Unless something is done, “we face the very real risk of losing the qualities that make Oregon a very special place to live,” Kitzhaber told about 100 members of the Willamette Valley Livability Forum in announcing his initiative. Oregonians, he added, “feel we are losing something today that is very precious. We’re losing our sense of place.”

Kitzhaber will ask the Legislature to allocate $30 million in new money over the next two years to help pay for the program, which would offer financial incentives aimed at encouraging developers to build in downtown areas rather than along commercial strips at the edges of towns. Most of the $140 million, however, would come from reallocating money from existing lottery revenues, gas taxes and state bonds. About $10 million of the new money would be added to the $4 million in existing funds to further develop a high-speed rail line in the Willamette Valley. The money would help improve tracks to reduce the commute time to two hours, provide service twice a day and set up connecting bus routes to cities without train stops.

With Oregon’s population expected to grow by another 700,000 in the next 20 years, the state needs to “manage that growth in a way that allows us to prosper, yet “does not leave behind the environment and the quality of life that has defined Oregon for generations,” said Kitzhaber, who is seeking a second term in Tuesday’s general election.

His opponent, Republican Bill Sizemore, said the initiative “demonstrates that John Kitzhaber’s urban growth boundary policy is a failure, because he feels he has to bribe people to live inside it. I would rather give that money back to the taxpayers so they can afford to live wherever they choose,”

At a news conference Thursday Kitzhaber’s initiative was backed by a wide range of interest groups that have often been at odds on land use issues: Homebuilders, environmentalists, the League of Oregon Cities and the state’s premier and use watchdog group, 1000 Friends of Oregon. “We’re enthusiastically supportive of this vision,” said Jim Irvine of Portland, past president of the National Association of Homebuilders. “We want to have livable communities and affordable communities. This initiative does that.”

For instance, the governor wants to earmark $10 million for a housing trust fund to encourage construction of affordable housing. In addition, developers would be offered financial incentives to build in downtown areas. Kitzhaber said commercial strips that have cropped up along many state highways are creating congestion that’s at or near an intolerable stage. Constructing bypasses around them, he added, is costly and is “gradually eroding Oregon’s quality of life.” The state spent $100 million building a bypass in Bend because of congestion on Highway 97 and along other throughways, for example. The governor also cited the new Fred Meyer store north of Florence as a project that will increase congestion along Highway 101.

Kitzhaber also warned that Oregon’s landmark land use law is in danger. Increasing conflicts and polarization over growth issues are causing a “fraying” of the broad coalition that crafted the nation’s first statewide land use law in 1973. The coalition has fended off numerous attacks on the law, but is no longer adequately dealing with growth issues, Kitzhaber said.

Some of Kitzhaber’s proposals are innovative and some are intentionally vague because they have to be developed on a case-by-case basis, said Greg Wolf, the governor’s growth-management adviser. One idea is to offer “location-efficient mortgages” for homeowners living near light-rail or other mass transit lines. They would qualify for larger mortgages on grounds that less of their income is going to pay for a car.

10/20/98 - EPA Investigates Sewage Spills -- A former employee reported the city of Florence didn’t maintain records and report all spills of improperly treated sewage into the Siuslaw River. 

An Environmental Protection Agency enforcement team served the federal court warrant on Oct. 13 at the city’s sewage treatment plant and Public Works office and interviewed Public Works Director Ken Lanfear and other employees about the allegations.

According to the affidavit written by Daniel Sekerak, a special agent with the EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division, the employee, who was not identified in the warrant affidavit, said treatment plant supervisor Rick Mumpower failed to report the sewage spills into the river.

The warrant charges the city and Mumpower violated the Clean Water Act by discharging sewage levels into the river that violated its permit with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, failed to report bypasses of improperly treated sewage, made false discharge monitoring reports and failed to maintain records of discharges.

In the affidavit, Sekerak said he was given information by the former employee that the city failed to report sewage discharges on 10 separate occasions between August 1995 and February 1997. “(He) told me that Mr. Mumpower did not report all of the bypasses/overflows to the DEQ,” Sekerak wrote. “(He) explained that fecal samples are taken as the normal procedure when an overflow, bypass, or spill has occurred if it was going to be reported. However, on a number of occasions, samples were not taken.” The former employee also said he made copies of log books from March 1995 to March 1997 prior to leaving employment with the city, then returned the originals to the treatment plant.

