Union County Fairgrounds May be Getting new Plumbing
By Garrett Christensen on Monday, February 13th, 2023 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
LA GRANDE – Infrastructure and sanitation are critical for any large, recuring venue, and fairgrounds are no exception. After a decade of inoperable plumbing, the Union County Fairgrounds are planning a new, modern system connected to the city of La Grande, and County Commissioners are hard at work to secure the final round of funding.
The replacement project has been a long time coming according to Union County Commissioner Mathew Scarfo, who stated, “The septic systems had been put in with the conception of the fairgrounds. They started failing about 20 years ago. We patched them together and about ten years ago they completely failed.”
Since this failure, the wastewater system and even local sinks have been completely inoperable. The local wells have also degraded to an extent and bathrooms and water are shipped in from off site during events. Though the county has inquired about replacing the current system on the grounds, the Department of Environmental Quality has forbidden such a project due to concerns over interference with the local water table and the Grande Ronde River.
Instead, Union County has been pursuing a project that would connect the fairgrounds to the city of La Grande’s water and septic system. Union County Commissioners are currently advocating for house bill 2635 which would allocate a million dollars in funding for the project. If successful, the city of La Grande has further promised to fund an additional $250,000 dollars while the remaining $8,000 dollars will be fundraised by the county. The cost of the project is due to the fairground’s location in relation to the Grande Ronde River and I-84, with planned pipe work having to use the 2nd street overpass to bridge the gap into La Grande. When completed, the project will benefit more than just patrons of the Union County Fairgrounds and could prove a necessity in case of emergency. According to Commissioner Scarfo, the fairgrounds may be used as a staging area in case of a major disaster, such as a wildfire, and would be required to support a large number of emergency personnel. The cost and impracticality of shipping in water and mobile bathroom facilities during an ongoing emergency could prove problematic, with Scarfo stating, “Everybody I talk to across the state, their jaws drop when I tell them we don’t have a working toilet at our fairgrounds…this isn’t a want, it’s a need.”
