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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (July 18, 2018)
WEDNESDAY, JULY 18, 2018 HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3 NEWS Odor citations coming ‘almost daily’ at Stanfield plant HH FILE PHOTO The 3D Idapro Solutions plant in Stanfield is receiving nearly a citation a day for odor complaints from residents of the town. By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN STAFF WRITER STAFF PHOTO BY JADE MCDOWELL Members of the U.S. Air Force team compete against Amo ser Latina during the Spash and Dash at Funfest in downtown Hermiston on Saturday. Splash and Dash helped Funfest stay cool By JADE MCDOWELL STAFF WRITER A frenzy of splashing and dashing officially broke in Hermiston’s new festi- val street during Funfest on Saturday. The annual summer cele- bration in downtown Herm- iston included a ribbon-cut- ting for the new street followed by Splash and Dash 2018, a race between teams of three pushing one team member around cones in a wheeled tub full of water. “We hope this becomes an annual tradition,” city parks and recreation direc- tor Larry Fetter said. “The winners will have their name engraved on this very nice trophy and we hope to add names every year.” The first spot on the tro- phy belongs to Hermiston’s Rotary Club, which won the championship heat against the U.S. Air Force team. Rotary president Tony Garberg and team members Haylee Harper and Brad Wayland said they hoped the city continued the tra- dition every year so that Rotary could defend its title. “It was a blast,” Harper said. Garberg said they didn’t practice ahead of time, and Wayland gave credit to “old age wiles” for their win. Eight teams total com- peted, and Umatilla County Fire District 1 was on hand with a truck to refill tubs with a fire hose and shower contestants with extra water as they pulled the tubs around a series of orange traffic cones. There was a Seattle Seahawks-themed team and the “Hawaiian bobsled team.” The His- panic Advisory Commit- tee was represented by the Three Amigos — city coun- cilor Clara Beas Fitzgerald, city council candidate Mark Gomolski and HAC chair Jose Garcia. Patty Ortiz, Rosie Del- gado and Ana Pimeyro named their team “Amo ser Latina,” a Spanish play on words that meant both “I love to be Latina” and “I love to be the bathtub.” They said they didn’t do much to prepare, other than having enthusiasm and pos- itive thinking and matching 5 Theater Cineplex Check wildhorseresort.com for showtimes $5 Matinee Classics Every Wednesday Credit & Debit Cards accepted Cineplex gift cards available 541-966-1850 Pendleton, OR I-84 - Exit 216 STAFF PHOTO BY JADE MCDOWELL The Bram Brata Steel Drum Band performs on the new festival street at Funfest in downtown Hermiston on Saturday. A pet food plant in Stanfield has received a string of complaints from citizens who say the odor from the facility is once again permeating the air. The 3D Idapro Solu- tions pet food processing facility, on Hoosier Lane, has been the subject of daily complaints from res- idents. Since last summer, the facility has had prob- lems with an odor control device, called a scrubber, that burned in the first of several fires at the plant. Though company execu- tives came to Stanfield in October and presented a three-part plan to mitigate odors, citizens have been complaining that odors have gotten worse again. Stanfield City Man- ager Blair Larsen said in an email to the Hermis- ton Herald that the plant is now getting a citation nearly every day. He said he has been in communi- cation with the plant every week for most of the year. “For a 10-day period in early June, they had turned things around, and our complaints had dropped to only one or two per day,” Larsen wrote. But since then he said complaints have spiked again. The city continues to rely on their odor nui- sance ordinance, which states that if the city receives complaints about an offensive odor from a property in city limits from at least four separate households in a 12-hour period, they can issue a citation. The ordinance states that the municipal judge can set the fine any- where from $0 to $2,000 per occurrence. Larsen said the judge had been escalating the fine, and he heard the most recent ones have been set at close to $500 each. Larsen said the com- pany’s vice president said they are hiring a new gen- eral manager for the site. He said they are also again replacing equip- ment that had previously been fixed, and installing additional equipment that will decrease the amount of time the material sits before going into the dryer. “They are saying that this will result in fresher material going in, and fresher material means less odor,” Larsen wrote. He said despite the increase in complaints, the city has not changed its process. “Our discussions with our city attorney have indi- cated that we don’t have any other options unless we decide to file a lawsuit against the company. The city council has chosen not to go that route at this time,” Larsen wrote. Some Stanfield resi- dents also started a Face- book group last week, which states that its pur- pose is for residents to share ideas and stories, and hopes to end the smell in Stanfield. So far the group, titled “What’s That Smell!?!” has gathered more than 80 members. Juvenile injured in accidental shooting STAFF PHOTO BY JADE MCDOWELL Splash and Dash competitors pose for a photo after Rotary Club was crowned this year’s winner at Funfest in downtown Hermiston on Saturday. T-shirts. “We did our shirts, that’s a start, right?” Pimeyro said. Before the Splash and Dash, city manager Byron Smith and city planner Clint Spencer cut the rib- bon on the new festival street. Smith said the street had been talked about for at least 10 years before it became a reality, and cred- ited Spencer with put- ting it into motion. He also thanked a long list of other contributors, including the contractors and engineers, the city committee that worked on the design and the downtown merchants who were supportive of the project despite the impact of construction the last few months. “I know it wasn’t pleas- ant all the time, but thank you for your patience,” he said. While the festival sec- tion of Northeast Second Street hosted the tub races and live entertainment, Funfest stretched down sev- eral blocks of Main Street. Crowds downtown listened to bands, bought food and snow cones, watched lawn- mower races, got free pop- sicles handed out by Santa Claus and participated in activities like the bouncy house and dunk tank while trying to stay cool. Fresh Flowers for all Occasions Gift Items and Home Decor Put a smile on the heart with the power of flowers. HWY 395, HERMISTON 541-567-4305 HERMISTON HERALD Umatilla police are looking into a shooting in a McNary neighborhood on July 11. Around 5 p.m., police were called to Chenow- ith Street for reports of a male who had a gunshot wound. Police Chief Darla Huxel said the 16-year-old victim was taken to Good Shepherd Medical Center, Hermiston. Huxel said the boy suf- fered an accidental, self-in- flicted wound to his left hand while handling a handgun. She said the victim and some of the witnesses were not being cooperative, and that the police had not yet found the gun. The parents were not home at the time of the incident, and are cooperating with the police. RED HOT SALE! Up to 10% off... Patio Covers Pergolas·Awnings FREE estimates! Sun Rooms 541-720-0772 Solar Shades & More!! www.mybackyardbydesignor.com From all of us at License #188965 Hurry! Sale ends 7/18/18 Mon-Sat 8am-6pm • Sun 12pm-5am www.cottagefl owersonline.com Happy Birthday BRUCE NOBLES July 18, 1948 Born to be a life time member of Umatilla Sage Riders and learning to ride a bull at 9 months!
