
the new Morrow County
Circuit Court building.
“I have many concerns
and questions about what is
going on in Morrow Coun-
ty with our local govern-
ment and the silence from
our government related to
what’s going on with the
new circuit courthouse that
is going to be built in Hep-
pner,” Collins said. “I am
requesting that the county
have open public meetings
to inform residents of the
FRXQW\ DERXW WKH VSHFL¿FV
of this project.”
Collins also request-
ed that the budget for the
project be made public and
submitted a petition that he
said included signatures of
87 registered voters whom
he said wanted to change
the location of the building.
:KLOHUXPRUVRIDQRWK-
er recall have been circu-
lating for several months,
Irrigon resident Stuart Dick
laid the issue on the table
when he accused the com-
missioners of not listening
to constituents but, rather,
doing whatever they want
to do.
“Nobody in this room
or this county wants to go
through another recall. It
was a horrible experience,”
said Dick, adding that the
recall of previous com-
missioners Melissa Lind-
say and Jim Doherty was
“orchestrated” and “done
behind closed doors.”
“You have a precon-
ceived agenda, so I’m going
to be up-front with you.
:H¶UH JRLQJ WR LQLWLDWH D
recall,” he said.
Dick also accused Jen-
sen of deliberately taking
action he knew would shut
down dialogue.
“And then you called it
a miscommunication,” he
said. “It’s not a miscom-
munication. It’s deliberate.
:H¶UHQRWVWXSLG´
ASA Update
True to his word at the
last BOC meeting, Jensen
also provided an update
on the ASA plan at the
PHHWLQJ :KLOH PXFK RI
the presentation went over
old ground, he did attempt
to clarify some of what he
said in his previous report.
Jensen spent much of
his time reiterating that
the county is overhauling
the ASA because Oregon
Revised Statutes state that
the county is responsible
for administrating the ASA.
However, he said, there is
DQLQKHUHQWFRQÀLFWRILQWHU-
ests in current ASAs, which
contain an “abdication of
control” by the county to
allow the Morrow County
Health District to adminis-
ter the program.
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ated quite well, and Mor-
row County Health District
has taken care of business,
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there are providers that
want to present and take a
look at providing additional
services,” he said. “And
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interests when your EMS
advisory committee, which
is in charge of reviewing
that, is largely made up of
MCHD—another provid-
Sen Wyden presenting and awarding Ann Murray at the
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- Contributed Photo
On January 4th, at
Boardman High School,
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well-deserved award to Ann
Murray during a town hall
meeting he was hosting.
Ann was honored for her
remarkable contributions to
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highlight of this recogni-
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presenting Ann with an
official American Flag,
which had been proudly
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authenticate this symbolic
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provided Ann with the
necessary documentation.
Morrow County vows
to maintain ambulance
service despite pending
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Morrow County - On Jan- nance. MCHD has advised
uary 5th, Morrow County the County that it was re-
released a new statement quired to give notice since
regarding the ASA plan the proposed language for
and its ongoing fued with the ASA Plan includes lan-
the Morrow County Health guage from the 1998 Plan
District.
and repeated in the 2023
“On December 13, ASA Plan proposed by
2023, Morrow County re- MCHD, that requires an
ceived from Morrow Coun- ambulance service provider
ty Health District (MCHD) vacating its area to turnover
a notice that it will dis- their ambulances(s) and
continue ambulance ser- equipment for use by the
-Continued to PAGE SIX
YLFHVH൵HFWLYHPLGQLJKWRQ recruited interim personnel
March 12, 2024. MCHD until a replacement service
also provided notice that it can be established. MCHD
would no longer engage in vigorously objects to this
water systems. The data the process of development provision. Accordingly,
collected throughout the of the new Ambulance Ser- -Continued to PAGE SEVEN
project will be integrat- vice Area Plan and Ordi-
ed into a comprehensive
database and Geograph-
ic Information System
(GIS) to enable ongoing
monitoring, analysis, and
preliminary planning-level
engineering assessments
for impacted well owners.
