The INDEPENDENT, April 4, 2012
Scappoose farmer fined for water
pollution related to cattle waste
William Holdner, 86, Scap-
poose, was sentenced March
19, for two felony counts of Wa-
ter Pollution in the First Degree
and 25 misdemeanor counts of
Water Pollution in the Second
Degree. All charges stem from
one of Holdner’s beef farming
operations. He was ordered by
the Oregon Department of Agri-
culture to obtain a Confined An-
imal Feedlot Operation (CAFO)
permit for his Dutch Canyon
Road operation, which typically
has 300 beef cattle on site.
Evidence in the case
showed that Holdner illegally
discharged cattle waste in Mud
Creek and South Scappoose
Creek and did not have a
CAFO permit.
Holdner was sentenced to
five days in jail, and faces a
$300,000 fine if he fails to shut
down his farming operations
within 90 days. Holdner says
he plans to comply but will ap-
peal the decision.
Two rivers to open for Chinook
The Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) has
announced that the popular
spring chinook fisheries on the
Deschutes and Hood rivers will
open April 15.
Deschutes River – Accord-
ing to Rod French, ODFW fish
biologist, managers are pre-
dicting over 14,000 hatchery
fish will return to the De-
schutes, one of the largest re-
turns since the hatchery pro-
gram began on the river in the
1970s, and nearly three times
the number that has returned in
the last five years.
“If the run comes back as
predicted, chinook salmon fish-
ing on the Deschutes should be
excellent,” he said.
“The Deschutes River fish-
ery below Sherars Falls is ex-
tremely popular because it of-
fers a great chance to catch a
Columbia River spring chinook
from the bank,” he said. “In re-
cent years, as many as 10,000
anglers a year have participat-
ed in the fishery.”
Here is a summary of the
temporary rules for the De-
schutes River adopted by
ODFW:
• Open for adipose fin-
clipped chinook from April 1
through July 31, from the
mouth of the I-84 bridge up-
stream to Sherars Falls.
• The catch limit is two adult
adipose fin-clipped salmon per
day, and five adipose fin-
clipped jack salmon per day.
• All non-adipose fin-clipped
chinook salmon must be re-
leased unharmed.
• It is unlawful to continue to
fish from Sherars Falls down-
stream to the upper railroad
trestle after taking a daily bag
limit of two adult chinook
salmon.
Hood River – Managers are
predicting far fewer adult fish
returning to the Hood River,
about 650 hatchery fish.
According to French, the
Hood River offers another good
opportunity to catch a spring
chinook from the bank, but in
conditions that are much less
crowded than on the De-
schutes. In addition, the re-
moval of Powerdale Dam in the
summer of 2010 expanded the
legal angling area and offers
anglers considerably more
room to spread out.
Here is a summary of the
temporary rules for the Hood
River adopted by ODFW:
• Open for adipose fin-
clipped chinook from April 1
through June 30, from the
mouth to mainstem confluence
with the East Fork, and the
West Fork from the confluence
with the mainstem upstream to
the angling deadline 200 feet
downstream of Punchbowl
Falls.
• The catch limit is two adult
adipose fin-clipped salmon per
day, and five adipose fin-
clipped jack salmon per day.
• All non-adipose fin-clipped
chinook salmon must be re-
leased unharmed.
Page 13
Power of the People
By W. Marc Farmer, General Manager,
West Oregon Electric Cooperative
I Can Dig It!
Once used as Seven-
ties slang, it also fits dur-
ing the Spring and Sum-
mer months for those who
become anxiously en-
gaged in gardening, land-
scaping, construction proj-
ects, the honey-do lists,
road repairs, and so forth. It is a time of concern
for us, as we inevitably incur outages from those
who dig where our power lines are located. This
creates a safety hazard and puts lives in jeop-
ardy. It also causes additional work for our
crews, who have to drop everything to go repair
the line and restore power to our affected mem-
bers. To save us all from harm, and save time
and money, let me share with you information on
a new number you can call before you start dig-
ging. It is as easy as it gets, as it has only three
numbers – 811.
The new 811 number is a national “Call Be-
fore You Dig” phone number designated by the
FCC to eliminate the confusion of multiple “Call
Before You Dig” numbers, and to help saves
lives, costs, and minimize damages to under-
ground utilities. The call will be directed to a Lo-
cal One Call Center where personnel will notify
affected utility companies, who will send crews
to mark underground lines for free.
Knowing where underground utility lines are
buried before you dig helps prevent injury, ex-
pense, and penalties. Every year, almost
700,000 utility lines across the U.S. are hit by
digging projects. Only 52% of people planning to
dig are likely to call to have lines marked before
digging. The penalties for not calling beforehand
are significant. The person causing the damage
to underground facilities, (it is the same for tele-
phone, gas, electric, cable), will be charged for
the repair of the facilities. They will also be sub-
ject to enforcement actions by the Oregon Pub-
lic Utilities Commission and Civil penalties of up
to $1,000 for the first violation and up to $5,000
for each subsequent violation. Civil penalties for
intentional violations of the Oregon Excavation
Law are up to $5,000 for the first violation and
up to $10,000 for each subsequent violation.
So, let’s all be safe and call the 811 number
before any digging around underground utility
lines. It will end up saving us all a lot of time,
money, and possible injuries.
On the same token, it is also a time that a lot
of folks trim or fall trees on their property. We in-
variably end up putting lines back up that some-
one has dropped a tree across or a limb has fall-
en upon. If you are falling any trees that have
the potential of falling across our power lines,
please notify us and we can make arrange-
ments to drop the line until the tree is down. It is
free if we drop the line, but it will cost you if you
drop the line. We charge the full cost of repairs
to anyone who damages any of our lines by neg-
ligence. If you notice limbs or trees that pose an
imminent danger to our lines, please give us a
call so we can notify our tree trimmers to put it
on their schedule. This will help us be proactive
rather than reactive and have to come out dur-
ing a storm or after hours to repair a downed or
damaged line.
Together, we can keep our lines and our peo-
ple safe, our costs down, and the system up and
on. Thank you for helping us to help you.
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