Between the Bridges: Port of Pasco weighs earthquake threat

How big a threat is the “big one” in the Tri-Cities?

That was a discussion Port of Pasco commissioners recently had when deciding whether to renew the port’s earthquake insurance.

Commissioner Jim Klindworth suggested that the port consider putting the $100,000 it pays annually in earthquake insurance into a reserve fund.

“After 10 years of no earthquakes, we’d have a million dollars for the next earthquake,” he said.

Airport Director Ron Foraker reminded commissioners of predictions that a devastating earthquake could happen in the coming decades in the Cascadia subduction zone, off the coast and running from northern California to Vancouver Island, Canada. A Tri-City resident told them he buys earthquake insurance for his home.

Commissioners then discussed the possibility of going with a higher deductible insurance plan or even getting insurance just on the Tri-Cities Airport terminal, where it would lose revenue from airlines if the airport was shut down by a quake.

They decided to wait to make a decision at another meeting.

“When I go to Las Vegas, I go to see the shows, not to gamble,” Commissioner Jean Ryckman said. “I need to be a little more comfortable.”

Christian group targets Newhouse

Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Sunnyside, is again being asked to support permanently extending the Land and Water Conservation fund, this time by the Evangelical Environmental Network.

Newhouse has said he would like a long-term extension of the agreement, which has been credited with helping pay for Tri-City features like the Columbia River trails and pools in Kennewick and Richland, but would like reforms to be made.

The House Natural Resources Committee, on which Newhouse serves on, held a hearing last week on the conservation fund. Chairman Rob Bishop, R-Utah, says he wants to make improvements to the program before re-authorizing it, but environmentalists say his proposed reforms would gut the fund.

The Pennsylvania-based group is targeting Newhouse with advertisements on Christian radio in the 4th Congressional District, as well as on Christian-related programming on Pandora, according to a news release. The group, which calls itself pro-life, says on its website that Bishop’s bill would take dedicated money away from the 50-year-old conservation fund and put 172 national parks at risk of being developed.

The ad features the voice of the Rev. Mitch Hescox, the Evangelical Environmental Network’s president, touting the conservation fund for protecting the Yakima River Canyon, “without costing taxpayers a dime.” He calls Newhouse a supporter of the fund and asks listeners to sign an online petition urging Congress to reauthorize it.

The Christian group’s opposition comes on the heels of an ad buy from the Western Values Project, which asked Newhouse to “stand up to” Bishop.

Newhouse showed a lack of support for Bishop’s bill at this week’s hearing, which suggests he does not endorse its numerous bad provisions, said Melissa Schwartz, a spokeswoman for the evangelical group, adding that the group hopes to support Newhouse’s choice to pursue a more “reasonable” path on reauthorization.

This story was originally published November 22, 2015 at 6:46 PM with the headline "Between the Bridges: Port of Pasco weighs earthquake threat."