The INDEPENDENT, February 3, 2011
Page 15
Power of the People
By W. Marc Farmer, General Manager,
West Oregon Electric Cooperative
State of the WOEC Union
The first thing to report on for
the year of 2010 and going into
2011 is that we actually made it
through 2010 without a signifi-
cant storm or FEMA event. The
number of hours spent on out-
ages was down this last year, to
the point that it was the third lowest in the past ten
years. One of the big reasons, besides lack of major
storm damage, was due to the new Timber/El-sie
transmission line performing exactly as expected. Oth-
er than BPA losing power to our substation twice, the
line has not had even a blink since it was energized.
This line would normally cost us thousands to tens of
thousands of dollars each year in costly time, energy
and cash, to repair or replace sections of the line from
tree and storm damage. By undergrounding the line so
that it is no longer exposed to trees and wind, we have
drastically reduced or eliminated outages and repairs.
The cost savings will pay back over time the expense
to underground the line. We are truly grateful to FEMA
and Oregon Emergency Management for their sub-
stantial financial contributions to making this possible
for WOEC and its members.
The new building is progressing ahead of schedule place the bad ones so we can proactively avoid out-
and starting to look like a building now. Walls are go- ages from a weak or bad pole. We anticipated a 10%
ing up, trusses are being built, and the roofing should rejection rate, but have instead have seen rejection
be completed by the end of the month. The drainage ranges from 2.6% to 5.3%. We will be replacing the
lines have been installed in the street and got their first bad ones during the non-storm months, further in-
good test during the last heavy rains. They performed creasing the reliability of our system and reducing out-
perfectly and water that normally would have filled the age expenses.
ditch along Weed and run across to the houses on
Tree trimming that we increased four years ago has
Weed, instead ran into the drains and down the pipes been paying off as well. This has also contributed to
to Bear Creek. It is exciting to see the work and the reduction of outage hours and expenses. We have
progress of the new headquarters facility. Local people noticed significant reduction in outage problems due to
have been hired for various jobs as promised and our trees in areas where we have done extensive tree
dollars are being spent as local as possible as long as trimming. Our goal is to continue to reduce outages
the costs are fiscally within reason. We hope to com- and the expenses they cause while increasing the re-
plete the new facility by the end of July so we can liability of our system. I am happy to report we are suc-
move in during August, in time for our Annual Meeting cessfully accomplishing our objectives.
on the 20th.
The new substation has been put on
hold while we work through the zoning and
permit process with Columbia County. We
hope to be able to start the actual con-
struction of the substation by March with a
™
completion date approximately six months
from the starting date.
Our pole inspections have produced
some surprising, but positive results. We
began the cycle of inspecting each and
every pole to determine their strength,
The name you
treat the good ones to last longer, and re-
Run with Extra Confidence
with Chevron
DELO 400 PLUS
MOTOR OIL
trust for:
DEQ proposes new uses for “graywater”
As Oregon sees increasing
demand on the state’s limited
water resources, the Oregon
Department of Environmental
Quality is proposing new rules
that will allow Oregonians to
reuse graywater for certain lim-
ited functions such as garden
irrigation and other forms of irri-
gation. Graywater is waste-
water originating from showers,
baths, bathroom sinks, kitchen
sinks and laundries.
DEQ will conduct public
hearings on the graywater pro-
posal throughout Oregon in late
February and early March, and
is seeking public comments on
the proposal through Friday,
March 11. The 2009 Oregon
Legislature legalized the use of
graywater for beneficial pur-
poses if permitted by DEQ, and
directed the Oregon Environ-
mental Quality Commission to
adopt rules for the permitting of
graywater reuse and disposal
systems.
While graywater is waste-
water, it does not include toilet
or garbage wastes. Although it
may contain a complex mix of
organic matter, suspended
solids, bacteria and common
household chemicals, when
used judiciously and in a man-
ner that takes public health into
account, it can help preserve
limited water supplies and em-
phasize the environmental
ethics of reusing and recycling.
The proposed rules are
available for public review on
DEQ’s website at http://www.
deq.state.or.us/regulations/pro-
posedrules.htm (scroll down to
“Graywater reuse and disposal
systems.”) As proposed, the
rules would:
• Establish a public policy to
encourage reuse of graywater
for beneficial uses such as irri-
gation
• Establish requirements for
all graywater reuse and dispos-
al systems to protect public
health and the environment
• Define three types of gray-
water based on level of treat-
ment and identify reuse activi-
ties, treatment and monitoring
requirements, setbacks, ac-
cess and exposure controls,
and site management practices
necessary to protect public
health and the environment
• Establish design and con-
struction standards for graywa-
ter reuse and disposal systems
• Create a three-tier permit-
ting system that defines permit-
ting requirements based prima-
rily on volume of graywater pro-
duced
People may submit com-
ments on the proposed rules by
mail, e-mail or fax before 5:00
p.m. Friday, March 11. Written
comments may be mailed to
Ron Doughten, Oregon DEQ,
Water Quality Division 811 SW
Sixth Ave., Portland, OR
97204-1390. Comments may
be faxed to Ron Doughten at
503-229-6037 or e-mailed to
graywaterrules@deq.state.or.u
s .
DEQ will hold four public
hearings on the proposed rules
including one in Portland. Each
hearing will start with a one-
hour overview followed by the
opportunity to present oral and
written comments. The Port-
land hearing will be held
Wednesday, February 23, 5:00
p.m., DEQ Headquarters, 811
SW Sixth Ave., (SW Sixth &
Yamhill), 10th floor, Room
EQC-A.
DEQ will respond to all com-
ments and may make changes
to its rules proposal based on
comments it receives. It will
present a final proposal to the
Oregon Environmental Quality
Commission for adoption at the
commission’s August 2011
meeting.
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