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That was not what I was hoping, but exactly what I needed to hear. I think the low real estate prices might have something to do with that coal plant west of town. The farmer's market wouldn't do one much good if the soil were ladden with decades of pollution coming out of the plant.
Many thanks for the frank assessment. I'll keep looking.
I don't remember a coal plant out there? - better check that out.
There is the Army Chemical Weapons Depot and the Chemical Weapons burning facility - maybe that is what the OP meant. ?
I looked and found the above mentioned dirty coal power generating station due west of Pendleton about 60 miles. According to historical record it's construction was started under the wire of better, strict rules governing emissions. Therefore, it is refered to as a "dirty" plant.
I looked and found the above mentioned dirty coal power generating station due west of Pendleton about 60 miles. According to historical record it's construction was started under the wire of better, strict rules governing emissions. Therefore, it is refered to as a "dirty" plant.
I would not move in or around the Pendleton area as Umatilla and Morrow Counties have become the dumping ground for all kinds of environmental poisions such as the Umatilla Army Depot where they are burning all the chemical weapons in this country and Three Mile Canyon Dairy, which is the largest feedlot and Confined Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) in America with over 60,000 cows crowded in a very small space. There are several other CAFO's in and around Pendleton and Umatilla County. Dozens of homeowners have had there domestic water wells contamined with E-Coli and other hazards from these feedlot operations. Please see the below information:
I submitted these comments at a recent regional gathering of Eastern Oregon County Commissioners. The majority of Eastern Oregon County Commissioners are actively recruiting these entities to set up operations in their counties.
The State of Oregon has become Ground Zero for the next big influx of massive-scale animal factory farms due to the many loopholes and omissions within our present Oregon agricultural legislation. We have had five operations move into the state within the last six years with cows numbering between 8,000 and 60,000 animals packed into one of these factories. The data of adverse community effects of factory farms sightings is well-documented, and far-reaching. If you want to look closer to home regarding the many negative impacts of massive dairy and hog, talk to the folks down in rural Southwest and South-central Idaho about what has happened to their communities with the proliferation of massive-size industrial dairy operations or talk to the Mayor and City Council of the City of Madras about the massive containment 'accident' that they had to clean-up recently.
As an alternative towards trying to attract massive scale animal factory agribusiness, look to those Eastern Oregon rural communities that have embraced the development of renewable energy, wind in particular, and also Bio-Fuels, solar and geothermal as a mechanism of economical development and tax revenue that have reaped significant gains even though we have just scratched the surface in that regard. The State of Oregon, Department of Energy offers some of the best incentives, credits and programs in the nation for this economic driver. Talk to the county commissioners of Union and Sherman about the more than 30 million dollars of revenue (guaranteed) coming in over the next 20 years in just those two counties alone. It also provides a number of living/family wage jobs, rather than minimum wage or less that industrial farming operations bring and the associated hidden costs to communities such as ground water contamination, loss of property values, public health concerns and undermining the needs and viability of smaller-scale farming operations, family-farms and Oregon's historical family-owned and run agricultural base. It is that base that will provide the healthier and more sustainable food sources of the future, especially with transportation costs going up and never to come down again.
Oregon is unique in today’s times in that it remains a state of predominately family-style farms, more so than any other state in the county. By and large, local residents do not desire or seek the menial, back-breaking jobs associated with this industrial agriculture as much of the labor is 'imported', which may make for an attractive bottom-line, but not bring in what is truly needed by the those of us who live in Rural Eastern Oregon in the way of good jobs, good working conditions, good health and long-term agricultural sustainability.
On April 10th SB 235-1, which would require the state to enact rules to protect public health and the environment from factory farm emissions, was passed out of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and the Environment. This was a huge coup, in that neither the state agencies nor the agribusiness lobby wanted the amendment to move. This was not an anti-farm amendment as claimed by agribusiness lobby, as the amendment only applied to less than 1% of farming operations within Oregon. Oregon is the ONLY state in the nation in which ALL farming operations are exempt from the Federal Clean Air Act, no matter our large or how high the level of chemical and gas emissions.
After much wheeling and dealing, in the last several months the dairy industry and the agribusiness lobby were able to kill the bill. The Senate chose to side with the agribusiness lobby and instead of enacting rules to deal with emissions from factory farms, they have created a Governor-appointed task force to look at the problem and come up with recommendations for the 2008 special session. The Governor needs to hear from us in this issue.