Although the enforcement team seized some records at the plant, others they wanted were being used in a federal court hearing in Eugene. The Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition is asking the court to stop any new sewer hookups in Florence until the city can complete a new sewage treatment plant scheduled for October 2000.

The city is on a timeline with DEQ to build the new plant, and during that time, DEQ allows the city to exceed those normal treatment levels as long as it continues to meet deadlines for the construction of the new plant.

Former treatment plant employee Larry White testified last week in the Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition case against the city that he made copies of the logs. Lanfear confirmed Monday that White is the only former treatment plant employee who worked at the plant from August 1995 to February 1997. Sekerak said in the affidavit that the DEQ has no records of reported sewage bypasses on the 10 alleged occasions.

Lanfear said if the city had an upset in its treatment process but did not exceed its permit with DEQ for bypasses, the upset was not reported. He said daily monitoring reports were made to the DEQ and the employees kept an informal log on a spiral-bound tablet to let other employees from different shifts know how the day’s operations were going. He added that the unofficial log also contained messages such as happy birthday wishes form one employee to another. The Public Works director said part of the log that White copied is now missing. “This has become the main point on (of) contention,” Lanfear said.

According to information contained in the affidavit, violations of this kind are punishable by fines of $5,000 to $50,000 per day for each violation and up; to three years in jail. The warrant gives the EPA until Oct. 29 to complete its search of the department.

Lanfear said EPA officials questioned employees on Monday afternoon and were expected to continue the questioning today. Lanfear said none of the treatment plant employees did anything wrong. “The allegations are exactly what they are, somebody saying something,” he said. Source: The World Newspaper, Coos Bay, October 20, 1998, by Paul Noel.

Also See: EPA Affidavit for Search Warrant, Sewage Spills in Florence and Excerpts from Federal Court files.

Agents from the Environmental Protection agency’s criminal investigation division served a search warrant at the plant last Tuesday and took documents from two logs. Investigators also seized time sheets of one of the plant operators.

Don Sims, the agent in charge of the division who was in Florence on Monday, said he could not comment specifically on the investigation. Sims said, however, that cases involving violations of the federal Clean Water Act can lead to criminal charges against cities and responsible officials. Federal code specifies that persons guilty of violating the act face maximum penalties of $50,000 per day of violation and imprisonment for three years.

The search warrant affidavit states that an unnamed former employee of the treatment plant provided agents with copies of an operators log book documenting 10 unreported spills and bypasses between August 1995 and February 1997. By law, such spills must be reported to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.

The affidavit further alleges that the former employee told investigators that Rick Mumpower, the plant supervisor who is responsible for reporting such incidents, vowed to “get rid of the log book if something came down.” Mumpower denied the allegations Monday. “There’s a credibility issue with that employee,” he said. He declined to provide a detailed rebuttal, except to say that he had already heard the allegations in court, and that he is certain that evidence in the EPA case will lead to a different conclusion.

The court case to which Mumpower referred is a civil lawsuit filed against the city by a coastal environmental group, the Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition. The lawsuit hinges on 184 reported violations of the Clean Water Act dating back to 1994.

A single spill or bypass normally results in multiple violations. City officials have said the violations stem from perhaps two dozen incidents, most resulting from heavy rain when stormwater enters the sewage system.

Last week, Oregon Shores asked federal Magistrate Tom Coffin for an injunction against future sewage hookups until the city of Florence brings a new treatment plant on line. The $13 million facility is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2000. Coffin is expected to rule soon.

Florence City Manager Ken Hobson said a former sewage treatment plant operator, Larry White, gave testimony much like that outline din the search warrant. Hobson said he is unsure how much credence to give to allegations of not reporting spills, but he said he takes the charges seriously and will cooperate with the EPA investigation. “I don’t know what to think of it. It is certainly disturbing on its face,” Hobson said. An internal city investigation is needed, Hobson said, but for now, no action will be taken against Mumpower or any other city employee.

Hobson said that to his knowledge, the original pages for that period are missing, and copies surfaced during the court proceeding. Copies of the missing pages apparently show incidents that should have been reported but were not, he said. “It certainly prompts me to want to have this thoroughly checked out,” Hobson said.

