CAPITAL PRESS AND LA GRANDE OBSERVER INTERVIEWS WITH GEORGE VENN
February 6, 2006 and February 8, 2006
Introduction
Lee Ferren of Ukiah, Oregon, a freelance reporter for the Capital Press in Salem, and Mardi Ford, a reporter for The Observer of La Grande were both writing stories about the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s 1010 compliance process, using Fred Hawkins, a Union County rancher, as an example. The following text merges the results of their separate interviews (Ferren on 2/5/06, Ford on 2/8/06) with George Venn, who provided both journalists with the following written answers to their written questions.
__________________________________________________________________
Lee Ferren: How should I describe you if I quote you in the story ?
George Venn: I moved to Union County in 1970 to teach at Eastern Oregon University–writing, Western American literature, humanities, Native American literature, and other courses. From 1973 to 1977, I served as chair for The Committee for Catherine Creek, which successfully exposed the flaws– environmental, economic, and ecological–in the Corp of Engineers’ Catherine Creek Dam plans and–along with the Umatilla tribes–stopped the project. I’ve also served on the Mt. Emily Food Cooperative board of directors(1974-76), the Union County Overall Economic Development Committee’s Agriculture Subcommittee (1977). In 1978, I supervised the Youth Solar Water Heater Project for the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act Program. I’ve testified at hearings on behalf of wilderness, free-flowing streams, against nuclear power, for water quality, for in-stream flows, etc. As a published writer, I’m also a noted lecturer, keynote speaker, workshop coordinator, manuscript reviewer, editor, grant writer, literary competition judge and juror, and coordinator for various educational and arts organizations throughout the Pacific Northwest. During my career, I’ve received local, regional, and national awards for writing, editing, and teaching. In 2002, I retired from Eastern to write full-time.
Lee Ferren: Do you have a background in ranching or farming or natural resources that would inform your response to this matter?
George Venn: My grandfather was a migratory commercial beekeeper in Washington. For three months every summer while I was growing up, I lived on a farm, milked goats, fed sheep, cut firewood, bucked bales, and worked in the family apiary. Beekeeping introduced me to the complexities of ecological process, acute observation of nature, and the difficulty of an ancient agricultural practice. During college, I worked every summer in logging and lumbering for the University of Washington Pack Demonstration Forest and for Forest Service road contractors. Since the 1970's, I’ve spent many hours walking the surrounding forest and wilderness, boating, swimming, and fishing in local streams, and reading extensively in the studies published about the Grande Ronde watershed by the Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Forest Service, and many Oregon agencies.
Mardi Ford: In your Capital Press interview, you said, “For three months every summer while I was growing up, I lived on a farm, milked goats, fed sheep, cut firewood, bucked bales, and worked in the family apiary.” Did you enjoy these activities?
George Venn: Sometimes yes, sometimes no, sometimes maybe. You load five tons of honey by hand all day–completely clothed in 100 degree heat and surrounded by angry bees–you don’t think much of enjoyment. You think of not getting stung, of helping your grandparents because they love you, of diving into the cool lake and never coming up.
Mardi Ford: Would you say this experience is also what gave you your obvious love for the land?
George Venn: To avoid mere abstraction here, I’d suggest that you go the library and check out and read my books, or, better yet, go the bookstore and buy them: Sunday Afternoon: Grande Ronde (1975), Off the Main Road (1978), Marking the Magic Circle (1987), West of Paradise (1999). They all explore this “love of the land” in some way.
Mardi Ford: What do you mean by ancient agricultural practice? Specifically beekeeping? Or do you view the entire spectrum of agricultural practices as ancient art?
George Venn: In that context, I referred specifically and only to beekeeping. Unlike beekeeping, industrialized agriculture can and often does regularly ignore the long term stability, diversity, and integrity of ecosystems.
Lee Ferren: I understand you were kayaking on Catherine Creek last April.
