Headlines & History since 1879 Goldendale, Washington
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2026
Vol. 147 No. 22
$1.00
Contributed: Iani Molnar
A RARE STORM: Thursday’s thunderstorm pelted the area with stinging sheets of water and fire in the sky as the temperature shifted from a high of 84 one day to a high of 58 the next. Reader Iani Molnar caught these streaks of lightning during the peak of the storm.
Poll reveals sharp opposition to data center Catherine Couture For The Sentinel A Dallesport data center is currently in an exploratory phase, and Klickitat County and The Dalles, Oregon, communities are none too happy about it. A recent Sentinel article on the planned data sparked a myriad of discussions within the community, most of them critical. There is already a Google data center in The Dalles, and according to some community members, the water quality has gone down since its construction and poses a threat to local wildlife, with the local fish population being the most affected. Many local community members fear that Klickitat County may share the same fate. Through a social media post, the community was asked their thoughts on the new data center proposal. There are over a hundred replies to date, with most being strongly against it. Each person’s reasoning came down to a few key factors: its effects on the power grid and water table, the cost it would take to maintain it, and the environmental impact it could have. A main issue brought up by the community members was the water and power consumption it would need to maintain it. Not only do they feel it would drive up the price of utilities due to the increase in resource usage, but it would be a major tax on the water table and power grid as a whole. A local homeowner states their concerns on
this topic: “I definitely do not want a data center here. The ramifications to the water table alone, never mind the power demands on the grid, make this a terrible idea. Our aquifer cannot absorb the kind of water consumption required for data center cooling and still replenish itself on the average 15 inches of rainfall we get each year. Some of our residential wells are already over 600 feet deep. Having to drill another [deeper] well is a financial disaster with no guarantees of water at the bottom. “Even if the proposed data center uses closed loop cooling, the water burden is still in excess of 30,000 gallons a day at a minimum, and depending on the size of the installation, could be 500,000 gallons per day. “I am sure it looks good on paper to somebody, but unless the company in question has some really good answers to the water and power consumption concerns, I’m solidly in the ‘no’ camp.” Many other community members share this sentiment. They fear this heavy burden on local resources would cause utility prices to soar through the roof and serve no positive gain on the community as a whole to make it worthwhile. Many community members feel data centers will store data “on us, not for us,” fearing this new data center would be another source of surveillance for the government and, most notably, for big
See Data page A6
PSE to add wind farm in county Aspen Ford Washington State Standard Puget Sound Energy is adding a wind farm in Klickitat County to its clean energy portfolio, the latest move in the utility’s transition to become greenhouse gas neutral by 2030, as state law mandates. Last Tuesday, the company signed a long-term contract with Avangrid to move nearly 200 megawatts of power from a wind project called Big Horn I onto the grid. That’s enough power to electrify 70,000 homes annually, according to PSE. “We are excited that this latest agreement with Avangrid helps us meet some of the most ambitious clean energy laws in the nation while delivering on our customers’ expectations,” said Craig Pospisil, senior vice president and chief development officer of Puget Sound Energy. But the state’s largest investor-owned utility still has a long
way to go to completely decouple itself from greenhouse gas emissions. And electricity rates are rising for customers as it works toward that goal. The wind farm will only cover around 12% of the utility’s remaining clean energy needs and it won’t begin power generation for at least a couple of years. Roughly 58% of PSE’s overall electricity supply comes from clean energy resources, up from 26% in 2019. The remainder is made up of natural gas and other unspecified resources, a spokesperson for the utility said this week. Big Horn I has been in operation since 2006. It is sited on over 14,000 acres of land and part of a larger renewable energy complex operated by Avangrid, a clean energy subsidiary of Europe’s largest utility. The site, located east of Goldendale and just north of the Columbia River, is in need of an
See PSE page B1
Victor Baca
UP IN SMOKE: This weekend’s TreadFest featured a lot of tires burning up while an enthusiastic crowd watched.
City hears on grant for Goldendale Library elevator Rodger Nichols For The Sentinel The main action at Monday night’s Goldendale City Council revolved around a grant to replace the elevator at the Goldendale Community Library. Mayor Dave Jones gave a brief history of the library, which was founded in 1915. It was one of more than 1,700 local libraries funded by steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie. In 1973, the city signed a lease agreement with the Fort Vancouver Regional Library to operate the institution but retained ownership of the land and buildings. The city is also responsible for maintenance. “The elevator is well over 40 years old now and needs to be replaced,” said Jones. “The building is three stories, and so that elevator is crucial for disabled
access, and it has to be there.” Councilor Danielle Clevidence noted the grant was for $221,000 and asked Jones what the project is likely to cost. “The elevator is projected to cost $200,000 and some change, I believe $201,000. The remaining of that is administrative fees, grant fees that the city will be collecting to administer that grant.” No one testified at the public hearing required as one of the conditions of a Community Development Block Grant. Councilors also approved an appeal process for block grants, another requirement. In response to a question, Jones clarified that the grant had already been allocated, and the two council actions were required to complete the process Councilors also heard a com-
plaint about the effect the TreadFest car burnout in Ekone Park Saturday had on people downwind of the event from resident Jan Halverson, who told the council he had respiratory problems. “I woke up and my house was full of smoke,” he said. “It was so smoky, at times I couldn’t see the trees from my balcony. That is unconscionable to put that in the middle of the town.” He also noted that burning tires in the state of Washington is illegal. “They were burning rubber,” he said. “It was unlawful.” RCW 70A.15.5010 makes it illegal to cause or allow any outdoor fire that contains rubber products, petroleum products, plastics, or any other substance that normally emits dense smoke or obnoxious odors. And Washing-
See City page B1
Victor Baca
DOWN FOR THE SUMMER: Volunteers from Goldendale High School, Avangrid, and the community combined to take down the cover of the Goldendale Swimming Pool this past weekend.