OFF PAGE ONE
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2022
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A7
SHEARER’S
Continued from Page A1
culture at the plant. Prac-
tices were unsafe, not nec-
essarily because any one
person was directing them
poorly, but because those
practices shifted towards
being unsafe, he said. Dean
said once people start doing
things one way, they pass on
those habits to new work-
ers and behaviors become
ingrained.
OSHA weighs in
Aaron Corvin is the public
information offi cer for Ore-
gon Occupational Safety and
Health, or Oregon OSHA.
He confi rmed that the agency
is investigating the Feb. 22
explosion and fi re. He stated
in an email, however, OSHA
does not discuss the status or
details of active cases and he
would share information
about it once the investiga-
tion is complete.
“In the past fi ve years,
Oregon OSHA has con-
ducted four inspections
of this site, two of which
resulted in citations. One
of the citations followed
an accident investigation,”
Corvin said.
In one of the cases, he
said, the employer initially
fi led an appeal of the cita-
tion but then later withdrew
the appeal.
Missing safety meetings
were among the causes for
citation.
Complaints of safety
problems
Dean said he brought up
major safety hazards to the
directors of the company
while working at Shearer’s.
“I couldn’t get anywhere
with management,” he said.
“They were spending mil-
lions on production and inno-
IRRIGON
Continued from Page A1
Irrigon would cost around
the same price as the expir-
ing contract with the sheriff ,
except for startup costs.
Startup costs include ren-
ovations to an offi ce in the
Irrigon City Hall for the new
police chief. These renova-
tions, he said, will make the
offi ce more secure. There
are no plans for further con-
struction, and there would
be no jail, Palmquist said.
He said he is currently
seeking quotes for renova-
tions. He does not know
how much this will cost, yet.
So plans are underway
for the chief’s new offi ce,
but it might take some time
to fi ll the position, Palmquist
said.
“We’re still gathering
stuff to put together poli-
cies and procedures,” he
said. Once that information
is ready, the city will begin
advertising. Once candi-
dates are identifi ed, there
will be interviews and back-
ground checks. The pro-
cess of hiring a police chief
is likely to involve the city
council, he said.
“I’ll want some input
Erick Peterson/Hermiston Herald
A Shearer’s Foods sign still stands on Monday, April 4, 2022.
The company has not committed to rebuilding after a fi re
destroyed its Hermiston plant.
Erick Peterson/Hermiston Herald
Much of the Shearer’s debris on Monday, April 4, 2022, looks much like it did in the days after
the fi re.
“IT WAS A DIRECT PROBLEM OF
MANAGEMENT, IN MY OPINION
IN HOW THEY VIEWED AND
PRIORITIZED AND FELT TOWARD
THE SAFETY OF THE EMPLOYEES
AT THE PLANT.”
— Stephen Dean, former Shearer’s employee
vation, but they were spend-
ing nothing on the safety
department. Whereas they
had an astronomical produc-
tion budget, we had roughly
just enough to pay for per-
sonal protection equipment.”
Dean
described
his
employment as “working
from nothing” and “building
a grassroots program when
there was nothing to work
with.” He said he quit out
of frustration. An “agent of
change in the industry,” he
said he has long worked to fi x
from the council,” he said.
According to the city
manager, this will not be the
fi rst police department for
Irrigon.
“We have in the past,
about 12 to 15 years ago,”
he said.
The city has missed
accountability, responsibil-
ity and control since con-
tracting with the sheriff ’s
offi ce, he said.
“Somebody who is local
is more vested here,” he
said. He added that some
Irrigon residents, including
some members of the city
council, have complained
about the lack of response
from the sheriff to people’s
needs.
Given the large size of
the county, Palmquist said,
residents could not be sure
they were getting a fair share
of the sheriff ’s attention.
Palmquist
expressed
cautious optimism about
the success of this new
department.
“We’ve been here before,
and we’re going to see,” he
said. “Do I count this as a
bad thing? Not necessarily.”
He said that he was going
to “give it my 200%, and
we’re going to go forward.”
Kathy Aney/Hermiston Herald
A stretch of the Umatilla River Trail will follow the river linking
Umatilla, Hermiston, Stanfi eld and Echo.
TRAILS
Continued from Page A1
The project also is
moving from concept to
implementation.
“We’re refi ning the details
and studying engineering,”
Waldher said. “Our imple-
mentation committee con-
sists of two members from
each of the four communi-
ties, plus two members from
the county. We drove alter-
native routes (recently). The
whole route from Umatilla
to Echo will be around 25
miles long, depending on the
alternatives selected.”
The trails can benefi t
health, recreation and tour-
ism, he said, but there are
environmental and cultural
surveys to conduct, and the
trails have to be meet federal
accessibility requirements.
While
Waldher
is
involved, he said the Uma-
tilla County Board of Com-
missioners does not want tax
revenue going to the trails
project, so the committee
is seeking state and federal
funding.
“Bringing it to fruition
will be a lengthy process,
but community support is
there,” he said.
“I probably won’t live to
see it happen, but I’d like
eventually to extend the trail
all the way to Pendleton,”
Elfering said. “It’s county
road most of the way.”
You can read the Uma-
tilla River Trail Concept
Plan here.
safety issues at diff erent com-
panies. After working with
Shearer’s, he felt he could not
improve safety, as he could
not encourage management
to prioritize safety.
“It was a direct problem
of management, in my opin-
ion,” Dean said, “in how they
viewed and prioritized and
felt toward the safety of the
employees at the plant.”
He said he repeatedly
brought up safety concerns to
senior management, but to no
avail. Not only did managers
fail to make changes, they
dismissed his recommenda-
tions entirely.
“Their direct, verba-
tim, response to me when
I raised these safety con-
cerns was to ‘calm my tits;
they’ve been doing this for
40 years.’ That’s the phrase
they used,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dean said,
the company was neglect-
ing environmental regula-
tions, too.
The one thing he said he
was able to do was to cre-
ate an active evacuation
plan, something the company
lacked prior to his employ-
ment. He said he also orga-
nized evacuation drills.
“It was diffi cult to do,
because it aff ected produc-
tion,” he said.
He added there were addi-
tional concerns, especially
when it came to the treatment
of workers.
“They’d work people till
Erick Peterson/Hermiston Herald
A toppled section of the Shearer’s plant stands Monday, April
4, 2022.
they couldn’t work anymore,”
he said. This was a safety
concern, he said, because
exhausted workers would
intentionally break lock-
out-tagout safety rules. Hav-
ing broken these rules, man-
agement would punish them
with three-day suspensions.
“It was motivation for
them to take their breaks,”
Dean stated.
He said his co-workers
would regularly point out
their own infractions, just to
be sent home for rest or to
attend a funeral or some other
necessary event.
Answers forthcoming
Goff , while working on
the site for the fi re district,
said investigators should
be able to remove the roof
from an area they wish to
study soon, barring weather
delays. Then, they should be
able to have answers for the
explosion by late this week,
he said.
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