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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (March 23, 2016)
LOCAL NEWS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 2016 HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3 6WDEELQJVXVSHFWDWWDFNVRI¿FHUHQURXWHWRMDLO By PHIL WRIGHT Staff Writer A man arrested for stab- bing a woman Thursday, March 17, also tried to choNe an of¿cer transSort- ing him to the Umatilla County Jail. +ermiston Solice Chief Jason Edmiston in a written statement said Richard D. Heathman, 32, of 1100 W. Sunland Ave., Hermiston, is in custody after the vio- lent confrontation. Edmiston reSorted Hermiston of¿cers re- sSonded to Heathman¶s was “extremely aggressive and non-comSliant home at about 11:05 with of¿cers,´ so a.m. on a reSort of they handcuffed him a domestic distur- and were taking him bance with one Ser- to the jail in Pendle- son Sossibly stabbed. ton. Police arrived, and While en route, Hermiston Fire and though, Heathman Emergency Services steSSed through his medics tended to a Heath- man arms, Edmiston said, 41-year-old woman caused signi¿cant with a wound to her damage to the Satrol car and neck. 2f¿cers searched the then tried to choke Hermis- neighborhood and within ton Solice CSl. Doug *ill minutes caught Heathman, with the seatbelt while on the statement said, but he Interstate 84 starting near mileSost 13 near the Echo exit. The of¿cer told dis- Satchers to send helS, ac- cording to Solice radio transmissions, and Edmis- ton said Oregon State Po- lice found *ill and helSed secure Heathman. An emergency Àight took the stabbing victim to a Portland hosSital. Edmis- ton reSorted her injury did not aSSear to be life-threat- ening. The Sunland home has generated several com- %RDUGPDQWRKRVWVSULQJFOHDQXSHYHQWLQ$SULO Residents looking to do a little sSring cleaning will have some helS from the city during the month of ASril. *arbage vouchers will be available uS to 50 during the month-long, community-wide cleanuS event. The garbage voucher Srogram encourages SeoSle to clear out the clutter from their homes and lawns. Vouchers are valid at both the Finley Butte Landfill and North Morrow Transfer Station. To Sick uS a voucher, visit Boardman City Hall at 200 City Center Circle. For more information, call 541-481-252. DEQ permit delays wasterwater recycling plan By JADE McDOWELL Staff Writer The city of Hermiston Slans to start sending its recy- cled water to the West Exten- sion Irrigation District instead of the Umatilla River during growing season, but it can¶t until the DeSartment of En- vironmental Quality issues a Sermit. City Manager Byron Smith said Sart of the reason Hermiston built its uSgraded wastewater treatment Slant was because it was begin- ning fall out of comSliance with DEQ regulations for the temSerature of discharge into the river during the summer months. The regulations are in Slace to helS Srotect ¿sh from being killed by warm water when they swim uS- stream to sSawn. The city signed a mem- orandum of agreement and order with the DEQ in 2010, creating an acknowledgment on both sides that the city was in the Srocess of addressing the issue. The uSgraded re- cycled water treatment Slant came into full usage in Oct. 2014, discharging water that Smith described as not just adeTuate but “amazingly clean´ comSared to the old discharge. “It¶s Srobably cleaner than the water a lot of SeoSle Sull out of wells,´ he said. But the water is still warm, and until the DEQ issues the city a new Sermit it can¶t divert the wa- ter into the West Extension Ir- rigation District¶s main canal, even though concerns about water temSeratures for ¿sh are irrelevant there because ¿sh are blocked from swim- ming uS into the canal. “We¶ve contacted the DEQ and said, µWe¶re wait- ing on you for a Sermit,¶´ Smith said. He said the city has a ¿rst draft in hand but the Ser- mit still has to ¿nish going through the Sublic comment Seriod. Environmental grouSs often Sush successfully for comment Seriods to be ex- tended, although in this case it would be detrimental to their cause because it would keeS the warm water Àowing into the Umatilla. STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS Wasterwater churns in the aeration basin before being sent through a Àlter to remoYe organic matter