1/6/09 Powell Butte
 
By Doug Johnson
 
Dick Bandy has lived and raised ponies at his home in Powell Butte, on Cornett Loop, for the last four years. Last year, when he discovered his neighbors at Cinder Lake Ranch had been dumping formaldehyde since 2006, Bandy and others in the area were furious.
 
"If someone betrays you in the manner the Beethams have, it's heart breaking," Bandy says.
 
The problem was uncovered by the Department of Environmental Quality in the fall of 2007. Since then almost 500 tons of hazardous and non-hazardous waste, mainly contaminated soil, was removed from the ranch by the DEQ and a company hired by the ranch. Neighbors say the landowner intended to hide it under a lake.
 
"There's no lakes back there, but they were going to make a lake after they dumped and buried all of this formaldehyde," Bandy says.
 
The DEQ wants to investigate further areas on the ranch, something the responsible property owner, Dennis Beetham, hasn't agreed to. So the DEQ has called in federal assistance from the Enviromental Protection Agency.
 
"Declared it an orphan site, and EPA has expressed interest in completing the clean up under their removal authority," says Marcy Kirk with the DEQ.
 
Tuesday members from both agencies inspected the clean up progress, the DEQ bringing EPA agents up to speed and to familiarize them with the site. The DEQ says there's not much left, and it will only take a week to clean up. But Bandy and other neighbors are concerned with the affect of possibly more formaldehyde in the soil could have on their water wells, live stock and even property values.
 
"I'll go into town and people will say, 'well how's everything going on formaldehyde hill?'" says neighbor Eric Erickson.