Does Skyline school bear any responsibility?

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RubyRed

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Janitor Bill Tandy walks past Kyron Horman's classroom at Skyline Elementary School in the early hours of June 7, 2010.​

 
I went to that map and the first thing I saw was "Landfill".
It really was not far from the school.

I noticed that too. I thought it was posted a long ways back they didn't have landfills, but rather a transfer station that took garbage into eastern OR. I wonder if it's an old landfill no longer in service?
 
School adds security after boy vanishes


- Classes resumed Monday amid extra security at an Oregon elementary school as the FBI joined in the search for a 7-year-old boy who authorities described as a "missing endangered child."


Authorities were reviewing photos and videos taken at the school's science fair. The last photo of Kyron shows him smiling Friday in front of his project on the red-eyed tree frog.

Superintendent of Portland Public Schools Carole Smith would not comment on the details of the district's policy for reporting school absences. Details about whether Kyron was reported as absent were not known.

http://www.kgw.com/home/School-adds-security-after-boy-vanishes-95783264.html
 
I found the landfill marked on the school map, based upon location on map, lake/waterways, etc.

http://maps.google.com/maps?rlz=1C1...local_group&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CCgQtgMwAA

(it shows on my screen as "F")

Listing:

St John Maintenance‎- more info »
9387 North Columbia Boulevard, Portland, OR‎ - (503) 286-9615‎
Category: Landfill
Reported to be closed.


Comment to listing:

This is not St Johns Maintenance. It is the Metro Regional Government maintenance building for the CLOSED St Johns Landfill. No Public Access.‎

Information on St. John's Landfill:

http://www.oregonmetro.gov/index.cfm/go/by.web/id=25126

Learn about the history and restoration of the St. Johns Landfill located on the North Portland Peninsula near the confluence of the Columbia and Willamette rivers.



Methods of disposing of trash have come a long way since the days when it was common practice to use wetlands as burial sites for garbage. In 1940, a lake located in the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area was designated as a landfill and served as the region’s primary garbage disposal site for the next 50 years. In recent years, regulations and new technology for managing solid waste disposal ensure that new disposal sites are environmentally sound, and communities that play host to closed landfills are working to manage those old landfills with new technology and under stringent regulations.

Closing and restoring a landfill

In 1980, Metro assumed responsibility for closing the St. Johns Landfill in an environmentally sound manner, and today the former landfill site is recognizable only by the methane gas-collection system that crisscrosses its grassy surface. The area is being actively restored – providing habitat for coyotes, great blue herons and painted turtles – while Metro continues to manage and monitor the area for future uses.

14 million tons of garbage

Located in north Portland near the confluence of the Columbia and Willamette rivers, the 238-acre St. Johns Landfill is situated in Metro’s Smith and Bybee Wetlands Natural Area, the largest protected wetland within an American city. By the early 1960s, the former lakebed was filled with garbage to the edge of its surrounding levee. Although the majority of waste in the landfill is domestic solid waste, industrial waste from a pesticide-manufacturing facility also was disposed in the landfill between 1958 and 1962. Metro estimates that up to 14 million tons of waste were disposed in the landfill site during its years of operation.

Covering the waste

Metro assumed ownership responsibilities for the landfill from the City of Portland in 1990 and spent the next six years constructing a $36 million landfill cover system to prevent rainwater from leaching contaminants into the surrounding soil and waterways.

The cover’s primary purpose is to keep rainwater from further leaching contaminants from the waste into surrounding groundwater, and to control methane gas generated by decomposing waste. A methane gas collection system draws gas from the waste and pipes a portion of it to a nearby cement company where it is used as fuel.

St. Johns landfill timeline

1939 bridge to the landfill site is constructed over Columbia Slough

1940 waste disposal operations begin at St. Johns Landfill (SJLF)

1980s the original 183-acre landfill site is expanded by 55 acres with an engineered perimeter dike and leachate collection system

1980 Metro takes over SJLF operations under an intergovernmental agreement with the city of Portland

1988 waste disposal begins in the 55-acre expansion area

1988 Metro signs 20-year contract with Waste Management for waste disposal at Columbia Ridge Landfill in Arlington, Oregon

1989 Metro submits closure and financial assurance plan for SJLF to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ)

1990 SJLF is included in new management area (now called Smith and Bybee Wetlands Natural Area) established by Metro, Port of Portland and City of Portland. Some funds from previous landfill operations are placed in a trust fund to restore and manage surrounding habitat in the natural area.

