COMMISSIONER RANDY LEONARD'S BLOG

Randy In the News 11.30.11

KGW story about the long-anticipated variance approval for Portland's drinking water treatment plan.

Oregonian article about the variance approval.

 

State Signals Intent to Grant Portland LT2 Treatment Variance

PORTLAND OR—The Portland Water Bureau received notification from the Oregon Health Authority Drinking Water Program (OHA) that it intends to approve the city’s request for a variance to the treatment requirements of the Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule (LT2). The decision by OHA, pending public review, means the bureau will be able to avoid building an ultraviolet water treatment facility to comply with the rule, saving roughly $55 million in capital costs and approximately 4% in planned rate increases over the next three years.

“This is fantastic news and is testament to the quality of Portland’s water source and its drinking water utility,” said Water Bureau Administrator David G. Shaff. “Our detailed analysis demonstrated that the nature of the Bull Run source made additional treatment for Cryptosporidium unnecessary to protect public health.”

The Portland Water Bureau will be the first drinking water utility ever to receive a variance of this kind. The variance is a provision of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act that allows a utility to comply with drinking water regulations through alternative means.  “I am extremely proud of the monumental effort given by the men and women of the Portland Water Bureau to achieve this variance,” said Commissioner Randy Leonard, “Their expertise, commitment and perseverance has yielded an important success for Portlanders.”

In granting the variance request, OHA will require conditions for compliance which have not yet been analyzed by the city in detail, but which will include maintaining Portland’s existing watershed control and stewardship of the Bull Run and ongoing monitoring of the Bull Run water source for the pathogen Cryptosporidium. The federal Environmental Protection Agency will also have an opportunity to include conditions to Portland’s variance.  

Extensive testing of the Bull Run source over the last two years has yielded zero detections of Cryptosporidium. The pathogen has not been detected in the source in over a decade.

OHA will be conducting a public hearing is scheduled from 5-7 p.m. Dec. 14 in the Portland State Office Building, 800 N.E. Oregon St., Room 1B, to gather comments about the intent to grant the variance and its conditions.

The public comment period will close at 5 p.m. Jan. 3, 2012. After reviewing the comments a final order will be issued effective Jan. 31, 2012.

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Click here to read the release from Oregon Public Health announcing the decision.

Click here to read the complete "Intent to Grant Variance" document from the State of Oregon.

Water history reinforced

Today marks the release of "Water: Portland's Precious Heritage," a detailed chronicle of the world's best water.  Author Casey Short unveiled the second edition of Portland's water history today in a room full of water history enthusiasts. Commissioner Leonard wrote the forward to the book.  This Sunday will be an official book release event at the Oregon Historical Society.

Explosion Blows Out Windows in NW Portland Apartment Building

Portland Fire and Rescue responded to a reported explosion at 314 NW 5th Avenue at 8:10 p.m. Engine 1 (Old Town) arrived at 8:14 p.m. to find glass and window frame material thrown across the street and sidewalk. The heat from the explosion activated one sprinkler head inside the apartment. Engine 1 called for assistance from Truck 1 to help shutting down the sprinkler system and protecting the resident's valuables from water damage. The one female adult occupant, who was in the apartment at the time of the explosion, suffered slight burns to her hand. She was not transported to a hospital. The apartment is uninhabitable at this time and the American Red Cross was contacted to assist the apartment residents with a place to stay.

The cause of the explosion is undetermined at this time. The damage to the apartment building is approximately $15,000.00.　

Contact Info: PIO Lt. Rich Tyler 503-940-6003

 

Portland Fire and Rescue's Truck Crews Minimize Damage to the Interurban Tavern

 

Portland Fire and Rescue responded to reports of smoke inside the Interurban Tavern at 4057 N Mississippi Avenue at 9:54 this morning. When Portland Fire (Kenton) Station 8's truck and engine arrived at 10:00 a.m., they immediately noticed smoke coming from the roof vents. At 10:02 a.m., the Incident Commander asked for more firefighters to come help find and fight the fire they knew was burning somewhere in the building.