George Venn: On Sunday, April 10, 2005, I took a kayak trip down a reach of Catherine Creek that runs from the bridge on Wilkinson Road to the bridge on Gekeler Lane.
Mardi Ford: Mr. Venn, in your Capital Press interview, you said, “down a reach of Catherine Creek that runs from the bridge on Wilkinson Road to the bridge on Gekeler Lane.” About how far would you say that is?
George Venn: Around seven miles.
Mardi Ford: How long did it take you?
George Venn: Most of the afternoon.
Lee Ferren: Had you been down Catherine Creek before?
George Venn: Many times over the years. In my old canoe, I took both my family and friends down that reach. It’s slow safe easy water–full of silence, wild birds, beaver, muskrat, deer, ducks. No one else around. On other trips, I paddled the entire Old Grande Ronde channel, the entire State Ditch, the Grande Ronde from Imbler to Rinehart to Indian Creek. Last year, I made four kayak trips on Catherine Creek and the Grande Ronde. In my most recent book, West of Paradise (1999), I published a poem about taking my children on one of those canoe trips. In 1988, I gave a public lecture at Eastern Oregon University. Titled “The River and the Ditch: Grande Ronde Valley in Symbol and Myth,” this was requested by the Northeast Oregon Natural History Society.
Lee Ferren: What were you doing on Catherine Creek?
George Venn: One of the best moments between the Wilkinson and Red Pepper Lane bridges is seeing the heronry. Remaining quiet and motionless, it’s possible to float beneath the bare willows, look up, and see innumerable great blue herons nesting, staring, standing, flying. On April 10, 2005, my notes show that I counted and/or photographed 56 nesting pairs. These amazing birds have a major, inaccessible, unprotected, and ancient home on Catherine Creek. From those nests, they feed on the millions of voles and mice throughout the valley. In my most recent book, West of Paradise (1999), I addressed a poem to one of them, “For My Friend from the Catherine Creek Heronry.”
Lee Ferren: Were you alone?
George Venn: No. A friend of mine loaned me a kayak. We made it a day-trip– picnic, photos, notes, etc. Boating is always safer with two people.
Mardi Ford: What time of day was it when you reached this area?
George Venn: Around noon, as I recall.
Lee Ferren: Could you describe what you saw?
George Venn: Bright sun, blue sky, no wind–a spectacular day. Warm day– sweatshirts were all we needed. As always, Catherine Creek’s easy water carried us north, then after the creek meandered east, the heronry appeared mostly on the north bank. We passed the herons, their nests of sticks like knots in the bare willows. We took pictures, then proceeded east–toward Mt. Fanny splotched with snow. Then, my notes say: “Cattle destroying the riparian zone.” All along the south bank, Angus and Hereford were standing in the water, trampling the mud bank, staring at us. Willows that had always before lined the south bank had been chewed down to a few–widely-spaced, trampled. Along the south and some of the north bank, the grass had become solid mud and dung. Erosion was obvious. Some dead cattle rotted on the banks. The stench of manure was thick. The green water turned dark with sediment. It looked like someone had used the pastures along Catherine Creek as a feed lot all winter.
Mardi Ford: Since you had cameras and were taking photos, did you get photos of the rotting carcasses and the riparian damage? Or did your friend? If so, I would love to have copies and you permission to print them. If not, why not?
George Venn: My friend had a small digital camera with only a small memory card. Since we came to the heronry first, and since there were so many great opportunities to photographs herons, my friend used up all the small camera memory. So, when we floated further downstream and came to that mile or more of riparian damage– grass banks trampled to mud, willows destroyed, broken, and chewed off, manure-filled wallows, rotting carcasses on the banks, stinking polluted water–we had no film left. In all the years of floating Catherine Creek, I’d never seen anything like this destruction.
Mardi Ford: Is your friend willing to be interviewed as well? That would really strengthen your story, if there are no pictures.