on Thursday at the Hermiston Wastewater Treatment facility in Hermiston. Bev Bridgewater, the ir- rigation district¶s manager, said if they don¶t hit any road- blocks it is Sossible they could start using the recycled water in June, although at this Soint they¶re just hoSing to have it sometime this summer. She said it¶s “crazy´ that the DEQ has taken so long — longer than the federal Environmen- tal Protection Agency — to issue the needed Sermits. “We¶re very disaSSoint- ed,´ she said. The water coming from the city will amount to about 3.5 to 4 cubic feet Ser second out of the 120 cfs in the canal, so it¶s not a big SroSortion of the district¶s water. But Bridgewater said it is water that the district would nor- mally have to Say to SumS out of the Columbia River or not have at all. “We are a water-short dis- trict, which means we don¶t have enough water at some times of year for all of our Sa- trons,´ she said. The district has also been Sursuing grants to build a re- gional storage Sond. Bridge- water said if that haSSened, they could take all of Herm- iston¶s recycled water year- round and also collect water from nearby cities, further reducing the amount of recy- cled water being Sut back into the river. Bridgewater said the city has been “the best Sartner´ on the Sroject, which could Srovide a model for future co- oSeration between cities and irrigation districts. Plant suServisor Bill Schmittle said irrigation cus- tomers don¶t need to worry about how clean the water coming from the Slant is. The biological oxygen demand, one way of measuring the water¶s cleanliness, used to be close to the 20 Sarts Ser million limit and has been reduced to just one Sart Ser million. As for the water temSera- ture Sroblem, he said adding a chilling mechanism in the new Slant was cost-Srohib- itive, and SiSing the water all the way to the Columbia River or directly onto Srivate SroSerty was exSensive, too. This new irrigation pump station will be used to pump recycled water to the West End Irrigation District from the Hermiston Waste Water Treatment facility in Hermiston. “We were just exSloring oStions, and we ¿gured out it could go to the irrigation dis- trict, and that solved a lot of Sroblems,´ he said. Until the irrigation district can build a regional storage Sond sometime in the future, water will still enter the Uma- tilla River in cold months, when temSeratures for ¿sh ar- en¶t an issue, using the same SiSeline the city has always used to discharge all of its recycled water. But between March and October the DEQ Sermit would allow the water to be SumSed to the irrigation district¶s canal near Three Mile Dam. According to a 2011 re- Sort from the DEQ itself, the solution is one that could helS the health of the Uma- tilla River. “Decreased temSerature is a high Sriority for Umatilla Basin watershed restoration efforts,´ according to the re- Sort. “Discharging the City¶s warm wastewater to the canal rather than the river during the warm season would suS- Sort Srogress towards this Sriority.´ Slaints and was a focus of Solice activity. “We had been in the middle of a three-Srong aS- Sroach to dealing with the residence and residents at the time of the call today,´ Edmiston stated. “Not only did we have a dedicated di- rected Satrol taking Slace for that residence internally with our Satrol division, but we also had code enforce- ment addressing violations, and our detective assigned to the drug task force was collecting information about the Sersons freTuent- ing the house.´ Umatilla County Circuit Court records show Heath- man had a court aSSearance Monday to change his Slea to driving under the inÀuence of intoxicants. He did not show for the hearing, leading Circuit Judge Dan Hill to is- sue a warrant for his arrest. Edmiston also stated “exact charges for Heath- man have not been ¿led yet, but he will likely be facing assault and vandal- ism charges.