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Newspaper Archive of
The Goldendale Sentinel
Goldendale , Washington
January 1, 2004     The Goldendale Sentinel
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January 1, 2004
 
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USE SUBJECT TO LICENSE AGREEMENT. REPRODUCTION, DISSEMINATION, STORAGE, DISTRIBUTION PROHIBITED. Great things j?' ................ to read in this New Express Photo owners...page 3 Letters...page 4 Year in review. ,.page 10 I week's paper 10 Pages -- Price 50¢ Thursday, January 1, 2004 • Goldendale, Washington 98620-9526 BB One hundred and twenty-fifth year-- no. 1 F Approximately 300 miles of said Marilyn Meehan, spokes- ~h-volume natural gas ~eline in Washington state Utilities and Transportation ~ast be replaced, and hundreds .~Mfles more need to be exam- ~, according to state and fed- officials. Some of the 26-inch-wide gas [~line in need of close scruff- ~J runs through the Columbia J River Gorge and up near %ldendale. Government safety officials ~11 Dec. 19 ordered the ~klahoma-based Williams ¢~rnpany to work on its massive ~rthwest Pipeline system, fol- h~ing a series of ruptures in v~stem Washington. The most r~ent rupture happened just °~e week prior, on Dec. 13, ~en the pipe leaked outside ledo, near Interstate v5, ~fway between Vancou er aad Olympia. _ , i_ The federal Office of Pipefine ! ,~fe,~,. issued the order follow- ~g the safety concerns the t~te) commission expressed, woman for the Washington Commission (WUTC). The work will take place on a large scale, to include replace- ment of the underground pipeline between Washougal and Sumas - on the border with Canada -- over the next m years, according to a WLrFC statement. Pipeline sections in densely populated areas must be replaced in three years. In the immediate future, the 1956- era steel pipeline must be turned off; customers won't likely notice any interruptions, though, because Williams owns a parallel, 197os-era pipeline, the WUTC said. Steve Royall, plant manager at Calpine's Goldendale Energy Center, said that on the word of government officials, he expect- ed no loss of natural gas supply to the facility. The gas-fired energy plant should be operat- ing by July, he said. Williams supplies about 80 percent of the natural gas to Avista, Northwest Natural Gas, Cascade Natural Gas, and Puget Sound Energy. Its Northwest Pipeline is actually a system of lines that runs north-south between Canada and Mexico. The system includes spur lines that run east-west through the gorge, past Stevenson, White Salmon, Goldendale and Roosevelt. Other sections of line carry gas into Idaho, and as far south as New Mexico. Williams' spokeswoman, in Salt Lake City, did not return telephone messages seeking comment. The federal order demands that, in addition to replacing its western Washington line, Williams inspect the 3o-inch gas pipeline that parallels it, and "the portion from Washougal to Goldendale needs to be evaluat- ed for safety" within in the next six months, said the WUTC's Meehan. The Washougal-Sumas pipeline that federal safety offi- cials ordered turned off had experienced nine ruptures or other failures in the past m years, according to Meehan. Two of those occurred in the last two months, and were appar- ently caused by "stress cracking and corrosion," she said. The 26-inch-diameter Washougal-Goldendale pipeline was also built in 1956, but has remained relatively trouble-free, said Kim West, senior pipeline safety engineer with the WUTC. West said the most recent rupture in that line took place near North Bonneville in February 1999, when a landslide cracked the pipe. What has caused other sec- tions of the pipeline to fail, said West, remains unclear. She noted that Williams has greatly reduced the pressure in its sys- tem following recent ruptures. -- Dan Richardson THE YEAR IN REVIEW File photo Goldendale Energy Center manager Steve Royall greets citizens during a public hearing last January. For month-by-month reflections on events of 2003, see page 10. iCritical lands hearing xtended I ost who testify are Vary of state r quirements . Trying to persuade local "eSidents that an amended critical lands ordinance was !he best they could hope for, .the Klickitat County board of ~rnmissioners made little ~eadway at a hearing on l~esday afternoon. In'response to an almost tl~nimous request for more i~f ~le.