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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 15, 2025)
SIX - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, January 15, 2025 State of Emergency Declared by Kotek Decision to move circuit court in Morrow and Umatilla Counties back to Heppner -Continued from PAGE ONE storage capacity in Febru- owners; Industries have taken vol- untary measures to do their part to reduce wastewater in the basin headed into this non-growing season, and we know that this will be the last winter when land application will occur due to the upgrades that the Port of Morrow is currently making and the updated schedule that DEQ has re- quired,” said Kotek. “I did not make this decision lightly. We must balance protecting thou- sands of jobs in the region, the national food supply, and domestic well users during this short period of time during an unusually wet winter,” she added. “I have been very clear in my expectation that all entities involved in the creation and reuse of waste- water in the Lower Umatilla Basin work with federal, state and local partners in our shared goal of reduc- ing the nitrate groundwater contamination in the basin. This remains unchanged. I expect partners in this ecosystem, along with the counties, will continue to explore connections to pub- lic water systems and other drinking water solutions for impacted residents in both the near and long term.” Cumulative precipi- tation since November is currently above the 95 th percentile of the average for the last 23 years in the region. Given measured cumu- lative precipitation to date, along with forecasted La Niña winter conditions, the Port of Morrow anticipates that precipitation and freez- ing conditions will combine to overwhelm wastewater ary and exceed the capacity of the Port’s approved land application site to accept wastewater consistent with the soil moisture restric- tions in the Port’s permit. A recent permit mod- ification requires the Port to finish building its new lined storage lagoons this year, effectively ending future winter application on the land a year ahead of the previously agreed upon schedule. A DEQ permit modification now reflects this and sets a deadline of Nov. 1, 2025. The compounding ef- fect of the high levels of precipitation and lack of adequate lagoon storage capacity poses an imminent risk that the Port may have to stop receiving wastewa- ter from food processing and other industrial facili- ties in February, or sooner. This would cause those facilities to cease opera- tions, which will in turn trigger furloughs of poten- tially thousands of workers resulting in substantial eco- nomic harm to the region and the State of Oregon. This order follows the continued involvement of the state over the past two years to address the on- going nitrate levels in the groundwater in this region. These actions include: -Providing free testing to all domestic well owners in the LUBGWMA as well as a large-scale canvas ef- fort to reach homeowners in the region to provide education about high levels of nitrate in drinking water and free testing resources; -Free filtration systems for homes that qualify; -Clean drinking water delivered directly to home- County students named to BMCC honor roll Blue Mountain Com- munity College fall term 2024-25 honor roll recog- nition went to the following full-time students from Morrow County: President’s List (3.75 - 4.0 GPA)—Cindy Agripino, Braden Atkins, Ana Calvil- lo, Arely Cambero, Isela Echols, Alejandro Gomez Chavez, Kourtney Krogh, Miranda Landeros, Savan- nah Medrano Pruitt, Juliet Montes, Chelsea Newdiger, Brisa Salas, Humberto San- chez, Sariah Thomas and Mayra Wightman. Vice President’s List: (3.5 to 3.74)—Juan Ochoa, Carol Salas and Dailen Schultz. -A comprehensive Ni- trate Reduction Plan strat- egy developed by state agencies in coordination with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); -Adding capacity and professional facilitation of the local LUBGWMA Advisory Committee to help provide the structure to create meaningful rec- ommended actions from the local stakeholders; -Quarterly meetings with the EPA to continue the state and federal collab- oration and commitment to address the complex situ- ation in the LUBGWMA; -Visits to the area to meet directly with com- munity members about drinking water concerns and with the industry and agricultural partners to push for more action; and -Millions of dollars of investment from the state to cover the cost of testing, treatment, water delivery and long-term strategy de- velopment. Kotek issued Executive Order 25-02 