NEWS | Lummi leaders to discuss coal terminal opposition [3] COMMUNITY | Pride flag to fly again in Eastsound [6] ENVIRONMENT | New trail on Turtleback is open [11]
COUNTY FAIR RESULTS Orcas kids win ribbons at the annual fair Page 8
GOLF CLASSIC Annual tournament is coming up soon Page 9
SOUNDER THE ISLANDS’
Serving Orcas, Lopez and San Juan County
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WEDNESDAY, August 28, 2013 VOL. 46, NO. 35 75¢
Signed, sealed, delivered Orcas Recycling Services signs contract to run solid waste by COLLEEN SMITH ARMSTRONG Editor/Publisher
Contributed photo
Orcas Recycling Services Executive Director Pete Moe signs the solid waste contract with San Juan County on Aug. 19. ORS will take over operations starting on Sept. 5. It will provide services to self-haulers and the franchise hauler San Juan Sanitation.
The dotted line has been signed. More than a year and a half since the process began, Orcas Recycling Services has officially taken over the island’s solid waste and recycling facility. The contract was approved by the council after a public hearing on Aug. 19. “It was a big milestone for me and the board – we have been working extremely hard,” said Executive Director Pete Moe. “Both the previous and the current council have been very supportive. In many ways, Councilman Rick Hughes helped us get this done.” ORS will take over all solid waste operations at the transfer station on Sept. 5 and provide services to both individual selfhaulers and the franchise hauler, San Juan Sanitation. The contract is for a period of five years and can be extended by the county in five-year increments for up to 20 years. ORS will be offering lower disposal rates, so self-haulers on Orcas should see an
immediate decrease in their costs. It will be open Friday through Sunday in the fall and winter. “It’s a wonderful culmination of all this hard work,” Hughes said. “And this is going to help the community so much – rates will go down, jobs are being created, money is staying here.” Moe says $400,000 will be staying on the island because ORS is using Orcas Island Freight for its hauling. In addition, eight to 10 new jobs have already been created. “Our main goal is sending less garbage off the island. There are so many different possible recycling opportunities,” he said. The site will be undergoing major changes – particularly in regards to the traffic flow. One of the first tasks for ORS is to complete a site master plan that outlines the functions of the facility, traffic and physical structures. “This site has been largely neglected for 20 years and as part of the contract we are required to fix it up – but it’s still the county’s property,” Moe said. For Orcas Islanders, the big question surrounds the Exchange – the reuse center that
burned down in an accidental fire on Feb. 9. ORS is planning for a temporary facility to be up and running in three to six months. “The public needs to understand that until we have effectively taken over the garbage transfer function of this site, we can’t really do anything with the Exchange,” Moe said. “So there will be some delay. We really understand the community wants the Exchange back and we are doing our best to make that happen.” Many island families relied on the Exchange to pick up clothing, household items and more. In preparation for the school year, families can find clothing items at the Orcas Community Church on Sept. 2 and 3. For more information on that, see the sidebar on page 5. Orcas Recycling Services and the Exchange announced in early August that Moe, who had been serving as the board president, would take over as executive director. Former director Mark DeTray is on a leave of absence, but Moe says they are hopeful he will return in some capacity in
Attorney General says public hospitals can’t restrict reproductive services by STEVE WEHRLY Journal reporter
Local public hospital districts that provide reproductive services or information must also offer access to contraceptive and abortion services and information consistent with the “fundamental rights” to birth control and abortion guaranteed by Initiative 120, according to a legal opinion issued Aug. 21 by state Attorney General Bob Ferguson. The opinion was requested in April by state Sen. Kevin Ranker, D-Orcas, in response to questions
raised in 2012, prior to the opening of Peace Island Medical Center, a unit of PeaceHealth, a system of medical centers affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church. The district, supported by local property taxes, provides about $1 million in annual funding to Peace Island under an operating agreement. The formal legal opinion, which the attorney general’s press release says is not legally binding but is given “great weight” by the courts, said in part: “If the state provides, directly or by contract, maternity care benefits, services, or infor-
mation to women through any program administered or funded in whole or in part by the state, the state shall also provide women otherwise eligible for any such program with substantially equivalent benefits, services, or information to permit them to voluntarily terminate their pregnancies.” The opinion applies to public hospital districts providing “benefits, services or information” covered by Initiative 120 “directly or by contract.” It does not apply to “purely private” health care insti-
tutions, but appears to apply to situations, such as in San Juan County, where the San Juan Island hospital district provides substantial funding for health care services to Peace Island Medical Center. Local health care activist Monica Harrington termed the opinion “an important first step” – an opinion reiterated by the American Civil Liberties Union, which has long been active in the reproductive rights issue and has recently become active in issues
SEE HOSPITALS, PAGE 6
SEE ORS, PAGE 5
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