-- the commissioners ided to allow three and a extra weeks for residents to review the ordinance, com- Pare it to the current one, and sub~it written testimony. • The proposed amendment ~a re-draft of an ordinance ~e county adopted in 2OOl, hich defined development ~eStrictions for wetlands, tirlkin~-water aquifer recharge areas, special fish ~ad wildlife habitat, flood- ~r0ne lands, and geologically ~aZardous areas in Klickitat Uo~r lty .. Several state agencies and ~e Yakama Indian Nation PPealed the earlier ordi- r~a~ee in 2OOl Details of the 1:~. " . . ~r draft were negotiated w~th ~t~ agencies that appealed. &t the hearing, about m ioeS!dents, mostly from Lyle ~ld White Salmon, objected the concept of an ordi- aaee which, in their view, ~Uld restrict their use of ~e~r land, possibly without s~ern knowing it. "It looks like :U~aething the [Columbia] j~.rge Commission wrote," ~a!d Jim Fritchey of White °~On. Individuals will net know Whether their land is affected until they apply for a permit," ~ad Lyle community council ~r~e~l da e;:e p aBae~ib::a~ e ::~ ? n fi 8everal of those who testi- er threatened to hold the ~Unty liable for any loss of value they might suffer i~ a result of the ordinance's "~lementation. most also wanted to see ~aps telling them which ds Would be affected. "1 ant to see the big picture," See HEARING, page 7 ~allesportPhoto by Sam Lowry resident Mike ~lith, T, among others at U~-,-, , .. =uays public hearing, Persuaded county commis- ~i~r~ers for to allow more time review of a revised criti- Cal iand~ ordinaPce. USDA issues new rules- and seeks the lost herd By DAN RICHARDSON Publisher Federal officials ordered new rules for cattle slaugh- tering and disease surveil- lance on Tuesday, one week after the nation's first mad- cow-infected animal was found in Mabton, just a few miles from Klickitat County. The new US Department of Agriculture (USDA) rules are designed to strengthen protections keeping meat from mad-cow-infected cat- tle from entering the human food chain. (See side bar.) "While we are confident that the United States has safeguards and firewalls need- ed to protect public health, these additional actions will further strengthen our protec- tion systems," said Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman at a Tuesday press briefing. Veneman said the USDA policies had been under con- sideration for some time, especially since the discovery of a case of mad cow disease in Canada in May. Mad cow is the common term for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). The disease perforates an animal's brain and causes its nervous system to degenerate. BSE is invariably fatal to animals and was also linked in Europe in the 199os to eases of a related, rare human brain disease. While the new rules may increase future protections against BSE, federal and Washington state investiga- tors still have a large job: Tracking down 81 cows that came from Canada, as did the one which tested posi- tive for BSE at the Sunny Dene Ranch in Mabton. "Our job one is to find those 8~ anhnals," said USDA vet- erinarian Dr. Ron DeHaven, during the briefing. He said See USDA, page 2 Contributed photo COW MADNESS -- Dairy cows, like this Holstein, are the focus of the federal investigation. Why do they call it "mad cow" disease? Because of the way that infected animals lose their ability to walk as the disease destroys their brains and nervous sys- tems. Q: What is BSE? BSE is short for bovine spongfform encephalopathy, the technical name for what we call mad cow disease. BSE is always fatal. BSE is related to scrapie in sheep, chronic wasting disease in deer and elk, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob dis- ease (CJD) in humans. Researchers believe that mad cow disease can, rarely, cause a variant of CAD (vCJD) in people who eat beef with particles from infected cow brains or spinal cords. In Europe in the ~99os, about ~8o,ooo cattle were found infected with BSE, and about ~5o'people died from vCJD. Q: How is BSE spread among cows? Researchers believe BSE spreads in cattle through feed contaminated with ruminant brain particles-- feed that the US and Canada banned in ~997. The infected cow from Mabton was born several months before the feed rules went into effect. Q: So they found an infected cow from Mabton. What's being done noW? State, federal and Canadian offidals are attempting to See COW FAC'IS, page 3 Locals react to scare By SAM LOWRY News Reporter As the fact sinks in that a six-year-old dairy heifer with mad cow disease