Firefighters entered the tavern with their hand-held thermal imaging camera and began searching for the fire. Firefighters could smell wood burning and they knew there was a fire somewhere hidden in the building. Truck 8's crew started punching or cutting holes in the walls where the thermal imaging camera was showing high heat while Engine 8's crew was hooking up their fire engine to a fire hydrant and dragging hose lines up to the second floor. Firefighters discovered that the fire had started in an outside wall of the building and traveled up through open spaces inside the wall to the attic where the fire grew bigger.

"When a fire is inside the walls of a building, it travels through the openings inside those walls and can spread quickly," said Portland Fire & Rescue Chief Robert Zavodsky.

The Incident Commander called for a 2nd alarm (additional firefighting crews) to assist in containing the fire and extinguishing it quickly. With the additional crews, they were able to stop the spread of the fire by 10:35 a.m. which enabled the Incident Commander to send most of the 2nd Alarm crews back to their areas within the city. However, two additional truck crews were kept on scene for a time to minimize the damage to the business. Fire crews did not leave the scene of the fire until 12:40 p.m.

PF&R's firefighting crews focus primarily on evacuating or rescuing residents. We don't want to have anyone hurt or injured by a fire. Our engine crews specifically focus on hooking up to hydrants, pulling hose lines to where the fire is located, and extinguishing the fire. Truck crews focus on opening up the interior of the building so that water can be sprayed onto the fire, cutting open the roof for ventilation and/or extinguishing the fire in the attic, and placing plastic over valuable contents to minimize water damage from fighting the fire.

"In this fire, the fire was in the walls and attic. Due to PF&R's truck crews opening up the right part of the wall and attic, engine crews were able to get water on the fire and stop it from spreading further and causing greater damage to the building," said Zavodsky.

Portland Fire investigators determined that the cause of the fire was electrical in nature.

The building and the contents in the building are valued at approximately $900,000 with a loss of approximately $100,000.

No one was hurt or injured by this fire.　

Contact Info: PIO Lt. Rich Tyler 503-940-6003

Toy N Joy Makers Need Your Help this Holiday Season!

Since 1914, Toy N Joy Makers has been providing toys for Portland children in need. It probably comes as no surprise that the need for donations - both toys and dollars - is urgent again this year.

Last December, toys were provided for 15,964 children - from almost 3,000 families - within Portland city limits. Dean Johnston, President of Toy N Joy Makers and Retired Portland Firefighter, expects that hundreds of additional families will ask for help this year.

Dependent solely on donations, Toy N Joy Makers will place collection boxes at each of the 30 Portland fire stations, community and holiday events.  Station locations can be accessed at http://www.portlandonline.com/fire/stations.

Citizens are encouraged to bring and drop off new and unused toys and sports equipment for kids of all ages at these collection boxes through December 23, 2011.  Donations can also be made at the Toy N Joy headquarters located at 5916 NE Going Street. 

Dollar donations are also appreciated, because Toy N Joy Makers can work directly with wholesalers to purchase toys at lower cost. Toy N Joy Makers is a charitable (501(c)(3)) organization, so donations are tax deductible. Fully 98 percent of donations go directly into providing toys for children; less than two percent goes to overhead.

Another way the public can contribute to Toy N Joy Makers is to volunteer. Toy N Joy Makers relies on volunteers to take calls from parents, input requests into the computer, restock shelves, and put orders together for pick up. The greatest need for volunteers is after Thanksgiving, Monday through Friday, up to the day before Christmas. People who want to volunteer should contact Toy N Joy Makers directly at info@toynjoymakers.org or 503-823-0922 during normal business hours.

Beginning November 21st, parents and legal guardians may request toys for children aged infant through age 13 by contacting the Toy N Joy Makers Client Request Line at 503-231-TOYS (8697). Requests for toys will ONLY be accepted through this number. This phone number experiences a high volume of calls during this time so callers should continue to call back often or early in the day.

For more information about the program, contact the Toy N Joy Makers by phone at 503-231-8697 or visit http://www.toynjoymakers.org/.

Contact Info: Contact Public Information Officer Paul Corah, (503) 940-6003.

Portland Fire & Rescue Responds to a 2nd Alarm Commercial Fire in SE Portland

At 3:19 pm yesterday, Portland firefighters responded to a commercial fire at 14439 SE Stark Street. Multiple 911 callers reported seeing flames shooting from the roof of the structure at that location. The business was reportedly used as a woodworking shop.

