County studied for power lines: BPA considering two Grant corridors for 500 kV towers

Two routes that bisect Grant County are among four high-voltage transmission line corridors currently being considered in eastern Oregon by the Bonneville Power Administration, and both routes would suffer “high” environmental impacts if either corridor is constructed.

That is the assessment of a recently released draft environmental statement by BPA which is proposing to build two 500,000-volt (500 kV) transmission lines across the state and one 500 kV substation to deliver coal-fired electricity from the Jim Bridger plant in Wyoming to energy-starved southwestern Oregon.

One line would connect a substation near Brownlee Dam on the Snake River east of Baker to a substation near either Arlington or a substation near Madras. The other line would connect a new substation near Buckley, to a substation near Malin, southeast of Klamath Falls. There are four proposed east-west Brownlee corridors under study. One of two northern routes bypasses Baker and La Grande, following the general path of I-80N, toward Pendleton. The second choice, Brownlee-Slatt 2, heads in a westerly direction south of La Grande and passes the south of Pendleton. Both would terminate near the McNary Dam on the Columbia River, where BPA plans to tap into a proposed second powerhouse on the dam.

Atiyeh bill asks RARE II wilderness cut

Apparently determined to keep RARE II wilderness set-asides at a lower level, Gov. Vic Atiyeh launched an Oregon wilderness bill in Congress last week that would cut Forest Service recommendations by more than 80 percent in the state, according to the Sunday Oregonian.

Under the governor’s plan, Strawberry Mountain Wilderness Area RARE II recommendations on the Malheur National Forest would be cut from over 35,000 acres to about 13,000 acres. The Grant County Court and the Resources Council had lobbied earlier for a 13,000-acre addition, and more recently re-emphasized its position for the smaller addition in a February letter to Salem.

Under Atiyeh’s proposal the set-aside wilderness acreage in Oregon would be reduced from 368,000 acres to 61,213 acres, which reportedly met with timber industry approval.

According to the Oregonian the Atiyeh wilderness plan is the result of recommendations from two groups, in addition to the governor’s own ideas. A group combining timber industry, organized labor, mining and recreation interests, including four-wheel drive clubs, recommended the cuts to Atiyeh. The state Department of Forestry also recommended the plan. The Strawberry Wilderness Area encompasses 33,000 acres presently, with the additional 35,296 acres as RARE II recommendations from the Forest Service.

Atiyeh said, in proposing the cuts, that nearly 67 percent of the response in Oregon favored non-wilderness uses for inventoried roadless areas. According to the Oregonian story, Congress was going to act on former Gov. Bob Straub’s recommendations, which favored an increase in wilderness areas.

Under Atiyeh’s plan the following wilderness areas are recommended for Oregon: Mount Washington, 6,443 acres; Odell area in Malheur County, 8,300 acres; Sisters Wilderness, 27,200 acres; Gearhart Mountain, 4,114 acres; Strawberry, 13,000 acres; Lick Creek in the Wallowas, 2,156 acres. Total acreage is 61,213.

Sewer project begins after 11-year wait: final paperwork done this week

As the bulldozers line up to begin ground clearing, the final step in an 11-year effort to upgrade Mt. Vernon’s waste disposal system is underway. Mt. Vernon, population 530, will hook into its first sewer lines by September, at a cost of nearly $1.15 million.

Recognized as a problem by town fathers as far back as 1968, Mt. Vernon joins towns in the county that have eliminated septic tank systems within city limits. With the bulk of the project funded through several federal agencies in the form of grants, Mt. Vernon residents voted to bond for a $400,000 maximum level over two years ago.

Oregon East Engineering of Mt. Vernon began initial planning of the system in 1976 and was later joined by Anderson-Perry & Associates of La Grande, which completed the design and pre-construction work. Shunn Construction of Ontario was low bidder among six and was awarded the contract recently at a quantitative bid of $886,667.10, based on actual use of materials.

Keith Olson, engineer with Anderson-Perry, said this week that final Farmers Home Administration (FmHA) approval on recently sold bank notes is all that is preventing full-scale construction from starting. FmHA has agreed to finance the bonds from the city, in addition to supplying a $139,300 grant and a $318,000 loan, which will be used for interim financing of the city’s bonds.

