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July 18, 2006
Farm equipment recovery begins
By TY BEAVER
H&N Staff Writer
Farmer Ron McGill and three of his hired
men waded into the newest part of Upper Klamath Lake Monday to retrieve farm
equipment submerged in up to 10 feet of water.
“There's no sense waiting,” said McGill, whose farmed land flooded June 7
when the Geary Canal dike failed.
Nearly six weeks after the dike failure on Upper Klamath Lake flooded more than
2,000 acres of land and closed Highway 140, questions linger about the future.
McGill and his wife, Ann, leased the flooded land, known as the Caledonia Marsh,
and planted white wheat before the dike failed. They had planted 1,400 acres of
1,600 acres they leased, McGill said. Two-thirds of the flooded land is owned by
Running Y Ranch. The other third is owned by the Geary Family Trust.
Some equipment already retrieved
Some pieces of equipment were retrieved before floodwaters moved in, but not
all, Ron McGill said. Three ground rollers, an implement trailer and an
excavator were among the pieces left behind.
On Monday McGill used a pontoon boat and
a pair of empty tanks to salvage the farming equipment.McGill and his men were
at the site yesterday attempting to salvage some of the equipment. The hollow
rollers were removed by draining the water from them and floating them back to
shore, McGill's foreman Mike Gehon said.
To remove the other equipment, the men sank two 1,147-gallon tanks and placed a
tank under each piece of equipment. The tanks were then filled with air and
floated the equipment to dry land.
“Just gotta take it one step at a time and be careful,” Gehon said.
McGill said some of the equipment will be reusable, but ball bearings, hydraulics and rams will be replaced and contaminated oil removed. Other pieces, however, are a lost cause, he said. The excavator, because of its electrical system, is probably useless.
Used for planting crops
The flooded equipment is the greater part of McGill's implements for planting
crops. Without it, in a few weeks after harvest, his farming operation would be
at a standstill, he said.
It is still unknown what will happen to the dike and flooded
land. McGill said he did not think the water would be removed, and believes the
area will be used as extra water storage.
Dave Kvamme., spokesman for Pacificorp, said because Pacificorp does not own the
flooded land or the dike, the company cannot decide for itself how the situation
will be resolved.
“We know this is going to take a while
to sort out and hope everyone will cooperate,” he said.
Farmer says he contacted PacifiCorp about dike leaks
Ron McGill, who farms land flooded by the
Geary Canal dike breach said he contacted PacifiCorp May 1 about leakage in the
southern portion and “unprecedented cracks” in the northern portion.
Workers from PacifiCorp, the company in charge of maintenance on the dike, came
to repair problems in the southern portion, but not the area with the cracks, he
said.
The location of the breach is where the cracks were, he said.
Dave Kvamme, spokesman for PacifiCorp, said he could not confirm or deny
McGill's call to the company regarding the dike.
“We have always responded appropriately when faced with problems with the
dike,” he said.
Highway repair costs in millions
The cost of repairing flood damaged Highway 140 is estimated at $3 million,
state officials said Monday.
A portion of the highway west of Klamath Falls closed June 7 after the Geary
dike failed and water from Upper Klamath Lake flooded the road and more than
2,000 acres to the north.
Emergency repairs were done and the highway reopened a week later.
More work to raise the roadway by about 3 feet and add permanent concrete
barriers and guardrails must be done soon to prevent flooding this winter and
next spring, said Ron Snell, ODOT project manager. It's also believed flowing
water could create unexpected, icy and treacherous driving conditions.
“Highway 140 is not designed to hold back water, therefore it cannot function
as a dike or dam,” he said.
Snell termed the highway “a critical lifeline for many Klamath Basin residents
and business owners.” Each day more than 4,000 trips are made over the damaged
section of highway.
Snell said ODOT hopes to hire a contractor and begin construction work this
summer with completion this winter.