The Florence allegations follow criminal violations of the Clean Water Act in Waldport. In June, Waldport’s mayor pleaded guilty on behalf of the city to a misdemeanor violation related to a spill caused by an unqualified operator who temporarily ran the plant in 1996. Under a plea agreement, the city paid a $2,500 fine and committed to a $50,000 upgrade of its sewage treatment plant. Waldport’s public works superintendent, Jack Nelson, was also charged with one count of violating the act and is scheduled for a Dec. 9 criminal trial in U.S. District Court. Source: The Register Guard, October 20, 1998, by Larry Bacon.

Also See: EPA Affidavit for Search Warrant, Sewage Spills in Florence and Excerpts from Federal Court files.

According to Florence Public Works Director Ken Lanfear, an EPA enforcement team served the warrant at the treatment plant and Public Works office and talked with him and other employees about allegations of unreported discharges of improperly treated sewage into the Siuslaw River.

He said the enforcement team seized some records from the plant. Other records requested were in Eugene being used in a federal court hearing. The Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition is requesting a moratorium on new sewer hookups until the city can complete a new sewage treatment plant in the fall of 2000.

Discharges of raw or partially treated sewage have spilled into the Siuslaw River because of overflows and bypasses at the treatment plant. The city is on a time line with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to build the new plant, and during that time, DEQ allows the city to exceed those normal treatment levels as long as it continues to meet deadlines for the construction of the new plant.

However, allegations have been made to the EPA that the city has not reported some discharges to DEQ, which sparked the investigation. EPA officials would not comment on the investigation, saying only the search warrant has been filed in Federal District Court in Portland. (Also See: EPA Affidavit for Search Warrant)

Court records show the EPA enforcement team seized binders, time sheets and other records from the city. Lanfear said five EPA investigators served the warrant at about 8 a.m. and left the plant at about 4 p.m. He added that the EPA would not disclose who made the allegations against the city.

Charlie Tebbutt, an attorney representing Oregon Shores Coalition, said the incident is separate from the Coalition’s case against the city. “Only the facts may overlap,” he said.

Meanwhile, city officials reported to police Thursday they suspected someone dumped a caustic substance in the sewer sometime between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Plant Supervisor Rick Mumpower reported to police that (the) plant experienced sewage treatment difficulties. They suspected a substance that was killing the microorganisms that break down the sewage. A similar incident occurred earlier this summer when an alkaline material was reportedly dumped into the sewer and brought on a partial failure in the treatment plant by causing an upset in the treatment process. The incident allowed partially-treated sewage to bypass the full treatment process.

Plant officials said Friday that tests on the sewage that bypassed were being conducted to see if the waste water exceeded DEQ requirements. Source: The World Newspaper, Coos Bay, October 17, 1998, by Paul Noel.

This memo is a follow-up to the verbal report of 10-13-98.

On 10-13-98, an EPA enforcement team visited the treatment plant and Public Works office, and talked to myself and wastewater treatment personnel regarding allegations of unreported discharges.

The EPA personnel stated that this was an early stage information gathering visit, and that they could not disclose the source of the allegations. Source: City of Florence Public Records.

Also See: CFF Sewage Treatment Plant Page

The Coalition is asking for a moratorium until the city completes construction on a new sewage treatment plant scheduled to be finished in the fall of 2000.

The civil complaint was filed last October under the federal Clean Water Act, charging the city violated the act by allowing raw and partially treated sewage to spill into the Siuslaw River. The suit claims the city violated federal and state laws more than 175 times since 1994.

The Coalition called several witnesses to the stand during the two days of testimony, including Don Douglas, owner of the Raindrop Factory in Florence and the treasurer and past president of the Merchants of Old Town Association.

Douglas said the goal of the Merchants Association is to attract tourists to the area, and he worries the spills in the Siuslaw River will hurt tourism. “I think if tourists knew it was polluted, they would not be attracted to spending time in Old Town,” he said.

Treatment plant operator Tom Cannon said although the plant is old and outdated, “it’s still doing pretty good.” Cannon said the spills into the river occur mostly when rain water seeps into lines, causing the plant to fill beyond capacity in the winter, when workers aren’t able to haul away the sludge left over after the wastewater is treated as often as (they) do during the summer. The sludge is applied to open areas under a permit with the state Department of Environmental Quality. Previous areas used were sloped and could not be used as often during the rainy season, Cannon said, but the city now uses a different area 10 miles northeast of Siletz where weather conditions do not pose a concern. “As long as we can remove sludge, the risk of a bypass decreases,” Cannon said.

