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Umpqua Post
port Reeds ., e v A wy Wednesday, October 16, 2013 1500 H
Weekly news from the Heart of the Dunes AN EDITION OF
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“It’s a loss to the Lower Umpqua Area ... the great Reedsport area.” — Reedsport Mayor Keith Tymchuk
American Bridge is closing By Steve Lindsley, The Umpqua Post
Dozens of people attended an open house on Oct. 9 at the Gardiner fire hall to hear presentations about the Gardiner Sanitary District's proposed pipeline to a wastewater lagoon at the old International Paper site. Experts recommended GSD keep sewer service with the city of Reedsport.
GSD open house follows sewage spill BY STEVE LINDSLEY The Umpqua Post
Experts, including the district’s own contract engineer, have suggested the Gardiner Sanitary District board’s attempt to separate itself from the city of Reedsport to a facility to be developed at the International Paper site, north of Gardiner, should be abandoned. Comments came during a packed open house the district’s board held in Gardiner on Oct. 9. Those comments also came after another 40,000-gallon sewage spill into the Umpqua River from a pipe that runs under the river to the Reedsport treatment plant. “The long and the short of my presentation is that the district has, for many years now … nearly 10 … been on been on a pathway to try to figure out how to handle sewage in the district,” said J. Garrett Pallo of Civil West, the sanitary district’s engineering contract firm, “and they made an effort to move forward with a project to move north to the IP site. However, due to a lot of reasons, that option is currently not available to them. There is no funding available. There is no regulatory support for that option. The only viable option that’s currently available to the district, to move forward, is the Reedsport option.” Pallo said the district had good intentions, hoping to serve the district’s users with a lower-cost option. “Understand what the district’s been trying to do, Pallo said. “They’ve been trying to do what they felt was right for the district and for you, the customer. Right now they’re in a position where they have very few choices on what they can actually do. “I think we’ve come to a water-
Rumors turn out to be true; 51 to lose jobs BY STEVE LINDSLEY The Umpqua Post
The long-rumored closure of American Bridge in Reedsport was confirmed Monday. Laura Roberts, a member of the Dislocated Worker Team of the Oregon Department of Community Colleges and Workforce Development left a message that the closure of the plant was confirmed. “We found out this morning that, indeed, it is happening today,”
with Reedsport and replacing the SEE CLOSURE, PAGE A7 pipe is what’s needed. “I want to emphasize that the DEQ’s perspective on this is that we’re looking for the best environmental solution, the least cost solution,” he said. “Given what we know now, and given the uncertainty associated with some things, I think, maybe weren’t considered in the initial looks at the IP, it’s very clear to us that continuing the relationship with Reedsport is the best, and the most viable option available.” Pallo went through a history of where the district has been in the past few years. A study commissioned in 2006 by the district board with the engineering firm West Yost Associates suggested a change might be in order. “The West Yost study recommended the IP option,” Pallo reported. By Steve Lindsley, The Umpqua Post Pallo presented costs that year State Senator Arnie Roblan, D-Coos Bay; State Rep. Tim Freeman, Rto the district. In 2006 dollar figRoseburg and State Rep. Caddie McKeown, D-Coos Bay, made a stop ures, switching to the IP site would in Reedsport on Oct. 8 to talk about the the last regular session of the have cost the district $3.3 million, Legislature and the special legislative session Sept. 30 to Oct. 2. while staying with Reedsport and fixing the pipe under the Umpqua River would have cost $4.7 million. “You’ll notice that they looked at it from the perspective of existing customers and what they believed to be future customers, should the IP site develop,” Pallo said. “At this time, in 2006, you’ll remember development was the rage on the coast and people were building subdivisions and they believed that (the IP site) was going to develop and become something. They felt that IP would allow the population of Gardiner to THE UMPQUA POST when operating as boats; consider grow from the 400s to well over rule adoption to remove language on 1,000. If that were to happen, that Salmon Harbor and Lakeside certain waters in Lane County and would have changed the dynamics will be stops for the Oregon State Scenic Waterways — OAR 250-020of everything.” Marine Board when it meets for 0221 and OAR 250-030-0030 — two days on the Oregon coast. which prohibits the use of combusSEE SEWER DISTRICT, PAGE A7 The board will meet Oct. 22 and tion motor boats and the operation 23 in Florence for a workshop sesof sea planes on Waldo Lake in comsion and general board