The proposed four-cell lagoon sewer system includes complete construction of 17,500 feet of eight-inch gravity sewers; 4,000 feet of four-inch service lines; about 60 manholes; three stream crossings; a pump station; and the lagoons, which will be constructed near the confluence of Beech Creek and the John Day River.

An additional $600,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency was given to the city for the project. All EPA, Department of Environmental Quality and health permits have been issued on the design and construction of the project, Olson said.

The EPA grants are used to finance 75 percent of the project, Olson said, including the facilities study and design costs, along with actual construction of the lagoons and interceptors. The city will be responsible for smaller lines and hook-up fees, which will amount to about $44,000 in addition to the bond amounts.

The system, when completed, will be able to handle a growth in Mt. Vernon to 1,000 people, twice the town’s present size.

Unlike its neighbor Prairie City, which is having an unusually difficult time getting needed EPA funds to construct its sewer system, Mt. Vernon appears ready to go full speed when the final FmHA documents are approved.

Halfway House can help, but alcoholic must first face tough realization

Recovered alcoholics will tell you they had to experience a “moment of truth” — a realization that their drinking was a problem — before they could get and stay sober.

The moment could come in a flash after waking up in a driveway and discovering a mysterious dent in the car’s fender or it could come more slowly, over time, as pieces of life — family, job, friends, health — fall away out of the alcoholic fog.

But the moment has to come in some form before a problem drinker can eventually regain control of his life.

The Halfway House at 166 SW Brent in John Day — part of Grant County’s mental health program — deals in several ways with and at several stages of the “moment of truth” for alcoholics.

The house provides a live-in treatment program for alcoholics and/or drug addicts who have either decided to seek help voluntarily or have been committed to the program by a judge.

It also runs an extensive “outpatient” program of counseling and preventive education.

the residence program tries to support the problem drinkers’ efforts to shrug the bottle and embrace society — it is not easy.

“We don’t get people here who never drink again,” said Ellen Krieger, Halfway House director. “Most do not become sober in a few weeks — it’s taken them a long time to get where they are. We’re asking them to tally rebuild their lives.”

Treatment for a hard-core alcoholic often begins in a detoxification center in Burns or Baker where he receives medical treatment and spends time simply “drying out.” Because Baker does not have a halfway house, an exchange program has been set up between the two counties’ programs.

Upon entering the Halfway House in John Day, a resident stays in the house for at least five days or is accompanied by a staff member on trips outside the house during that period.

Then a resident starts regularly taking Antabuse, a trade name for the drug disulfiram which has no effect on the body until alcohol is consumed. Antabuse impedes the breakdown of alcohol in the liver, causing extreme nausea when alcohol is present.

Residents participate in group meetings twice a week for the duration of their stay.

Residents also clean and maintain the big, white house and the yard around it. There is a hobby and repair shop behind the house.

“We also try to get them involved in recreation,” added Jim Moeller, house manager. “But there is a resistance to activity. It’s much easier to sit here and count the days. They have a hard time having fun. Our society reaches that up to 12 (years old), play and fun are okay, but after that you’re supposed to work. For them recreation has always involved drinking. We try to teach them how to play, have fun without liquor.”

The house currently has five residents, although it can serve as many as eight at once. They are mostly in their 40s or 50s and all are men.

“There is more of a pushing toward coming here for men, Moeller said. “Men are more involved with drinking while driving, on the job and in trouble with the law. And our society sees a woman drunk as worse than a man drunk.”

“It’s cool for a male to drink in our society — it’s considered part of becoming a man. Women are more closet drinkers and others are helping them hide it,” added Marjorie Cole, education coordinator for the program.

“It’s a real problem in this county,” she said. “So many women are reluctant to come, especially if they’re getting abused at home. And if a woman is drinking, it affects the children more than a man drinking.”

Residents also come from every kind of background, Krieger said. “Some are college graduates, have had good jobs and had all the middle-class material things. Others haven’t.” Residents wished not to be interviewed.

Grant County began attacking the alcoholism problem four years ago when it purchased the Halfway House as an extension of the mental health program.