>La Grande Observer | Union and Wallowa Counties' News Leader

Waste gone to waste: The slash pile pictured above would have yielded several tons of biomass material had it been put to that purpose. Instead, it was burned. (Submitted photo).

- Bill Rautenstrauch

- The Observer

If woody biomass ever gets a start as an industry in Northeast Oregon, there needs to be a meeting of the minds.

And Rick Wagner, an Oregon Department of Forestry stewardship forester and spokesman for the region's loosely-knit biomass movement, thinks that if environmental groups and timber managers can come to terms, the future is full of promise.

"There are folks who fear that biomass is a primary reason to clear-cut and denude the forest," Wagner said in a recent interview "But we look at it as a waste product, something left over from forest management and harvesting that can be utilized. We want to put this in the context that everybody wins."

Stripped to its basics, biomass is a simple enough idea: wood waste is processed for burning in specially-made, environmentally-friendly systems that generate heat or electricity.

It's an idea that makes sense in Northeast Oregon, where timber managers are always looking for ways to improve forest health, said Wagner.

"Without some kind of management, the forest begins to in-grow and then you have the fire cycle, insect infestations and other threats to overall health," he said.

The biomass supply in these parts appears limitless. Wagner likes to show off photographs he keeps of a single huge slash pile left over from a logging operation near Baker City.

"It was 5,000 to 6,000 tons of slash that was just burned up. There was enough biomass there to keep the school boiler at Council, Idaho, going for eight to nine years," he said.

In northeast Oregon, biomass is an idea whose time may be coming, but hasn't quite arrived. Studies are being done, but systems have yet to be built.

At La Grande's Eastern Oregon University, an engineering assessment is under way to determine the feasibility of integrating a green wood chip, hog fuel or wood pellet boiler system with the current physical plant.

The study, by the Deer Island company Solagen, is taking into account thermal loads, existing plant conditions, system maintenance and other issues. It was begun in August and may be complete in early January.

The study is being done in conjunction with one at Burns Union High School in Burns. The two projects were funded under one USDA Rural Development grant.

University Facilities Operations Director Mike Rhodes said the school is positioned in a leadership role when it comes to biomass.

"We've been looking at options from the beginning, ever since people started talking about biomass," he said.

Rhodes said the EOU administration is "very supportive" of developing a system.

"If it can be made to pay for itself, its a win for all of Eastern Oregon," he said. "People will go to work, and they'll get rid of the waste in the forests."

Several area school districts and small city governments are looking into biomass's potential as well. A study is under way at Enterprise High School in Wallowa County.

Recently, the Enterprise School Board signed a contract with McKinstry Essension Inc. for an energy audit. The school hopes to replace its heating oil system with something more cost-efficient.

"We're looking at an upgrade. We have good reason to believe wood chip technology would be an improvement," said Nils Christoffersen, a school board member who works as deputy director and program manager for Wallowa Resources.

Wallowa Resources, an economic development and timber management organization based in Enterprise, did biomass pre-feasibility studies for both the Enterprise and Wallowa school districts.

Christoffersen said those studies were encouraging.

"They suggest there's tremendous savings to be realized," he said. "Money we save on energy can be spent on education."

Wallowa Resources' work in biomass technology doesn't stop with studies for school districts.

Christoffersen said the group is also trying to determine the feasibility of a 4 to 8-megawatt electrical plant powered by bio-fuel "or some commercial by-product."

"We're in the midst of looking at it. There are some local investors who are partnered with us," he said.

Local biomass advocates see a wide range of positives in the technology, including improved forest health, more jobs for the wood products industry, lower energy costs and decreased dependence on expensive fuels like oil and natural gas.

"We have the ability to utilize a local resource and create sustainability," said Wagner. "Why should we bring fuel in from elsewhere?"

Projects under consideration at present are small, and so are the probable impacts on the environment.

"The key word is ‘waste,' " Wagner said. "Waste brings up a picture of something left over."

An environmental group specifically concerned with Eastern Oregon timber issues says it is not strictly opposed to development of biomass projects, and in fact would support certain ones.

"For us, it's a matter of scale," said Greg Dyson, director of the Hells Canyon Preservation Council.

Back in 2002, the HCPC opposed development of a wood-fired cogeneration plant behind the Baum Industrial Park near Island City. Developer Mark Rappaport planned to buy wood waste from local suppliers and use it to generate electricity for the Bonneville Power Administration. But for a variety of reasons the plant was never built.

Dyson said the HCPC opposed the plant because it was a large-scale operation driven by the biomass product itself.

On the other hand, he said his organization would support development of smaller, public-sector biomass projects.

"Then the biomass is incidental to logging that's already taken place," Dyson said. "I'd go further than say we support that kind of thing. I'd say we'd work to help make it happen."