George Venn: My friend prefers to remain anonymous. You should be able to confirm the “strength of my story” easily enough. Just call Owen Kropf of Cove, the on-site manager. He saw it all. And find out the name of the Soil and Water Conservation District staff who met with Mr. Kropf on site on April 21. At that meeting, they both observed everything I saw and learned that Kropf was feeding 2,000 cows on the site–all with unimpeded access to the riparian zone along both sides of Catherine Creek. If you don't get statements from these eye witnesses, the strength of your story will be in doubt.
Lee Ferren: What did you think about what you saw?
George Venn: At first, I was just dumbfounded. How could this be? All the agencies –state, federal, and local–have been promoting riparian zone preservation, restoration, and protection for years. I thought of the frequent stories in the local press about the successful collaborations among the tribes, state and federal agencies, and private landowners. The salmon runs in the Grande Ronde had been declared threatened and endangered. I knew the Catherine Creek runs were now in danger of extinction. Something’s gone wrong here, I thought. Maybe somebody thinks this kind of destruction is still legal? Maybe because it can’t be seen from the road, it’s acceptable?
Lee Ferren: What did you do about what you saw ?
George Venn: At home, I got out my wall-sized map sent me by the Bureau of Reclamation that showed ownerships in the Grande Ronde Valley. I found the landowners’ names and the range and township numbers. According to my records, I then made the following calls:
The next morning, Monday, April 11, I called the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife office and reported what I’d seen to Bruce Eddy. “Landowners have been told,” he said, “There’s nothing I can do to stop it.”
The same morning, April 11, I called the NOAA Fisheries office listed for La Grande. A woman named Beth answered, said I should call Eric Murray, the biologist and the law enforcement unit, so I did. I told him what I had seen.
Mardi Ford: What was Mr. Murray's response?
George Venn: If I recall correctly, Beth gave me Eric Murray’s phone number and my notes don’t record his exact response except that I wrote down, “Law Enforcement” and the number “503-231-6340.” So, it’s likely that Murray gave me that number and suggested I call.
On April 13, I called the DEQ office in Baker City and left a message for Eric Moeggenberg, Oregon Department of Agriculture. I told him what I had seen. After I hung up, I called the DEQ office in Pendleton and left a message for Mitch Wolgamott. I told him what I had seen.
Mardi Ford: What were Mr. Moeggenberg's and Mr. Wolgamott's responses?
George Venn: Silence. Neither returned my calls.
On April 14, I called Ken Diebel, Water Quality Specialist, from the Oregon Department of Agriculture. I told him what I had seen. He said,“This will take a long time,” and “We’ll look into it, see what we can do.”
On April 19, I received a call from a NOAA Fisheries agent named Mark. He wanted to know the township, range, and section information, so I told him what I knew: T3S-S, R39E, Section 14, 15, 22 (1994).
Lee Ferren: I understand you originally contacted the National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA).
George Venn: I contacted ODFW first. After Bruce Eddy sounded like a helpless bureaucrat, I then called NOAA fisheries. Please see the list of contacts above.
Lee Ferren: There have been questions about whether NMFS/NOAA took the original complaint and referred it to ODA, or if you yourself filed a complaint with ODA. Could you clarify that?
George Venn: According to my records, I lodged my sequence of complaints as given above.
Lee Ferren: Have you followed this developing story with Mr. Hawkins and the Oregon Department of Agriculture?
George Venn: My records show that on November 17, 2005, I called Ken Diebel to find out what–if anything–had happened with my complaint. I didn’t want to see another winter of riparian zone degradation begin. He suggested that we should meet, so on November 22, I met with Mr. Diebel at his office and he provided me with my first knowledge of the ODA’s actions since I filed my complaint back in April.
Lee Ferren: I understand there has been some talk about this story among the ranchers in Union County.