meeting. pliance with the 2013 Oregon That meeting will be held at the Legislative Session statutory reviRiver House Inn, 1202 Bay St. approval of a sions and consider On Tuesday, Oct. 22, from noon grant request to the city of to 3 p.m. the board will tour gallon spill of raw sewage into the Umpqua River.” Salmon Harbor’s recently comReedsport for property acquisition. Gallo said the latest leak is just one in a series of pleted boating facility makeover leaks in the past 10 years. Reedsport officials will attend the One 21,000-gallon spill occurred in September of and following that tour will head to meeting for the grant request, which 2004. Another 31,000-gallon discharge happened in Lakeside to view the new boat deals with the city’s boat launch July of 2006. Later that year, there was a 90,000-gal- wash station. facility on the downtown waterfront. The board will then meet at the lon spill in December. The city hopes to remove a vacant River House Inn at 3:30 p.m. for a After the 2006 spills, Gallo reported, the sanitary building and expand the parking lot district hired an engineering firm to complete a study strategic play update from marine at the boat launch. board staff. on the issue to address the pipe and how to prevent Persons wishing to address the The next morning, beginning at future spills. board on non-agenda items may 9, the board will hold its quarterly More spills occurred, according to Gallo. do so during the designated period meeting. There was a 40,000-gallon spill in March 2010, a Among the items on the agenda 100,000 gallon spill in August of that same year and at the start of the meeting at 9 are: Consider initiating rulemaking another, unmetered spill occurred that same month. a.m. on Wednesday. to define the process of “cooperaIn October of 2012 there was a 50,000 gallon spill tion” between the Marine Board and into the river. No mitigation plan for the pipe was announced at the Oregon Department of Aviation that open house. related to regulation of seaplanes
shed moment, if you will, that a decision is going to need to be made. I do know the funding agencies, right now, will get behind the Reedsport option, but the district needs to move quickly.” Keith Andersen of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality also attended the open house. He has urged the district for the past several months to abandon the IP plan and stay coupled with Reedsport in an effort to get movement on replacing the leaking pipe. “Certainly, the district has done a lot of hard work trying to sort out what is the best solution to this problem,” Andersen said, diplomatically. “The problem being that fact there’s a pipeline that tends to leak, pretty regularly, sewage into the Umpqua River which, I think we all agree, is not ideal.” Andersen acknowledged that as late as 2010, based on the information that was available, the option to move to the IP site was a viable option. “As we started uncovering some more information,” Andersen said, “it became pretty apparent that was less of a good option. I think, at this point, there has been a lot of time and effort into figuring out what is the right option. As Garrett points out, given the circumstances surrounding the block grants available for a northern option and a southern option, the northern option is, sort of, off the table at this point.” He said that grant funding is what will make a project feasible. “This is a real serious problem,” Andersen continued. “The idea of a community the size or Gardiner with a system that discharges raw sewage into the Umpqua River isn’t tenable.” He summed up that staying
Town Hall Meeting
Marine Board will make Salmon Harbor and Lakeside stops
A history of sewage spills into the Umpqua BY STEVE LINDSLEY The Umpqua Post
A sewage spill did occur into the Umpqua River last month. It was suspected the pipe under the river, which carries wastewater from the Gardiner Sanitary District to the treatment facility in Reedsport, had sprung another leak the week of Sept. 22. Several officials with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality could not confirm whether the troublesome pipe leaked raw sewage into the river, and deferred to the sanitary district for confirmation. The leak was confirmed at an open house the Gardiner Sanitary District board held Oct. 9 at the Gardiner fire hall. “On Sept. 27, 2013, which is just a few weeks ago,” said J. Garrett Pallo of Civil West, the sanitary district’s engineering contract firm, “there was a 40,000
Roberts confirmed in the message. The plant has 51 employees and those employees will get some help in looking for new work. “Our folks from Umpqua Training and Employment are on their way out there to talk to them,” Roberts said. The closure of the plant had been rumored for more than a week. Nobody from the American Bridge corporate office or the New York office would return phone calls or emails, nor would anyone from the Reedsport plant. It’s not known if the closure affects the entire American Bridge
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