pursuant to ORS 401.165 et seq. Kotek determined that to avoid the shutdown of food processing and agri- cultural industries in Mor- row and Umatilla counties, while still ensuring the protection of groundwater and groundwater users, the restrictions specifically set forth in Schedule A, Con- ditions (6), (8), (11) and (13) of the DEQ Permit, as applied to Farm 1 and Farm 3, and exclusively to fields that are ranked as “Low Risk” by the Permit on Farm 4 and Farm 5 are waived for the duration of this Executive Order. -Continued from PAGE ONE sires,” Wenholz said. 85 percent of the caseload is in the north end. “I was able to secure keeping the historic court- house operational while still having a court facility in Boardman,” Hill said, “which would allow for service to both the north and the south ends of the county.” “I represent the Sixth Judicial District. I repre- sent the chief justice, and I represent the people of both counties,” Hill added. “And I will do the best interest of what I think is and what I’ve heard are the best in- terests of people. And that’s not to disregard one part of the county or the other.” Hill also said that, while Morrow County’s caseload didn’t justify a full-time judge, the logistics of the Boardman location made another sixth judicial district judge more likely. That, in turn, would create four more staff positions, all of which Hill said would be state funded. The shift back to Hep- pner, Hill said, would result in the district not getting a sixth judge or those posi- tions. He did not address the City of Heppner’s concerns about the possible negative economic impacts to that city, saying only that there was no economic advantage to building a new court fa- cility in Heppner. Morrow County Com- missioner Jeff Wenholz also opposed moving the circuit court back to Heppner, saying Boardman allowed better access to justice for all citizens. “Leave it there. I don’t think you’re being fair to the north end and their de- He also reminded the other commissioners of the outspoken opposition to the fairgrounds site. “I don’t think that those people have changed their minds,” said Wenholz. “Stuart Dick got up and yelled at us that we weren’t listening to the people and to not put it at the fair- grounds. So I don’t know why we’re going back to the fairgrounds.” Peterson responded that the BOC had received many letters, including from those who had opposed the fair- grounds, saying they had changed their minds. “They recognized that if this was the only viable location for Heppner, that that was important to them, that it remained in Hep- pner,” he said. “So yes, we have in fact received word, and it is written, that there has been a change in opin- ion regarding that.” Wenholz also said he thought it was the BOC’s duty to represent the major- ity of the county’s citizens. “That is the county’s role, is to be a service pro- vider, and one of the best ways to provide good cus- tomer service is to provide the services where the cus- tomers are,” Wenholz said. “And when you have over 75 percent of the popula- tion—and that will continue to grow—located in the north end of the county, the services should be there.” Peterson echoed Sykes’s earlier comments and said he also had been public in his support for keeping the circuit court building in Heppner and that he believed it was im- portant for elected officials to keep their word. “If we are going to be a body that people can trust, then we need to be consistent with what we say that we are going to do. And I’m going to hold with what I said I was going to do,” he said. The BOC voted 2-1 to repeal the siting of the cir- cuit building in Boardman and move it back to the fairgrounds site in Heppner. Wenholz was the dissenting vote. Lunch & Dinner Menu 1/16 - 1/22 Thursday - Chili burger and curly fries Friday - 2 beer battered cod & clam chowder Saturday - popcorn shrimp salad & breadstick Sunday - Sausage Egg English muffin with hashbrowns Monday - Hot Roast Beef Sandwich w/ beef & barley soup Tuesday - Grill Chicken Parmesan flatbread sandwich & macaroni salad Tuesday night - 6-9pm $2 hard shell tacos Wednesday - Grilled cheese & broccoli soup JANUARY 25, 2025 GILLIAM BISBEE BUILDING HEPPNER, OR Join us as we work to support students in all of Morrow County 5:00 Doors Open & Silent Auction 6:00 Dinner served 7:00 Live auction begins TICKETS $50 EACH TICKETS ON SALE AT MURRAY’S DRUG IN HEPPNER OR EMAIL KIMBERS97839@YAHOO.COM Interested in helping with an auction item, please contact Ashley Lindsay, 541-379-4079, Erin Heideman, 541-561-0081, Beth Dickenson, 541-980-8677, Tiah Devin, 541-980-5436)