Jack Smith, a research and project engineer hired by the Coalition as an expert witness, testified that the primary health concern of sewage spills were to people who eat the shellfish. He said he wouldn’t eat clams harvested from the Siuslaw River because, as a tourist, he wouldn’t know when spills occurred. But on cross examination, Smith said he did not know the location of recreational shellfish beds in the Siuslaw or if anyone had ever been harmed from tainted mollusks from the river.

Although the city is currently replacing leaky sewer lines that will greatly cut down on the rain water entering the treatment plant, Smith said adding more hookups before the new plant is built will offset any improvements. “If you take action to cause the excesses to be fewer, but you take another action to add to the flow, you will make an already unacceptable situation even worse,” he said.

The city is expected to present its side of the case to the court today. Neither side expects a decision from the judge for at least a week. Source: The World Newspaper, Coos Bay, October 16, 1998, by Paul Noel.

Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition filed a civil complaint last October under the federal Clean Water Act against the city, alleging it allowed raw and partially treated sewage to seep into the Siuslaw River. The suit claims the city violated federal and state laws more than 175 times since 1994. The Coalition filed a motion for summary judgment on Aug. 14, asking the city be held liable for the violations, requesting a moratorium retroactive to June 1997 when the coalition notified the city of its intention to file a suit for violations of the Clean Water Act.

Florence City Manager Ken Hobson said the city will argue that a moratorium is not necessary because the city is already on a timeline with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to build a new sewer treatment plant. The DEQ allows the city to exceed state standards for dumping treated sewage into the river until the new plant is completed in June 2000. Hobson said most spills occur when rain water seeps into the aging lines and fills the treatment plant beyond its capacity.

But Charlie Tebbutt, an attorney with Western Environmental Law Center’s office in Eugene representing the Coalition, said an agreement with DEQ isn’t enough to protect the environment. “Until public facilities are able to handle public waste, adding more waste should not be allowed,” Tebbutt said. A decision isn’t expected for at least two weeks. Source: The World Newspaper, Coos Bay, October 14, 1998, by Paul Noel. 

Also see: Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition Article, Excerpts from Federal Court files, and Sewage Spills in Florence

Anthony and Bonnie Catalan are seeking $381,000 for the lost value of their town house and its lot, located 10 feet from the crest of the dune. Their lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Multnomah County Circuit Court, said their home has become “structurally unstable and uninhabitable.” The face of the dune began eroding during storms last winter, leaving some of the pricey homes teetering on the brink. State land use laws blocked homeowners plans for a rock wall to shore up the dune.

David J. Buono, their attorney, said that for various reasons the Catalans, along with perhaps a dozen other owners in the development, did not joint the group lawsuit filed by most of the 103 property owners last August. That lawsuit asks for as much as $72 million in damages from the developers and others. Source: The World Newspaper, October 16, 1998, (AP).

The city pleaded guilty in June to violating the conditions of its permit to discharge pollutants into Alsea Bay. In court documents, the city acknowledged that in the spring of 1996, the city's main plant operator went on medical leave. Her boss, the Waldport Public Works Superintendent, decided to run the plant himself. Court papers state that he did not have the ability to competently operate the plant and essentially ignored it for two weeks.

Because of this, the plant went septic and its effluent, which flowed into the bay, was polluted with high levels of fecal coliform bacteria, posing a threat to humans and shellfish. Source: Coos Bay World, September 30, 1998 (AP).

10/5/98 - City of Florence Admits Liability For Clean Water Act Violations - Link to: Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition Article

Citizens For Florence, a local group that has expressed concern over the city’s rapid development, appealed the design review approval to the LUBA in July.

The group is questioning whether the city’s sewage treatment plant has the capacity to handle the increased load from the store, if the stormwater collection system could handle a 100-year rainfall event and what effect the system would have on drinking water wells the city has considered digging in the area in the future.

Eugene attorney William Sherlock, who is representing the citizens’ group, said the board will make its decision from information already part of the record from previous public meetings. He said Wednesday he doesn’t expect a decision from LUBA for at least two months. Source: Coos Bay World, October 8, 1998.

Also see: CFF Fred Meyer Page