George Venn: I have heard nothing, though the ranchers should have a lot to talk about. The kind of land/livestock management I saw on Catherine Creek that day should be an embarrassment to all private land owners and managers. Once, there may have been a defense for such a watering practice, but now–with so many better choices and supportive programs–there’s simply no defense for such riparian zone destruction.
End of Combined Interviews.
On 2/7/06, George Venn sent this follow-up email to Lee Ferren:
Dear Lee–
Thanks for your note. I'll watch for a copy of your story in my email or mail. Reflecting on all this, I realized that you might want to consider the problem in another context: the history of local efforts to clean up Catherine Creek is extensive, expensive, and well-known. I didn't go into this in the interview, but that history may well provide a better overall context for the Hawkins' issue. Here--from memory--is what I recall.
In the 1970's, the City of La Grande used to dump all of its sewage lagoon effluent into Gekeler Slough which empties into Catherine Creek. During winter floods, that polluted and dangerous water overflowed and flooded downstream agricultural land. Eventually, the state required the City of La Grande to construct several miles of effluent outflow pipe so all that effluent could be directly discharged into the Grande Ronde River. Most recently, La Grande stopped using that pipe, added tertiary treatment, and now discharge their treated effluent into the new Ladd Marsh.
The City of Union also used to dump its sewage effluent into Catherine Creek below Union. As I recall, Union was eventually faced with the problem of adding treatment or disposing of their wastewater in some other fashion. Enter the new Buffalo Peak golf course and the need for irrigation water. That's where all Union's sewage effluent now goes. Keeping the greens green, the fairways fair.
Because of quality, low summer flow, and treatment problems with Catherine Creek water, Union also stopped using the creek for a municipal water supply and converted to groundwater wells.
You might want to contact the local municipalities to confirm or correct my memory of these events, but I'm certain that municipal governments have been spending millions of dollars to end the pollution of Catherine Creek. That's one of the ways to contextualize the Hawkins' issue: local governments spend millions over thirty years to clean up the stream and Hawkins still have the right to pollute it? That's just crazy. A few miles of fence and a watering system would solve the problem.
GV
Lee Ferren of Ukiah, Oregon, a freelance reporter for the Capital Press in Salem, and Mardi Ford, a reporter for The Observer of La Grande were both writing stories about the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s 1010 compliance process, using Fred Hawkins, a Union County rancher, as an example. The following text merges the results of their separate interviews (Ferren on 2/5/06, Ford on 2/8/06) with George Venn, who provided both journalists with the following written answers to their written questions.
__________________________________________________________________
Lee Ferren: How should I describe you if I quote you in the story ?
George Venn: I moved to Union County in 1970 to teach at Eastern Oregon University–writing, Western American literature, humanities, Native American literature, and other courses. From 1973 to 1977, I served as chair for The Committee for Catherine Creek, which successfully exposed the flaws– environmental, economic, and ecological–in the Corp of Engineers’ Catherine Creek Dam plans and–along with the Umatilla tribes–stopped the project. I’ve also served on the Mt. Emily Food Cooperative board of directors(1974-76), the Union County Overall Economic Development Committee’s Agriculture Subcommittee (1977). In 1978, I supervised the Youth Solar Water Heater Project for the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act Program. I’ve testified at hearings on behalf of wilderness, free-flowing streams, against nuclear power, for water quality, for in-stream flows, etc. As a published writer, I’m also a noted lecturer, keynote speaker, workshop coordinator, manuscript reviewer, editor, grant writer, literary competition judge and juror, and coordinator for various educational and arts organizations throughout the Pacific Northwest. During my career, I’ve received local, regional, and national awards for writing, editing, and teaching. In 2002, I retired from Eastern to write full-time.
Lee Ferren: Do you have a background in ranching or farming or natural resources that would inform your response to this matter?