For Example: Three Mile Canyon Farms is one of the nation’s largest dairies, with over 60,000 confined animals located in Boardman, Oregon. Some of the worst air quality days in the Blue Mountains of Northeast Oregon and also within the Columbia River Gorge have been linked in part to ammonia gasses rising off of the manure ponds at this large factory farm and spread by the prevailing winds that continuously blow through the Columbia Basin. In fact, it is the single largest emitter of ammonia gases in the Unites States of America. It produces more raw sewage than either the cities of Portland or Seattle. An additional public health and environmental concern regarding this source point of ammonia is that it chemically binds with the particulate matter being emitted by the nearby PGE coal fired power plant that creates an ammonia and acid rain deposit range of over 125-150 miles in each direction depending on which way the wind blows. Once again, the issue here is public health and quality of life. The danger is falling prey to the historical state of denial that perpetuates issues such as these.
Three Mile Canyon Dairy has just submitted a new permit request to the Oregon Dept. of Agriculture to double the size of its operation to over 100,000 confined animals. We need to make our voices heard by contacting Governor Kolungoski and the Oregon Dept. of Agriculture before we turn into the next North or South Carolina, which are now spending Millions of Federal and State tax dollars to clean-up what have become industrial agriculture Superfund sites.
Just a comment that this is a political polemic, not reality. The family farm is next to a large confinement dairy. They have made vast strides in odor and emission control in the last 20 years. The majority of the time, the worst smell is the silage they feed the cows, which is actually quite pleasant. The only time odor is noticeable is when they are cleaning their treatment lagoons.
Contamination of waterways is a violation of state and federal law, and the fines levied are huge. No agricultural operation can stay in business when faced with fines of $50,000 to $100,000 a day.
Just a comment that this is a political polemic, not reality. The family farm is next to a large confinement dairy. They have made vast strides in odor and emission control in the last 20 years. The majority of the time, the worst smell is the silage they feed the cows, which is actually quite pleasant. The only time odor is noticeable is when they are cleaning their treatment lagoons.
Contamination of waterways is a violation of state and federal law, and the fines levied are huge. No agricultural operation can stay in business when faced with fines of $50,000 to $100,000 a day.
Odor control of certain CAFOs has improved, but while odor is a problem, like must INDUSTRIAL operations, it is what you don't see or smell that comes back to haunt us. In all honesty and with all due respect, my prior post is not meant to be a political statement, but rather vital information on what is now happening here in Oregon. If considering Pendleton, one should know what is in their backyard. The sooner the State of Oregon gets proactive on the front-end of the ever increasing industrialization of animal agriculture and the proliferation of CAFOS, the better off we will all be in regards to food-safety, air quality and water quality. This is simply an important public health issue.
Your little polemic contained far too many false statements to be considered fact in any way. It's just a collusion between the NIMBY crowd and the animal rights crowd.
Threemile Canyon Farm does not have 60,000 cows, it produces enough milk to make 100,000 lbs. of cheese a day, from 21,000 milk cows, is raising 25,000 replacement heifers, many of them very *small* cows, and does it on 93,000 acres. No one is close enough to the confinement operation to be affected by it.
Center pivot irrigation is a common agricultural technique in Umatilla County, and most center pivot systems are a mile across. There is plenty of room to spread manure on crop land. Another word for ammonia is fertilizer. It provides the nitrogen that otherwise is synthesized using natural gas, and is becoming prohibitively expensive. Other dairies have dropped their plans to move to Umatilla County because of the rampant NIMBYism in the area.
The Weapons Depot at Umatilla has completed the incineration of nerve gas components, and has moved on to less hazardous vesicants and blistering agents. In a few years they will be done, with no invisible toxins released into either the air or water.
The PGE coal fired plant at Boardman was built in the late 1970s, and doesn't have a full complement of emission controls, but the DEQ has proposed sharp cuts in mercury emissions, to 1/6 the current levels. That is a great idea, but won't be of any advantage to Oregon. Most of our mercury comes from China, so emission controls at the Boardman plant won't reduce the amount of mercury in Oregon.
Your little polemic contained far too many false statements to be considered fact in any way. It's just a collusion between the NIMBY crowd and the animal rights crowd.
Threemile Canyon Farm does not have 60,000 cows, it produces enough milk to make 100,000 lbs. of cheese a day, from 21,000 milk cows, is raising 25,000 replacement heifers, many of them very *small* cows, and does it on 93,000 acres. No one is close enough to the confinement operation to be affected by it.
Center pivot irrigation is a common agricultural technique in Umatilla County, and most center pivot systems are a mile across. There is plenty of room to spread manure on crop land. Another word for ammonia is fertilizer. It provides the nitrogen that otherwise is synthesized using natural gas, and is becoming prohibitively expensive. Other dairies have dropped their plans to move to Umatilla County because of the rampant NIMBYism in the area.
The Weapons Depot at Umatilla has completed the incineration of nerve gas components, and has moved on to less hazardous vesicants and blistering agents. In a few years they will be done, with no invisible toxins released into either the air or water.