came from Mabton, just over the hill from Bickleton, Klickitat County. cattlemen and women are holding their breath. That's because mad cow (the common term for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE) has shown it can wreak havoc not just with cows' bodies, but with cattle markets, international rela- tions, and especially, with people's livelihoods. According to rancher Kay Cameron of Centerville, "It's kind of a scary time." "It could have a devastat- ing effect on the market," said Washington Cattlewomen's president Jane Lee of Goldendale. But cattlemen and others contacted by The Sentinel think - at least they hope - that the U.S. can avoid the deep and long-lasting disrup- tions endured by the British and French cattle industries in the ~99os, and by Canadian producers this past year. Canada's experience is par- ticularly frightening. Discovery of a single mad cow in Alberta, in May (meat from which did not even get into the food stream), instantly cost Canada 69 percent of its market as every foreign bor- der closed overnight. Ironically, that sent U.S. cattle prices soaring during summer and fall. "Every segment was able to make money," said Harlan Carr, owner of G2 Cattle Co. in Goldendale. "That's almost unheard of." Now, the boot is on the other foot. Here, people pin their hopes on the fact that unlike other beef-producing coun- tries, especially Canada, the U.S. consumes most of the beef it produces, even as it strives to step up exports to See REACTION, page 2 Money is usually thought of as an impersonal gift, but if there's enough of it, it can brighten a holiday like nothing else. Enough of it, as in $422,000. That's the size of the cheek that Washington Casualty Insurance Co. wrote to the Kliekitat Valley Hospital district shortly before the holidays. "The cheek was, of course, immedi- ately taken down to Dalai Burton, the county treasurer, and put in the cor- rect fund," said Keith Mesmer, the interim hospital chief. The money was issued under the errors and omissions dause of the hospital's insurance policy. The check will reimburse the health district, less a $m,ooo deductible, for the money it lost in a failed November 2oo2 con- struetion contract with Milora Developments of Victoria, B.C., Canada. To receive the money, health dis- trict commissioners had to sign a sub- rogation clause, giving the insurance company the right to pursue damages to recover the money, said Ross Rakow, hospital district attorney. The insurance company is investigating its potential for recovering the money, said Rakow. "The hospital will'coop- crate with its insurer," he added. In other hospital news, according to Mesmer: • Architects working on a new acute • II The Central Klickitat County Parks and Recreation District, which built and operates the com- munity swimming pool near E'kone Park, still plans to find a way to cover it. The city is holding about $500,00o that was given for that purpose in the will of late Goldendale resident Wihna Olsen. "We still need another $200,000, or more," said outgoing dis- trict board member Ray LaFond. There is a possible source, he said, "but if that doesn't pan out, it will have to come from other donors or from grants." Said outgoing board member and newly-eleeed city councilman Tom Oaff, "The city is waiting for a proposal from the Rec District board. I am hoping Dennis [Goodrich] and the new board will get on that when they get settled." He said he believes the mayor, council and city manager feel the same. "The Rec Board will take the matter up after new members are sworn in," said Goodrich the week before last. "We want to do it well." The swearing-in took place on Dec. 19. Olsen's heirs also con- veyed to the city, on Nov. ~9, about $8,000 that had been collected from donors after Olsen's passing, earmarked for pool maintenance. The funds had been held by the heirs until the city could cre- ate an account specifying it would be used for pool maintenance only. "It will eventually require an inter- local agreement with the district," said city adminis- trator Larry Bellamy. -- Sam Lowry care wing plan should have their design completed by mid-January. • A contractor will soon remove the large dirt mound left over from exca- vating the lot next to the hospital. • The commissioners will have a new bulletin board placed near the hospital entrance for posting agendas and other documents; officials are considering posting those documents online, too. -- Dan Richardson