George Venn: My grandfather was a migratory commercial beekeeper in Washington. For three months every summer while I was growing up, I lived on a farm, milked goats, fed sheep, cut firewood, bucked bales, and worked in the family apiary. Beekeeping introduced me to the complexities of ecological process, acute observation of nature, and the difficulty of an ancient agricultural practice. During college, I worked every summer in logging and lumbering for the University of Washington Pack Demonstration Forest and for Forest Service road contractors. Since the 1970's, I’ve spent many hours walking the surrounding forest and wilderness, boating, swimming, and fishing in local streams, and reading extensively in the studies published about the Grande Ronde watershed by the Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Forest Service, and many Oregon agencies.
Mardi Ford: In your Capital Press interview, you said, “For three months every summer while I was growing up, I lived on a farm, milked goats, fed sheep, cut firewood, bucked bales, and worked in the family apiary.” Did you enjoy these activities?
George Venn: Sometimes yes, sometimes no, sometimes maybe. You load five tons of honey by hand all day–completely clothed in 100 degree heat and surrounded by angry bees–you don’t think much of enjoyment. You think of not getting stung, of helping your grandparents because they love you, of diving into the cool lake and never coming up.
Mardi Ford: Would you say this experience is also what gave you your obvious love for the land?
George Venn: To avoid mere abstraction here, I’d suggest that you go the library and check out and read my books, or, better yet, go the bookstore and buy them: Sunday Afternoon: Grande Ronde (1975), Off the Main Road (1978), Marking the Magic Circle (1987), West of Paradise (1999). They all explore this “love of the land” in some way.
Mardi Ford: What do you mean by ancient agricultural practice? Specifically beekeeping? Or do you view the entire spectrum of agricultural practices as ancient art?
George Venn: In that context, I referred specifically and only to beekeeping. Unlike beekeeping, industrialized agriculture can and often does regularly ignore the long term stability, diversity, and integrity of ecosystems.
Lee Ferren: I understand you were kayaking on Catherine Creek last April.
George Venn: On Sunday, April 10, 2005, I took a kayak trip down a reach of Catherine Creek that runs from the bridge on Wilkinson Road to the bridge on Gekeler Lane.
Mardi Ford: Mr. Venn, in your Capital Press interview, you said, “down a reach of Catherine Creek that runs from the bridge on Wilkinson Road to the bridge on Gekeler Lane.” About how far would you say that is?
George Venn: Around seven miles.
Mardi Ford: How long did it take you?
George Venn: Most of the afternoon.
Lee Ferren: Had you been down Catherine Creek before?
George Venn: Many times over the years. In my old canoe, I took both my family and friends down that reach. It’s slow safe easy water–full of silence, wild birds, beaver, muskrat, deer, ducks. No one else around. On other trips, I paddled the entire Old Grande Ronde channel, the entire State Ditch, the Grande Ronde from Imbler to Rinehart to Indian Creek. Last year, I made four kayak trips on Catherine Creek and the Grande Ronde. In my most recent book, West of Paradise (1999), I published a poem about taking my children on one of those canoe trips. In 1988, I gave a public lecture at Eastern Oregon University. Titled “The River and the Ditch: Grande Ronde Valley in Symbol and Myth,” this was requested by the Northeast Oregon Natural History Society.
Lee Ferren: What were you doing on Catherine Creek?
George Venn: One of the best moments between the Wilkinson and Red Pepper Lane bridges is seeing the heronry. Remaining quiet and motionless, it’s possible to float beneath the bare willows, look up, and see innumerable great blue herons nesting, staring, standing, flying. On April 10, 2005, my notes show that I counted and/or photographed 56 nesting pairs. These amazing birds have a major, inaccessible, unprotected, and ancient home on Catherine Creek. From those nests, they feed on the millions of voles and mice throughout the valley. In my most recent book, West of Paradise (1999), I addressed a poem to one of them, “For My Friend from the Catherine Creek Heronry.”
Lee Ferren: Were you alone?