Firefighters from Portland's Mill Park Fire Station 7 arrived first on scene minutes later and began an aggressive fire attack alongside firefighters from Portland's Rockwood Fire Station 31.

Incident commanders called for a second alarm at 3:30 pm, bringing additional firefighters, apparatus and resources to the scene to help fight the growing blaze. Three minutes after calling for a second alarm, all firefighters were ordered to exit the building and take a defensive fire attack position after the building's roof began to sag.

Firefighters were able to knock down the main body of the fire from the exterior as the roof continued to fail in at least one-third of the building. At 3:38 pm, fire erupted through another portion of the roof, and truck crews worked quickly to vent holes and look for fire extensions, while engine crews used hand lines to fight the fire.

Incident commanders were concerned when one firefighter's low air alarm sounded, indicating he was running out of air in his self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). The firefighter was quickly located and incident commanders verified that he made it to safety.

Less than a minute later, it was determined that the roof was structurally failing and only the roof's membrane (rubber sheeting) was holding it up. The fire was brought under control at 4:20 pm.

"After the smoke began to clear, firefighters were surprised to find the remains of a very large and sophisticated marijuana grow operation," said Portland Fire and Rescue Public Information Officer Paul Corah. "The grow operation covered much of the 5,000 square foot warehouse."

Portland Police and ATF were called to the scene and the fire has been deemed suspicious in nature. The structure is being treated as a crime scene. Information on the fire's cause and a damage estimate is not available at this time.　

Contact Info: Portland Fire Public Information Officer Paul Corah, 503-940-6003 Portland Police Public Information Officer Sgt. Pete Simpson, 503-790-1779

Portland Fire & Rescue Extinguishes Bedroom Fire in an Upstairs Apartment

At 20:58 Saturday dispatchers received a report of a bedroom fire at 15512 SE Division Street. The first unit to arrive was a Fire Investigator who was only (4) blocks away at the time of dispatch, and was able to give a quick size-up and assessment of the incident for other responding units. Fire was visible from the upper floor apartment through the window and was quickly knocked down with an aggressive interior attack.

The investigator has determined the fire cause to be accidental, with estimated damages to the structure and contents to be approximately $20,000.00.

Interviews with witnesses revealed that the occupant had initially tried to extinguish the fire by herself, yelling for a neighbor to call 9-1-1. Portland Fire & Rescue reminds its citizens that fire doubles in size every 2 minutes, so every second counts. Fire and smoke conditions are unpredictable and can quickly overcome an individual without proper equipment. Please remember that it is safest to exit the structure and call 9-1-1 from a safe location.

Call taken- 20:58

Dispatched- 20:58

First Unit- 20:59

Recalled- 21:20

4 Engines, 2 Trucks, 2 Chief Officers and 2 Fire Investigators responded to this incident.　

Contact Info: PIO Tommy Schroeder

Media Pager: 503-940-6003

 

Driver Escorts Kids to Safety Before School Bus Erupts in Flames

At approximately 8:00 am, school bus driver Kay Brown was driving her normal route to drop off six students at Llewellyn Elementary School located at 5301 SE 14th Ave. On the way, Brown detected an odor of smoke coming from the engine compartment of the bus.

Concerned for the safety of her students, she immediately pulled the school bus over near the vicinity of SE 18th & SE Claybourne and began evacuating all six students and their backpacks. She safely escorted the students off the bus, called 9-1-1, and waited with them a block away from the smoking bus for firefighters to arrive.

Shortly after evacuating, the bus erupted in flames. When firefighters from Portland Fire (Woodstock) Station 25 arrived, they found that the school bus was fully involved in flames. They quickly put out the fire and checked to make sure the driver and students were safe.

It is unknown at this time what caused the fire and a Fire Investigator is currently on scene. Portland Fire & Rescue wishes to commend school bus driver Kay Brown for her quick actions in protecting the safety of the students entrusted to her care.　

Contact Info: PIO Paul Corah 503-940-6003

Randy In the News 11.16.11

Willamette Week article about Occupy Portland.