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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (April 19, 2017)
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 2017 Two men wounded in shooting at Stanfield party Police with the local major crimes team are investigating a shooting early Saturday in Stanfield that left two men wounded. Stanfield police at 2:47 a.m. Saturday received a 9-1-1 call about shots fired at a party on the 900 block of South Main Street, Stanfield. Police Chief Bryon Zumwalt in a written statement reported officers arrived and found two adults at the party were shot following a dispute. Their injuries were not life-threatening, according to the statement, and both received medical treatment at Good Shepherd Medical Center, Hermiston, which later released the pair. “Based on the investigation to date,” Zumwalt reported, “this appears to be an isolated incident with no danger to the general public.” Major crimes team members from Oregon State Police and local departments, including Hermiston and Umatilla, are helping with the investigation, along with the office of the Umatilla County district attorney. DEQ to sponsor local hazardous waste collection Local residents can get rid of household hazardous waste during a free collec- tion Saturday, April 22, at the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center, 1705 E. Airport Road in Hermiston. Common items to be collected may include aero- sol cans, antifreeze, engine cleaners, fluorescent tubes, herbicides, batteries, motor oil, paint, pesticides and weed killers. In addition, Oregon E-Cycles will collect old computers, monitors, televi- sions, keyboards and mice. Pharmaceuticals, ammu- nition, explosives or prod- ucts that contain radioactive waste, such as smoke detec- tors, will not be accepted. Agricultural pesticides from ranches and farms will be accepted on Friday, April 21. Pre-registration was re- quired for agricultural and small business waste dis- posal by Friday, April 14. Saturday’s event will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. It is sponsored by the Or- egon Department of Envi- ronmental Quality, city of Hermiston, Umatilla Coun- ty, EOTEC and Sanitary Disposal. HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3 LOCAL NEWS Depot transfer delayed until end of year By GEORGE PLAVEN Staff Writer It may be later than ex- pected, but the U.S. Army has submitted a draft agree- ment to transfer owner- ship of the former Umatilla Chemical Depot into local hands. Members of the Colum- bia Development Authority met over the phone Tuesday to review the 22-page docu- ment, which director Greg Smith said marks a huge milestone. “It means we’re in the home stretch of transferring the property,” Smith said. However, Smith added the agreement was due by February, and delays have al- ready cost the CDA millions of dollars in lost economic development over the past two years. The latest timeline from the Army Base Realignment and Closure Division pushes the proposed transfer date back even further, from Sept. 1 to Dec. 1. “This is an extraordinarily frustrating process,” Smith said. The CDA plans to use a portion of the depot land for industrial development in Umatilla and Morrow coun- ties. Smith said a number of industries have shown inter- est in the property, including data centers, animal feed producers, aggregate mining and four different national hotel chains. But until the transfer is ‘We believe there is value in protecting and preserving a portion of these resources. Where the Oregon Trail is undisturbed, we have said we’ll take those best pieces and set them aside for protection.’ Columbia Development Authority director Greg Smith done, Smith said he is forced to put those companies on the back burner. “We’re really hamstrung until the Army completes its work,” he said. The CDA still has work to do as well. One of the last major hurdles is to figure out how the group will account for cultural and archaeolog- ical resources on site, in- cluding two branches of the Oregon Trail that cross the depot. Smith outlined a propos- al to preserve 50-100 yard stretches of both roads and build kiosks to educate the public about their historical importance. “We believe there is val- ue in protecting and pre- serving a portion of these resources,” Smith said. “Where the Oregon Trail is undisturbed, we have said we’ll take those best pieces and set them aside for pro- tection.” The CDA also plans to allow hunting and gathering at Coyote Coulee, a portion of the property deemed sig- nificant by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indi- an Reservation. Hunting will be opened to tribal members as well as the general public where Coyote Coulee enters the planned wildlife preserve, but not where it crosses into industrial areas. “We have to be prudent,” Smith said. Finally, Smith said the CDA plans to establish 30- yard buffers around a fire pit that was found within the in- dustrial zone on the Umatil- la County side, and a prehis- toric thinning flake that was discovered on the Morrow County side. The artifacts may or may not be signif- icant, but until they can be studied Smith said they will err on the side of caution. The Army will convene a meeting in Mobile, Ala- bama to continue negotiat- ing an agreement on cultural and historical resources. Smith said he will attend, along with representatives from the State Historic Pres- ervation Office and CTUIR. In other news, Smith, who serves as a state legis- lator for the district where the CDA is located, said he was recently notified that the Army has been fined $21,600 by the Oregon De- partment of Environmental Quality for failing to submit a sampling report that veri- fies the land is clean and not contaminated. The fine is for procedur- al — not environmental — violations, but Smith said it is another example of the Army not meeting its dead- lines. “The reason I share this is not to embarrass anyone,” he said. “We’re hoping that com- munication between the Army and DEQ will be enhanced.” Linda Hayes-Gorman, DEQ Eastern Region ad- ministrator, wrote that the Army missed its submittal date “by a wide margin.” Michele Lanigan, who works with the Army’s Base Realignment and Closure office in Umatilla, said an- other division was responsi- ble for that report. Smith said he will push as hard as he can to avoid any further delays in getting the depot transferred to the CDA. “We’re doing everything we can to move that conver- sation,” he said. ——— Contact George Plaven at gplaven@eastoregonian. com or 541-966-0825. Sheriff’s office arrests man in wake of two-vehicle crash By PHIL WRIGHT Staff Writer A two-vehicle crash Satur- day near Hermiston sent three people to hospitals, and the Umatilla County Sheriff’s Of- fice arrested one man in con- nection to the wreck. Efrain Narcizo-Mateos, 23, of Richland, Washington, is in the county jail, Pendleton, on the following charges: driving under the influence of intox- icants, reckless driving, hit and run with injury and three counts each of reckless en- dangering and second-degree assault. The crash occurred Satur- day night around 8:30 at West- land and Agnew roads, Herm- iston, according to police and fire reports. The Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office in- vestigated the crash with help from Oregon State Police. The sheriff’s office in a written statement reported Narcizo-Mateos was driving a 2004 GMC Envoy west on Westland Road, crossed into the eastbound lane and headed straight for a 2012 red Ford. Brady Frischman, 25, of Gresham, was at the wheel of the Ford and had two pas- sengers, Daniel Breece, 22, of Portland, and Alyssa Ray, 23, of Philomath. Frischman tried to avoid the crash, according to the sheriff’s statement, and the Envoy struck the Ford’s passenger side. Rescuers with the Uma- tilla County Fire District 1 used saws and hydraulic tools to free Breece from the wreckage, the sheriff’s office reported, and a helicopter ambulance flew him to Kad- lac Regional Medical Center, Richland, Washington. Am- bulances took Frischman and Ray to Good Shepherd Med- ical Center, Hermiston. Sheriff Terry Rowan re- ported “their injuries were sig- nificant, but all three seem to be doing OK.” Narcizo-Mateos faced preliminary charges Monday morning in circuit court in Hermiston. His next hearing is April 24 after a grand jury reviews the case for possible charges. 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