George Venn: No. A friend of mine loaned me a kayak. We made it a day-trip– picnic, photos, notes, etc. Boating is always safer with two people.
Mardi Ford: What time of day was it when you reached this area?
George Venn: Around noon, as I recall.
Lee Ferren: Could you describe what you saw?
George Venn: Bright sun, blue sky, no wind–a spectacular day. Warm day– sweatshirts were all we needed. As always, Catherine Creek’s easy water carried us north, then after the creek meandered east, the heronry appeared mostly on the north bank. We passed the herons, their nests of sticks like knots in the bare willows. We took pictures, then proceeded east–toward Mt. Fanny splotched with snow. Then, my notes say: “Cattle destroying the riparian zone.” All along the south bank, Angus and Hereford were standing in the water, trampling the mud bank, staring at us. Willows that had always before lined the south bank had been chewed down to a few–widely-spaced, trampled. Along the south and some of the north bank, the grass had become solid mud and dung. Erosion was obvious. Some dead cattle rotted on the banks. The stench of manure was thick. The green water turned dark with sediment. It looked like someone had used the pastures along Catherine Creek as a feed lot all winter.
Mardi Ford: Since you had cameras and were taking photos, did you get photos of the rotting carcasses and the riparian damage? Or did your friend? If so, I would love to have copies and you permission to print them. If not, why not?
George Venn: My friend had a small digital camera with only a small memory card. Since we came to the heronry first, and since there were so many great opportunities to photographs herons, my friend used up all the small camera memory. So, when we floated further downstream and came to that mile or more of riparian damage– grass banks trampled to mud, willows destroyed, broken, and chewed off, manure-filled wallows, rotting carcasses on the banks, stinking polluted water–we had no film left. In all the years of floating Catherine Creek, I’d never seen anything like this destruction.
Mardi Ford: Is your friend willing to be interviewed as well? That would really strengthen your story, if there are no pictures.
George Venn: My friend prefers to remain anonymous. You should be able to confirm the “strength of my story” easily enough. Just call Owen Kropf of Cove, the on-site manager. He saw it all. And find out the name of the Soil and Water Conservation District staff who met with Mr. Kropf on site on April 21. At that meeting, they both observed everything I saw and learned that Kropf was feeding 2,000 cows on the site–all with unimpeded access to the riparian zone along both sides of Catherine Creek. If you don't get statements from these eye witnesses, the strength of your story will be in doubt.
Lee Ferren: What did you think about what you saw?
George Venn: At first, I was just dumbfounded. How could this be? All the agencies –state, federal, and local–have been promoting riparian zone preservation, restoration, and protection for years. I thought of the frequent stories in the local press about the successful collaborations among the tribes, state and federal agencies, and private landowners. The salmon runs in the Grande Ronde had been declared threatened and endangered. I knew the Catherine Creek runs were now in danger of extinction. Something’s gone wrong here, I thought. Maybe somebody thinks this kind of destruction is still legal? Maybe because it can’t be seen from the road, it’s acceptable?
Lee Ferren: What did you do about what you saw ?
George Venn: At home, I got out my wall-sized map sent me by the Bureau of Reclamation that showed ownerships in the Grande Ronde Valley. I found the landowners’ names and the range and township numbers. According to my records, I then made the following calls:
The next morning, Monday, April 11, I called the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife office and reported what I’d seen to Bruce Eddy. “Landowners have been told,” he said, “There’s nothing I can do to stop it.”
The same morning, April 11, I called the NOAA Fisheries office listed for La Grande. A woman named Beth answered, said I should call Eric Murray, the biologist and the law enforcement unit, so I did. I told him what I had seen.
Mardi Ford: What was Mr. Murray's response?
George Venn: If I recall correctly, Beth gave me Eric Murray’s phone number and my notes don’t record his exact response except that I wrote down, “Law Enforcement” and the number “503-231-6340.” So, it’s likely that Murray gave me that number and suggested I call.