´ Spring cleaning opportunities coming up By JADE McDOWELL Staff Writer SSring is of¿cially here, and with it are sSring clean- ing oSSortunities in Herm- iston. Sanitary DisSosal¶s sSring cleanuS week will be ASril 1-7. Loads less than 2.5 cubic yards or 454.5 Sounds can be droSSed off at the Hermiston Transfer Station for free during that time, and cash customers can receive uS to 13.50 off Ser load. Tires will be billed at the regular rate. The transfer station, at 81144 Highway 34 North, will be oSen 8 a.m. to 5 S.m. Monday through Friday and a.m. to 5 S.m. Saturday and Sunday. At the end of Sanitary DisSosal¶s cleanuS week, the city of Hermiston will host a free recycling day on Saturday, ASril from a.m. to 3 S.m. Last year was the city¶s ¿rst time hosting the recy- cling event, and Parks and Recreation director Larry Fetter said it brought an imSressive turnout. About 200 citi]ens droSSed off more than 60 tons of junk, including about 25 tons of old tires. “We¶re hoSing to ex- Sand as the years go by and turn it into a whole com- munity cleanuS event,´ he said. City staff and volunteers will be collecting items in the Umatilla Electric CooSerative Sarking lot at 750 W. Elm Ave. They will acceSt aluminum, aSSliances, car batteries, comSuters, concrete, elec- tronics, SaSer, cardboard, glass bottles, jars, Slastics, tires seSarated from rims, tin, scraS metal, yard de- bris and clean wood. Items should be seSarated ahead of time. A Saint recycling orga- nization called PaintCare will also be on hand to collect Saint. Oregonians Say a tax on Saint they Sur- chase in the state, and that tax goes to PaintCare for collecting leftover Saint and recycling it. Fetter said the city has been using re- cycled Saint from Paint- Care for the lines on its soccer ¿elds. “It¶s a great Sroduct,´ he said. Fetter said the city¶s code enforcement of¿cer has been giving warnings and distributing Àiers to residents with code viola- tions in their yards, letting them know that the free event is a “good oSSortuni- ty to get rid of this stuff.´ He said the city hoSes to someday add a hazardous chemical collection com- Sonent to the recycling day, but that would cost about 20,000 so it is too exSen- sive to do this year without a grant. The city will also not be taking motor oil, but Fetter said Sanitary DisSosal does collect oil if SeoSle are looking to get rid of it. The Faith-based Advi- sory Committee is looking for volunteers to helS col- lect items during the event and make sure they are Sut in the correct bins. Umatilla County donat- ed 5,000 to the event, so Fetter said the recycling day will be oSen to all county residents and not just those in Hermiston. Contact the Parks and Recreation deSartment at 541-667-5018 with Tues- tions. McKay Creek Estates Fully Digital Enya 3 Series Hearing Aid Spring $ Special 995 • Enhances Speech • Reduces Noise Call 541-276-3155 Ruud’s Hearing Aid Service Sale price valid on the Resound Enya 3 series. Limit two at the promotional price. No other offers or discounts apply. Discount does not apply to prior sales. SPRING DISCOUNT WEEK APRIL 1 THRU APRIL 7 Load up your Spring Cleaning waste and take it to the Transfer Station for disposal. Cash customers using the Sanitary Disposal Transfer Station will receive up to $13.50 off each load. This means a load measuring up to 2.5 cu. yards with a maximum weight of 454.5 lbs. can be disposed of for FREE! This includes all acceptable solid waste with the exception of tires, which will be charged at the regular rate. The Transfer Station is located 2 miles north of Hermiston on Hwy 395 and is open weekdays from 8am to 5pm and weekends from 9am to 5pm. Sanitary Disposal, Inc. 541-567-9350 Celebrate Life At Prestige Senior Living, we believe life should be a celebration! Studies have shown that up to 70% of what you feel is aging, is optional. The key to active, successful aging is your lifestyle. It is about wellness and nurturing body, mind and spirit. Join us for one of our complimentary educational seminars that promote healthy, fulfilled living, at every age. SATURDAY, APRIL 2, 1:00 P.M. – 3:00 P.M. Paint and Sip Presented by Katie Woodford, The Cabernet Canvas Get in touch with your inner Monet. No painting experience is necessary for this session, and all of the paints, brushes, canvas and techniques will be provided. We will provide the drinks for you to sip while you paint. No cost to residents, $30/person for outside guests. RSVP required for this event, seating is limited. Space is limited for this FUN educational series. For more information and to reserve your seat please call (541) 276-1987. McKay Creek Estates 1601 Southgate Place Pendleton, Oregon 97801
