Editing Boardman, Oregon (section)

==Economy==
[[Image:Boardman Oregon coal plant pano1.jpg|thumb|Coal plant outside of Boardman]]
As of 2013, the six largest employers in Boardman are [[Lamb Weston]] (potato products) (370 employees); Oregon Potato Company (125); [[Portland General Electric]] (PGE) (113); the Morrow County School District (106), Boardman Foods, (100) and [[Amazon S3]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Community Resources|url=http://www.boardmanchamber.org/Section/Community_Resources/index.html|publisher=Boardman Chamber of Commerce|year=2013|access-date=July 23, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130803182220/http://www.boardmanchamber.org/Section/Community_Resources/index.html|archive-date=August 3, 2013}}</ref>

The [[Port of Morrow]], Oregon's second-largest port,<ref name=ORBus>{{cite web |last= Jacklet |first= Ben |date= April 2008 |url= http://www.oregonbusiness.com/.docs/action/detail/rid/32114/pg/10002 |title= Prisontown Myth: The Promise of Prosperity Hasn't Come True for Oregon's Rural Communities |publisher= [[Oregon Business (magazine)|Oregon Business]] |access-date= June 17, 2008 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081202070225/http://www.oregonbusiness.com/.docs/action/detail/rid/32114/pg/10002 |archive-date= December 2, 2008 }}</ref> is adjacent to the city and located on the Columbia Riverfront. The port property also includes two (PGE) [[gas-fired power plant]]s.<ref name=ORBus/> PGE also had a coal-fired power plant, the [[Boardman Coal Plant]], which opened in 1980<ref name=nqredy>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PAtWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=7eEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5585%2C4428465 |work=Eugene Register-Guard |location=(Oregon) |agency=Associated Press (photo)|title=Not quite ready |date=July 17, 1980 |page=9C }}</ref> and shut down in October 2020, marking the closure of the last coal-fired power plant in Oregon after 40 years of service.<ref name="NYT coal">{{cite news|last=Yardley|first=William|title=Boardman, Ore., Considers a Future in Coal|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/19/us/boardman-ore-considers-a-future-in-coal.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0|work=The New York Times|date=April 18, 2012|access-date=July 22, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Oregon's last coal power plant shuts down for good|url=https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/boardman-coal-plant-closes-oregon/283-b7eee8a4-0ec7-4c8f-88ea-9d7e42b2516b|access-date=2020-10-25|website=kgw.com|date=20 October 2020 |language=en-US}}</ref> The Boardman Coal Plant was demolished in 2022.<ref>{{cite news|title=Boardman smokestack demolished, marking the end of a coal-fired era in Oregon|url=https://www.opb.org/article/2022/09/15/boardman-oregon-coal-smoke-stack-portland-general-electric/|access-date=September 4, 2024 | last=Banse | first=Tom}}</ref> The plant had produced power at a rate of 550 megawatts and was the largest single point of emission of greenhouse gases in Oregon.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Closure of Boardman coal-fired plant a major milestone in reducing greenhouse gas emissions|url=https://www.oregon.gov/newsroom/pages/NewsDetail.aspx?newsid=37565|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20201017110402/https://www.oregon.gov/newsroom/pages/NewsDetail.aspx?newsid=37565|archivedate=17 October 2020|work=State of Oregon Newsroom}}</ref> The [[Umatilla Chemical Depot]], which includes the [[Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility]], is {{convert|10|mi|km}} east of the city, northwest of the intersection of I-84 and [[Interstate 82 (Oregon)|Interstate 82]]. The Irrigon Fish Hatchery is {{convert|7|mi|km}} east of Boardman. Threemile Canyon Farms is the largest farm located in Boardman.

[[File:Amazon AWS us-west-2 beach AZ.jpg|thumb|Part of AWS's datacenters in Umatilla/Boardman]]
[[File:Amazon AWS us-west-2 morrow east AZ 01.jpg|thumb|Part of AWS's datacenters in Umatilla/Boardman, showing three datacenters with a fourth under construction]]