To achieve this, additional
well sampling will be con-
ducted, with a strong em-
SKDVLVRQRXWUHDFKH൵RUWV
to domestic well users.
An essential aspect
of the project is commu-
nity education. Domestic
well users and the wider $IWHUGHGLFDWLQJ¿YH\HDUVRIVHUYLFHDVDGLVSDWFKHUDWWKH
community will be in- 0&62 0RUURZ&RXQW\6KHUL൵¶V2൶FH &RPPXQLFDWLRQV
formed about the regional Deputy Acosta Garcia has transitioned into a new role as a
MCPD addresses the water crisis
By Annalynn Black
The Lower Umatilla
Basin is currently facing
a drinking water crisis,
and the Morrow County
Planning Department has
taken on the responsibility
to address this pressing
issue. Joining forces with
Umatilla County, Morrow
County sought assistance
from the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) to
secure funding for tackling
the problem. On October
10th, 2023, their efforts
SDLGR൵DVWKH(3$JUDQWHG
a substantial sum of $1.7
million to aid in the iden-
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wells within the LUB and
the development of both
public and private solutions
to ensure clean drinking
water supply.
A longstanding con-
cern in the Lower Umatilla
Basin, nitrate concentra-
tions in the groundwater
have been exceeding fed-
eral standards since 1990,
prompting the Oregon De-
partment of Environmental
Quality (DEQ) to designate
the area as a groundwa-
ter management area or
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the declaration the DEQ
identified five significant
sources of nitrate contam-
ination. These sources in-
clude irrigated agriculture,
onsite septic systems, land
application of wastewater,
confined animal feedlots
(CAFOs), and pollution
from the washout lagoon at
the Umatilla Army Depot.
Encompassing approx-
imately 562 square miles
in northern Morrow and
western Umatilla counties,
WKH /8%*:0$ LQFOXGHV
VLJQL¿FDQW WRZQV VXFK DV
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Umatilla, Boardman and
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around 3,300 active domes-
tic wells provide drinking
water to rural households.
However, about half of this
region is under cultivation
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due to the shallow alluvial
VRLO ZDWHU LQ¿OWUDWLRQ FDU-
ries high nitrate concentra-
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cant contamination risks, as
reported by the Morrow and
Umatilla County Drinking
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':,
:LWKWKHSULPDU\GULQN-
ing water standard for ni-
trate concentration set at 10
milligrams per liter (mg/L),
recent testing of over 600
domestic wells has revealed
alarming concentrations ex-
ceeding this threshold in a
substantial number of wells,
with some even exceeding
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severity of the situation, the
Oregon Health Authority
has conducted testing on
more than 1,600 groundwa-
ter wells in both counties as
of November 10th, 2023.
Elevated nitrate levels
in drinking water can have
severe health implications,
such as causing methemo-
globinemia or “blue baby
syndrome” in infants, in-
creasing the risk of thyroid
disorders and gastric and
bladder cancers in adults,
and heightening the chanc-
es of miscarriage, birth de-
fects, and low birth weight.
Infants under six months of
age are especially vulnera-
ble if they consume formula
mixed with nitrate-rich
water. Additionally, high
nitrate concentration in
groundwater can contribute
to algal blooms in surface
water, leading to higher lev-
els of disinfection by-prod-
ucts in treated and potable
water. These disinfection
by-products pose a range
of health risks, including
cancer, reproductive health
issues, liver and kidney
problems, and central ner-
vous system disorders.
According to the Mor-
row and Umatilla County
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WLRQ 08&':,
The overarching objec-
tive of this project is to de-
termine the spatial extent of
nitrate contamination and
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IRUFRQQHFWLQJD൵HFWHGDU-
eas to public or community
MCSOs new Parole
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CALL
541-989-8221
ext 204
for more
information