The PGE coal fired plant at Boardman was built in the late 1970s, and doesn't have a full complement of emission controls, but the DEQ has proposed sharp cuts in mercury emissions, to 1/6 the current levels. That is a great idea, but won't be of any advantage to Oregon. Most of our mercury comes from China, so emission controls at the Boardman plant won't reduce the amount of mercury in Oregon.
When I lived in Eastern Oregon I really didn't notice any of this stuff. I mean the coal plant was 60 miles away! - I never knew it was there. As for the chemical weapons burning facility its good to hear that most of the stuff is gone, but you never thought about it anyway. I was always to busy enjoying the great outdoors and those big bright sunny blue-sky days that went on for months.
I'd move back in a heartbeat if I could get a job paying me there in Pendleton what I now make in New York. Maybe I'll retire to the area.
BTW larry Caldwell, What do you think of Helix? Any potential there for future growth? Go Grizzlies.
[quote=Larry Caldwell;1872600]Your little polemic contained far too many false statements to be considered fact in any way. It's just a collusion between the NIMBY crowd and the animal rights crowd.
My entire post is based on facts from the EPA and the Oregon Department of Agriculture. For Example, per Three Mile Canyon Dairy's ODA permit, they have over 55,000 animal units and waste lagoons that encompass 35 acers. They have a permit pending to increase the amount of animal units up to 100,000. The EPA and the US Forest Service have done extensive research of the PGE coal fired power plant emmissions AND the Three Mile Dairy ammonia emmissions that combine air quality hazzards that has been proven to be the leading cause of the air quality conerns within the Columbia River Gorge. I stand behind the entire contents of my post! How would you like to live in area that spreads animal waste upon fields equal to the amount of sewage produced on an annual basis by the city of Seattle. I'm very much aware of agricultural practices around the state and in particular those east of the Cascades.
I do not enjoy being out into a catagory of those that make false statements. You appear to have fallen hook, line and sinker for the industry propoganda.
Please visit this resource site at Factory Farm Map — Food & Water Watch which documents the dramatic increase in CAFOs in both Oregon and across the nation along with information on numerous groundwater and river and creek contamination events that continue to happen with alarming frequency.
Wherever it appears, factory farming has two notable effects. It threatens the environment, because of huge concentrations of animal manure and lax regulation. And it threatens local political control. Residents who want a say over whether and where factory farms can be built, whose stench can be overwhelming, find their voices drowned out by the industry’s cash and lobbying clout. None of us are immune to the impacts of these animal factories, no matter if you live just downwind or a consumer living thousands of miles away. The vast majority of meat consumed in this country is laced with antibiotic and artificial hormones and other food safety problems that are part of the meat production process at all of these facilities.
As humans we like to think that our senses are completely attuned to the world around us, easily able to see, hear, or smell the danger around us. But unless air pollution reaches a level where it drops people in their tracks, such as the [URL="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=873954"]London fog that killed thousands of people in 1952[/URL] we don't notice it. That does not make the problem any less real.
The Boardman coal fired power plant and the Three-mile canyon dairy are part of a very serious problem (http://www.onwardoregon.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=ffIOIRMEG&b=122912&ct=843765 - broken link) which neither is paying for though the economic impacts are enormous. The [URL="http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/programs/atdep/col_river/crgnsa_final_report.pdf"]US Forest Service was shocked to discover[/URL] that the air funneling down the gorge from Eastern Oregon was more acidic than the big cities of the East, acidic enough to kill plants and change the ecology of the Columbia River Gorge.
This does not even begin to address the epidemic of asthma which is devastating our children. Where are the real conservatives, the ones who understand that the price of goods and services should reflect the true cost of producing those goods and services? None of the costs for forest destruction or health care are included in that milk or that power. So much for rational economics.
As humans we like to think that our senses are completely attuned to the world around us, easily able to see, hear, or smell the danger around us. But unless air pollution reaches a level where it drops people in their tracks, such as the [url=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=873954]London fog that killed thousands of people in 1952[/url] we don't notice it. That does not make the problem any less real.
The Boardman coal fired power plant and the Three-mile canyon dairy are part of a very serious problem (http://www.onwardoregon.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=ffIOIRMEG&b=122912&ct=843765 - broken link) which neither is paying for though the economic impacts are enormous. The [url=http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/programs/atdep/col_river/crgnsa_final_report.pdf]US Forest Service was shocked to discover[/url] that the air funneling down the gorge from Eastern Oregon was more acidic than the big cities of the East, acidic enough to kill plants and change the ecology of the Columbia River Gorge.
This does not even begin to address the epidemic of asthma which is devastating our children. Where are the real conservatives, the ones who understand that the price of goods and services should reflect the true cost of producing those goods and services? None of the costs for forest destruction or health care are included in that milk or that power. So much for rational economics.
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Boardman Power Plant