''[[The Oregonian]]'' reported in November 2008 that [[Amazon (company)|Amazon]] was building a large data center at the {{convert|9000|acre|km2|adj=on}} Port of Morrow.  The data center was to have a dedicated 10-[[megawatt]] [[electrical substation]].<ref name="oregonian">{{cite news|last=Cockle|first=Richard|title=Data Center Being Built on Columbia River|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1226028328133040.xml&coll=7|work=The Oregonian|location=Portland|date=November 7, 2008|publisher=Oregon Live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121003000216/http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1226028328133040.xml&coll=7|archivedate=October 3, 2012}}</ref> A website focused on data centers suggested the Boardman site was created in response to the rapid growth of [[Amazon Web Services]]; earlier in 2008, Amazon had announced that [[Amazon S3]] was storing 29&nbsp;billion objects (such as [[IMDb]] tables).<ref name="dck">{{cite web|last=Miller|first=Rich|title=Amazon Building Large Data Center in Oregon|date=7 November 2008 |url=http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2008/11/07/amazon-building-large-data-center-in-oregon/|publisher=Data Center Knowledge|access-date=July 21, 2013}}</ref> The Amazon data center at the Port of Morrow began operating in 2011 as one of three Amazon data centers in the region at the time.<ref name=OregonianNov2011>{{cite news|title=Amazon confirms its data center near Boardman has begun operating|first=Mike|last=Rogoway|url=https://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/2011/11/amazon_confirms_its_data_cente.html|work=The Oregonian|date=November 9, 2011|accessdate=September 4, 2024}}</ref> The project made Boardman the second Oregon city along the [[Columbia River]] to host a power-hungry data center for web services; [[Google]] already had a similar center in [[The Dalles, Oregon|The Dalles]].<ref name="oregonian"/><ref name="dck"/> By 2012, [[Apple Inc.|Apple]] had announced plans for a [[server farm]] south of The Dalles in [[Prineville, Oregon|Prineville]], where [[Facebook]] already had a similar farm. [[Rackspace]] was said to be considering  a data center at the Port of Morrow.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rogoway|first=Mike|title=Apple Lays Out Its Server Farm Plans|date=April 17, 2012|work=The Oregonian|location=Portland|edition=Sunrise|series=Business}}</ref>  According to an August 2018 article in the ''[[East Oregonian]]'', Amazon has two data centers in Boardman and one in Umatilla and is proposing to build four more data centers in the region.<ref name="eastoregonian">{{cite news|title=Amazon keeps building data centers in Umatilla, Morrow counties|url=http://www.eastoregonian.com/eo/local-news/20170317/amazon-keeps-building-data-centers-in-umatilla-morrow-counties|work=East Oregonian|date=March 18, 2018}}</ref> The three data centers in Boardman and Umatilla correspond to the three availability zones in [[Amazon Web Services|AWS]] US-West-2 (Oregon) region.

Since 2007, [[Alto Ingredients]], formerly known as [[Pacific Ethanol]], has operated an [[ethanol plant]] in Boardman.<ref>{{cite web|title=Alto|url=https://www.altoingredients.com/our-facilities/|publisher=Alto Ingredients|year=2021|access-date=October 8, 2022}}</ref> It can produce up to {{convert|40|e6USgal|L}} of ethanol a year from grains.<ref>{{cite web|title=Columbia|url=http://www.pacificethanol.net/site/index.php/facilities/facilities_article/107/|publisher=Pacific Ethanol|year=2013|access-date=July 22, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Feed Marketing|url=http://www.pacificethanol.net/site/index.php/about/feed_marketing/|publisher=Pacific Ethanol|year=2013|access-date=July 22, 2013}}</ref> ZeaChem has built a demonstration biorefinery at the Port of Morrow with a capacity of up to {{convert|250000|USgal|litre}} of ethanol a year from wood waste.<ref name="OPB Biofuel"/> The company hopes to build a much larger commercial refinery with a capacity of {{convert|25|e6USgal|L}} annually.<ref name="OPB Biofuel">{{cite news|last=Profita|first=Cassandra|title=Boardman Biofuel Plant Starts Production|url=http://www.opb.org/news/blog/ecotrope/boardman-biofuel-plant-starts-production/|publisher=Oregon Public Broadcasting|date=March 13, 2013|access-date=July 22, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.zeachem.com/about/information.php|title=Company Information|publisher=ZeaChem|access-date=November 23, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111122075254/http://www.zeachem.com/about/information.php|archive-date=November 22, 2011}}</ref> However, in April 2013, less than a month after start-up at the demonstration plant, ZeaChem halted production, citing funding problems.<ref name="OPB Halt"/> The company plans to resume production if financial backing can be found.<ref name="OPB Halt">{{cite news|last=Profita|first=Cassandra|title=ZeaChem Halts Biofuel Production in Boardman|publisher=Oregon Public Broadcasting|url=http://www.opb.org/news/blog/ecotrope/zeachem-halts-biofuel-production-in-boardman/|date=April 2, 2013|access-date=July 22, 2013}}</ref>

===Coal export===
[[Ambre Energy]], a company based in Australia, proposed in 2011 to use the Port of Morrow as a transfer point for shipping U.S. coal to Asia. Ambre wants to export up to {{convert|8.8|e6ST|MT}} of coal per year from the [[Powder River Basin]] in Wyoming and Montana. It would ship the coal by train to Boardman, where it would be loaded on barges and hauled down the Columbia River to the [[Port of St. Helens]]. There it would be transferred to ocean-going ships headed for China, South Korea, Japan, and other Asian countries.<ref name="Ambre proposal">{{cite news|last=Case|first=Elizabeth|title=Supporters and Opponents Speak Out About Coal at Portland Hearing|work=The Oregonian|location=Portland|publisher=Oregon Live|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2013/07/supporters_and_opponents_speak.html|date=July 9, 2013|access-date=July 23, 2013}}</ref>

The Ambre plan generated controversy among proponents touting economic benefits and opponents fearing environmental damage. In 2014, the [[Oregon Department of State Lands]] denied the company a necessary permit for the project,<ref name="Ambre proposal"/> and the company abandoned the coal shipping proposal in 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcrightnow.com/archives/request-denied-for-new-coal-dock-in-boardman/article_c6e5e845-e33d-53d5-aa94-5e6c8b819876.html|title=Request denied for new coal dock in Boardman|date=November 11, 2016|work=NonStop Local Tri-Cities/Yakima|publisher=NBC|accessdate=September 4, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.eastoregonian.com/news/local/boardman-coal-company-dumps-morrow-pacific-project/article_802857bb-763d-5dde-abf7-8077af88959c.html|title=Boardman: Coal company dumps Morrow Pacific Project|first=George|last=Plaven|work=East Oregonian|date=October 13, 2016|accessdate=September 4, 2024}}</ref>