1990 Metro assumes ownership of SJLF from the City of Portland

1990 first load of waste delivered to Columbia Ridge Landfill

1991 SJLF is closed to any further waste disposal

1993 DEQ issues permit to Metro for closure operations at SJLF

1996 Metro completes construction of a $36-million cover system over all buried waste at SJLF

1998 piping of methane gas from landfill to Ash Grove Cement Company begins

2003 DEQ issues a renewed 10-year closure permit and consent order for a remedial investigation/feasibility study of SJLF

2005 Metro initiates remedial investigation to assess risks to human health and the environment

2007 Metro is collecting and evaluating environmental information as needed to conduct a risk assessment

Since completing the landfill cover in 1996, Metro has spent over $10 million in ongoing maintenance and monitoring programs, special studies and restoration projects, all funded from garbage disposal fees. In total, Metro has spent about $50 million on landfill closure activities.

In 2003, Metro began to develop a work plan for a remedial investigation of St. Johns Landfill that will identify any remaining risks to health and the environment. Implementation of the workplan began in 2005. Depending on its outcome, feasible measures for controlling risks will then be evaluated. Potential future uses of the landfill will be considered and influenced by the outcome of this study.



main-aerial.jpg


The surrounding lakes, rivers, industrial areas and residential neighborhoods are notable in this aerial photograph of the landfill.
 
Here is a link to a Bing/Microsoft Virtual Earth map:

http://www.bing.com/maps/default.as...jA3Njg2MDEyODQ3OTclN2UtMTIzLjc3NDIyNzQwNDQ5OQ

and here's the tiny url:http://tinyurl.com/2cw23cl

These maps are equipped with a Birds Eye View feature which makes it easy to see detail and to rotate the map to look at all sides of a building, feature, etc.

Okay, so now here is the quote about the features of Skyline:

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/06/still_no_trace_of_kyron_horman.html

Two of the doorways are near the main office and are monitored, while a third on the north side of the school is not. Kyron's classroom is adjacent to that door, which opens onto a rear parking lot.
I look at the picture of Skyline, and I see the door on the North (more like NW) side, which is apparently under the window which the custodian is walking toward on this picture (http://media.oregonlive.com/oregonian/photo/-b06de2496f144715_custom_665xauto.jpg).

According to the article, there is a rear parking lot adjacent to the (North) door. According to the picture, there is no parking near that door.
What door (on the picture) is the so-called unmonitored door? I am trying to figure what part of any parking lot would be particularly difficult to see from a school window. I can't be sure where Kyron's classroom actually is, as all these pictures/descriptions seem to contradict one another. ????
(Did I add enough links in this post?).

PS: to get the birds eye view, click on aerial, and the option will be there.
 
I'd like to address the question that many have regarding security cameras in Oregon schools.

When my son was being bullied in middle school, I asked the district why they don't have cameras? The reason was a budget issue. Not long after that, there was a well-circulated incident of a child being bullied on a bus in an Oregon school and many districts added cameras. I'm not sure if ours did?

"Oregon faced a $3.8 billion biennium FY 2010-11 budget deficit." http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/Oregon_state_budget

The budget problem is greatly impacting our schools right now. They are even discussing going to 4 days instead of 5. I'm not trying to defend a possible lack in security, only trying to help those that live out of state to understand the monetary issues facing our state right now.
 
Does anyone else want to enlarge the pic with the janitor ( post #1) in the hallway and tell me if they think that the blue is actually bristol board and not a door? Here is an easy way to do it:

Right click on pic
click on Save image as
save to desk top
go to desk top
automatically opens in
windows picture and fax viewer
zoom in to look at all areas of the pic
 
Does anyone else want to enlarge the pic with the janitor ( post #1) in the hallway and tell me if they think that the blue is actually bristol board and not a door? Here is an easy way to do it:

Right click on pic
click on Save image as
save to desk top
go to desk top
automatically opens in
windows picture and fax viewer
zoom in to look at all areas of the pic

I enlarged in Photoshop and noted the same thing. I do not believe it is a door. I agree with Morag that the door would be on the first floor below the windows. It would not make sense for the blue thingy to be a door, because it doesn't make sense that it's on the first floor of anything. I think the staircase turns down the landing and goes down more steps.

If the door is under the windows, then it looks like it opens to a soccer field? Am I reading the maps correctly?

Hope I'm allowed to discuss photos in this thread.
 
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