October Newsletter
New Website
SCM now has an updated website designed by BayMareMarketing.com. We are very excited to have the new design and appreciate the excellent work done by this firm!
Inspections of local marijuana grows for legal water use:
Since use of domestic wells is not permitted for irrigation of crops, the Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD) recently completed a review of the local licensed marijuana grows within the aquifer that had no obvious legal water sources. They visited the sites and found that all were in compliance with the regulations. Only one had an approved industrial water well for irrigation. The others were using either water recycling, rain collection, and/or hauled in purchased water. We appreciate that the OWRD now has more funding for investigations and are keeping us informed.
Local well monitoring on the Chehalem Mountain Limited Groundwater Area:
Progress is being made for local well monitoring via a program initiated by Karyn Hanson with KGH Engineering. She has several interested residents within the aquifer who have volunteered to have their wells monitored. That data may be used to better understand the health of our aquifer. She is hoping to have the monitoring units in place and working by sometime in 2023. The delay is due to waiting until the OWRD Groundwater Analysis Section has their new staff in place. Their engineers will help select which wells are to be monitored first. They will be meeting with Karyn this October. Until this program was started, only a few wells were monitored by the OWRD on an as-needed basis. This should greatly improve the information available to the OWRD hydro-engineers as they study this limited aquifer and strive to protect it.
Illegal Marijuana Busts in Yamhill Co.
In August a large, illegal marijuana operation was raided by authorities and many arrests were made just outside Dayton, OR. This followed complaints about solid waste, electrical code violations and complaints about water being diverted from Palmer Creek and from a pond. There were 46 unpermitted greenhouses, and a second operation was found nearby with 53 unpermitted greenhouses. More details are found in the press releases listed under the MEDIA section on this website.
Update on 18505 Jaquith Rd Land Use
Several concerned residents of Chehalem Mountain visited the Yamhill Co Department of Planning and Development in McMinnville in September. They were looking for documents required to have been filed previously by WAG Industries/Derby Farms in order for them to continue legal operations, according to the original land use permits. The County office did not have the personnel to do the search themselves but invited the concerned residents to come look for the documents in the office. When the records were located and examined, the required documents were obviously not there. These missing documents were as follows : permits for upgrades to the septic system to make it commercially applicable; a letter from a CPA confirming that at least 25% of the processed hemp and marijuana done there was grown on site; fire safety inspections; permits from Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission, Oregon Health Authority, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and Oregon Department of Agriculture.
The County is not meeting its obligation to document that requirements for land use are met which were explicitly stated in the original permit. This lack of documentation means we can only assume that this failure is, in fact, the case.
Update on proposed irrigation well for 18505 Jaquith Rd
To date, there has not been a posted decision by the OWRD regarding permitting a new irrigation well for 20 acres at this property. Derby’s Farm already has a functioning indoor marijuana grow using imported water, a rain collection system and water recycling according to an article in Leaf Magazine, which was impressed by this operation. As discussed in the April 22 newsletter, the OWRD hydro engineers have performed a re-review of the state of the aquifer and concluded that a new irrigation well there would pose serious risk to the aquifer.
Illegal Marijuana Grows on Chehalem Mountain
As far as we know, there are no illegal grows on Chehalem Mountain. However, the neighbors of such operations would likely be the first to suspect it. Illegal operations are dangerous to the local residents due to the following concerns: the association with high crime rates, the risk to the aquifer due to local water poaching, unfair competition to the legal cannabis operations, and possible fire or explosion risks. If you suspect or know of an illegal operation near you, the best course is to notify the police. This can be done anonymously. For obvious reasons, do not try to confront people associated with illegal operations yourselves.
Yamhill County Sherriff’s Office: 503-434-7506
Or call the local police for Newberg or Sherwood
Washington Co Sherriff’s Office: non-emergency, 503-629-0111
Call the local police for the city nearest the grow.
