At the risk of getting on the wrong side of Leonardo DiCaprio, the Oscar-winning climate expert, I like to look at facts I can see. Like, for instance, utility bills.
Have you noticed all that bright orange plastic that’s been strung through the fields along Independence Highway? Around here, orange usually signifies Oregon State’s Beavers. But it turns out the erosion barrier is merely a sign that Northwest Natural is starting the latest phase of its gas pipeline expansion program in the Willamette Valley.
This winter storm may not become a routine event in western Oregon (we hope). Still, it is a useful reminder of what nature can do, and if we were not fully prepared this time, maybe we’ll do better from now on, or at least as long as we remember the Blizzard of 2014.
Driving around the mid-valley now, you encounter pipeline builders on the way north to Independence and south of Albany along Riverside Drive. The crews are digging and drilling on two big projects for Northwest Natural, the gas company. Here’s an update from Melissa Moore, a spokeswoman for the gas company: — The Mid-Valley Feeder is costing […]
Up and down the mid-Willamette Valley, along country roads and across grass seed fields, crews have been digging or boring into the ground to bury long sections of 12-inch diameter steel pipe. You can see part of the work in progress off Walnut Drive and Riverside Drive south of Albany as well as along Corvallis Road […]
A weather plus: Mild month saved us money
In case you had not noticed, the bills Albany area residents received in March for power and natural gas reflected quite a jump in temperatures during the billing period, which covered much of February.
Tags: Hyslop Farm, mild February, Northwest Natural, Pacific Power, temperatures, weather, weather station