DOE staffers will attend second public

Staff members from the state Department of Ecology will attend a second meeting in Colfax on Feb. 13.

Whitman Conservation District chairman Walter Riley confirmed that DOE will attend at 3 p.m., immediately following the conservation district’s meeting at 1 p.m. at the county’s Public Service Building.

Riley said the DOE staff will follow up with answers to questions brought up at the last meeting held in December.

Farmers and livestock producers crowded the Public Service Building auditorium Dec. 12. Because so many landowners were upset by DOE letters they had received, the conservation district invited DOE staff to attend the meeting. Four DOE officials attended.

After a 45-minute DOE presentation, attendees Dec. 12 had about an hour to ask questions and make comments.

DOE has worked with more than 100 producers in eastern Washington addressing potential ongoing pollution sources and working with conservation districts. The agency sent out 30 letters about the assessments and noncompliance.

Conservation board members voiced their frustration, saying even though the DOE meant to collaborate with the board, they did not. Even though assessments were done in the spring, letters to producers were mailed in August, one of the busiest times of year for area farmers.

Producers also questioned assessment recommendations of certain types of trees along creeks that run through the areas in the southern end of the conservation district.

Several meeting attendants also mentioned using common sense as DOE recommends rebuilding native plants. Of the 52 sites assessed in the district, 51 mention having woody riparian along the streams.

Although DOE staff said they would evaluate conditions once or twice a year, they also recommended that producers do their own tests and take photos to share with DOE.