PENDLETON — Demolition of the burned-out Pendleton flour mill got underway in earnest as crews from NorthStar Demolition and Remediation Inc. started to take down the building at 7 a.m. Dec. 13.

“The whole thing is going to take a couple of weeks,” explained Lou Hannemann, senior operations officer with NorthStar and site manager for the flour mill demolition.

The city of Pendleton announced the closure of Southwest Emigrant Avenue between Fourth and Sixth streets from Dec. 12 to Jan. 2 due to the demolition.

As part of the structure dismantling, NorthStar is using a specialty concrete demolition crane that uses a set of hydraulic-powered pincers to “pinch” the concrete and dump it into ready-positioned dumpsters below. Operation of such a device requires two large cranes, Hannemann explained — one conducts the demolition while the other supports it by holding up long hydraulic cables that provide power for the demolition.

“The pincher turns the concrete to gravel and then keeps pinching,” Hannemann said.

Residents deal with the fallout

A fire in early August destroyed much of the Pendleton flour mill, and residents living near the mill have dealt with the fallout since. Loud bangs from falling debris have been common, and while some residents said the constant smell of smoke has been a nuisance, most didn’t express discontent with the situation.

“It hasn’t affected me at all,” said Angela Davis, who lives on Southeast Sixth Street across the street from the mill. “Other than the piece of metal that fell in my yard during the fire, it hasn’t affected us.”

Mike Lapp owns and operates Lapp’s Auto Body Repair Inc. across Southeast Frazer Avenue from the mill. He said although he suffers from asthma and severe allergies, the charred mill has not been disruptive to his day-to-day life and comfort.

“I’ve been dealing with allergies all year,” he said. “I don’t think it has anything to do with the fire, though people have complained about the smell. I have a terrible sense of smell, so it doesn’t bother me.”

Pendleton Fire Chief Jim Critchley said he does not have concerns about possible respiratory issues from the mill.

“I know it smells. I wish it wouldn’t smell like it does,” he said. “It bothers me every day when I drive by, and I feel sorry for the people that live right next to the fire.”

Critchley said the city and NorthStar Demolition have cooperated to ensure the building could be brought down safely and without presenting a danger to residents.

“There are blue boxes on the fence around the mill. Those little blue boxes are sensors,” he explained. “The demolition company has paid for a third-party evaluator to collect data of all the airborne (particles) or gases that would come off of that site, evaluate that data and report back to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.”

So far, he said, there was one hit for asbestos.

“It never left the site,” Critchley said. “The demolition crew and the business are doing a great job to limit the issues.”

And while there are many respiratory issues going around the city, he said, the mill site is not one of them.