News Release
| Release Number: | 00-169 |
| Dated: | 9/18/2000 |
| Contact: | Heidi Y. Helwig, 503-808-4510 |
Corps of Engineers closing Astoria office
Portland, Ore. – After 25 years, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is closing its field office in Astoria.
An informal ceremony will mark the occasion at 1:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 22, at the field office, located three miles east of Astoria on U.S. Hwy 30. Also, two long-time field office employees will retire that day.
The field office has been used to help the Corps with its day-to-day operations on the Oregon Coast and the lower Columbia River. Personnel at the office also helped administer the Corps' regulatory program for the area, investigating reported violations of the Clean Water Act.
Since dredging operations have become more and more automated over the years, the need to maintain a facility in Astoria for that reason diminished, said Sheryl Carrubba of the Corps' Operations Division in Portland.
"One of the main duties of the crew [in Astoria] was to maintain the dredge range markers on the coastal entrances and Columbia River channel," Carrubba said. "Now that dredges use GPS technology, the visual aids are no longer needed."
Columbia River estuary regulatory issues now will be handled out of Portland.
The employees, and the office, provided other services to the Corps, but the main function revolved around maintaining no-longer-needed technology.
Carrubba said all four employees at the field office were offered other jobs with the Corps. Two chose to retire, Gerry Black and Phil Livingston; the others, Dave Costello and Terry Vance, will relocate to The Dalles and Eugene areas.
After the office is closed, the property will be evaluated for contamination, cleaned up, if necessary, and turned over to the General Services Administration (the federal government's real estate agency). GSA will, in turn, find a new owner for the property.
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