On April 13, I called the DEQ office in Baker City and left a message for Eric Moeggenberg, Oregon Department of Agriculture. I told him what I had seen. After I hung up, I called the DEQ office in Pendleton and left a message for Mitch Wolgamott. I told him what I had seen.
Mardi Ford: What were Mr. Moeggenberg's and Mr. Wolgamott's responses?
George Venn: Silence. Neither returned my calls.
On April 14, I called Ken Diebel, Water Quality Specialist, from the Oregon Department of Agriculture. I told him what I had seen. He said,“This will take a long time,” and “We’ll look into it, see what we can do.”
On April 19, I received a call from a NOAA Fisheries agent named Mark. He wanted to know the township, range, and section information, so I told him what I knew: T3S-S, R39E, Section 14, 15, 22 (1994).
Lee Ferren: I understand you originally contacted the National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA).
George Venn: I contacted ODFW first. After Bruce Eddy sounded like a helpless bureaucrat, I then called NOAA fisheries. Please see the list of contacts above.
Lee Ferren: There have been questions about whether NMFS/NOAA took the original complaint and referred it to ODA, or if you yourself filed a complaint with ODA. Could you clarify that?
George Venn: According to my records, I lodged my sequence of complaints as given above.
Lee Ferren: Have you followed this developing story with Mr. Hawkins and the Oregon Department of Agriculture?
George Venn: My records show that on November 17, 2005, I called Ken Diebel to find out what–if anything–had happened with my complaint. I didn’t want to see another winter of riparian zone degradation begin. He suggested that we should meet, so on November 22, I met with Mr. Diebel at his office and he provided me with my first knowledge of the ODA’s actions since I filed my complaint back in April.
Lee Ferren: I understand there has been some talk about this story among the ranchers in Union County.
George Venn: I have heard nothing, though the ranchers should have a lot to talk about. The kind of land/livestock management I saw on Catherine Creek that day should be an embarrassment to all private land owners and managers. Once, there may have been a defense for such a watering practice, but now–with so many better choices and supportive programs–there’s simply no defense for such riparian zone destruction.
End of Combined Interviews.
On 2/7/06, George Venn sent this follow-up email to Lee Ferren:
Dear Lee–
Thanks for your note. I'll watch for a copy of your story in my email or mail. Reflecting on all this, I realized that you might want to consider the problem in another context: the history of local efforts to clean up Catherine Creek is extensive, expensive, and well-known. I didn't go into this in the interview, but that history may well provide a better overall context for the Hawkins' issue. Here--from memory--is what I recall.
In the 1970's, the City of La Grande used to dump all of its sewage lagoon effluent into Gekeler Slough which empties into Catherine Creek. During winter floods, that polluted and dangerous water overflowed and flooded downstream agricultural land. Eventually, the state required the City of La Grande to construct several miles of effluent outflow pipe so all that effluent could be directly discharged into the Grande Ronde River. Most recently, La Grande stopped using that pipe, added tertiary treatment, and now discharge their treated effluent into the new Ladd Marsh.
The City of Union also used to dump its sewage effluent into Catherine Creek below Union. As I recall, Union was eventually faced with the problem of adding treatment or disposing of their wastewater in some other fashion. Enter the new Buffalo Peak golf course and the need for irrigation water. That's where all Union's sewage effluent now goes. Keeping the greens green, the fairways fair.
Because of quality, low summer flow, and treatment problems with Catherine Creek water, Union also stopped using the creek for a municipal water supply and converted to groundwater wells.
You might want to contact the local municipalities to confirm or correct my memory of these events, but I'm certain that municipal governments have been spending millions of dollars to end the pollution of Catherine Creek. That's one of the ways to contextualize the Hawkins' issue: local governments spend millions over thirty years to clean up the stream and Hawkins still have the right to pollute it? That's just crazy. A few miles of fence and a watering system would solve the problem.
GV