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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 5, 2009)
The INDEPENDENT, November 5, 2009 Plastic conversion facility to build in Columbia Co. ORPET, a new Oregon- based partnership, announced plans, October 21, for a state- of-the-art, sustainably de- signed polyethylene terephtha- late (PET) plastic bottle recy- cling facility near St. Helens. ORPET is a partnership be- tween private investors and the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative (OBRC), the pre- dominant administrator of Ore- gon’s nation-leading Bottle Bill. ORPET will begin operations in the second quarter of 2010, im- mediately creating 50 local, sustainable jobs. The facility will be the first of its type in the region, convert- ing millions of the PET bottles collected each year through Oregon’s Bottle Bill into materi- als for manufacturing, con- struction and packaging. OR- PET plans to market these products to a wide variety of Northwest companies, provid- ing a local supply chain solution for regional businesses, and eliminating the carbon footprint associated with the current practice of exporting PET bot- tles to foreign countries. Hospital: through the Bottle Bill, which in 2009 added PET water bottles to the 5-cent deposit program. Collection of PET water bottles has increased significantly since their addition to the pro- gram, providing a consistent supply of bottles for the facility. “ORPET is positioned to play an integral role in Ore- gon’s recycling infrastructure,” said John Andersen, President, OBRC. “This project magnifies the impact of the Bottle Bill by supporting the increase in PET bottle collections, while simul- taneously stimulating our econ- omy and reducing our carbon footprint. It’s a win for Oregon, and our environment.” In planning and constructing the facility, ORPET will pursue the U.S. Green Building Coun- cil’s prestigious LEED green building certification. Plans for the facility include green build- ing elements such as rainwater harvesting, rooftop solar pan- els, building materials contain- ing recycled content and a vari- ety of features to conserve en- ergy. Concerns are stated in Proposed Order From page 1 making Certificate of Need de- cisions. “While the health dis- trict was able to show the need for a limited number of new hospital beds, the increased cost to patients because of having to use an emergency department rather than an ur- gent care center might actually reduce access to care, particu- larly for low-income individu- als,” he said. The state reviewed the ap- plication materials provided by Columbia Health District and also testimony gathered at two hearings from the public, in- cluding health care providers WU: “This is a very exciting and innovative project that will im- mediately bring green, living wage jobs to the area,” said Tom Leaptrott, Organizing Group Partner. “We have re- ceived great cooperation and support from everyone we have approached and look forward to opening the facility as soon as possible.” “Oregon’s innovative Bottle Bill and the public’s commit- ment to recycling can benefit both the environment and our region’s economy,” said Dennis Denton, Organizing Group Partner, ORPET. “Rather than ship these materials overseas, we can put them to work right here in the Northwest, with zero negative environmental im- pact.” ORPET’s collaborative busi- ness model leverages a man- agement team with more than 25 years of experience in recy- cling and materials manage- ment, as well as OBRC’s ex- pertise with Oregon’s Bottle Bill. Today, OBRC manages more than 95 percent of the re- cyclable containers collected practicing in the area. Based on the evidence provided, the re- viewers were not convinced that the new hospital would: • Be able to bring enough health care providers, particu- larly physicians, into the com- munity to provide adequate staffing for the new hospital. • Secure an adequate rev- enue stream. While the Health District has passed a local tax levy to support a hospital, the community no longer qualifies for the Critical Access Hospital designation it sought, making it more difficult to ensure an ade- quate revenue stream. • Decrease the number of ambulance transports to Port- land and Longview hospitals as suggested by the applicant. The limited range of services and lack of inpatient or outpa- tient surgery or maternity serv- ices in the proposed hospital make it unlikely that the need for ambulance transports out of the county would be substan- tially reduced. The applicant and affected parties may ask for a re-evalu- ation by requesting an informal hearing with the Public Health Division by November 2, 2009. The proposed order is at http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/ ph/hsp/certneed/index. shtml. Final approvals may be expected shortly From page 1 The center will provide Co- lumbia County with a coordinat- ed information center, the hub for an incident command sys- tem, a secure community facili- ty, and a central location to manage donated volunteer re- sources. In collaboration with Colum- bia River Fire & Rescue, Co- lumbia County Emergency Management plans to build the emergency operations center in a manner that is safe, fiscal- ly responsible, and sustainable. The completed center will be coupled with Columbia River Fire & Rescue’s existing re- gional training center to provide a unique training environment for first responders and emer- gency management personnel. This project is included in the Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill. The House of Representatives has passed the final version of the legislation, with House- Senate agreement on the proj- ects to be funded. The Vernonia project is in- cluded in the Interior and Envi- ronment appropriations bill, which has also passed in the House with House-Senate agreement on the projects to be funded. The Senate is ex- pected to pass the same ver- sions and send the bills to President Barack Obama to sign into law shortly. Page 5 Business Notes Tanning beds now at Terry’s Gym Vernonia’s sun tanning facil- ity is changing location. Begin- ning November 16, Terry’s Gym, 10720 Noakes Rd., will take over the tanning services that have been provided at Spi- ralz Hair & Nail Salon. Terry’s Gym will have two tanning beds now, making scheduling much simpler. Both beds are commercial models. Each booth has a decorating theme; one is Marilyn Monroe memorabilia, and one called “the Champs” is decorated with Muhammad Ali posters and pictures. Tanning packages will re- main affordable, but check out the holiday and season change packages for additional sav- ings. Gym members will re- ceive discounted packages and tanners are eligible for dis- counted gym memberships. Tanning appointments will be accepted from 9:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., Monday through Fri- day and from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturdays. The tanning booths will be managed by Kar- men Pavlovksy. Call Karmen at 503-913-5313 to book a tan- ning appointment or to pur- chase a package. For gym memberships, call 503-901-1705. For more infor- mation, go to www.terrysgym. com.