Where are the ground studies about OSU-Pumice Pit?

West side location opponents' organization

Last year, the brain trust at OSU-Cascades promised "due diligence" by funding studies to show if building Central Oregon's long-awaited four-year university on a former pumice pit was viable.

The first study showed that the pumice pit was not suitable for multi-story buildings.

But, where is the second study?

It was supposed to come out this spring, but no sign of it yet.

The reason, no doubt, is that they have to rewrite so it sounds like OSU could build on a pumice pit if it really wanted to.

The engineers, who (like anyone) can be paid what to say, would have to wash their hands of the decision and let OSU take the fall later on when the ground proves unstable as it has at other locations on the west side of Bend.

Also, Deschutes County is doing a study of the old demolition landfill that OSU wants to build on in the future. No sign of that study either.

It would seem that to merely prep all the sites for any buildings, without any infrastructure, would cost close to $50 million.

For that kind of dough, we would have a nice interchange on Bend's north end that would satisfy the state's concerns about development at Juniper Ridge where OSU-Cascades should go.

But, no. Instead, we get whiny articles in the local daily paper from toadies like Bruce Abernethy who dismiss opponents of OSU-Pumice pit as a small faction with NIMBY sentiments.

Actually, if there were a vote about the location OSU on Bend's west side, a vast majority of citizens of the city would reject that idea. And, amazingly, not all opponents of the site live on the west side.

Abernethy and other OSU-Pumice Pit apologists arrogantly claim that only a location on Bend's west side would attract students to Bend. What they are really saying is that all those who don't live on the west side don't really live in Bend. That the rest of Bend sucks.

Well, OSU never bothered to ask the citizens of Bend where they would like the campus. Only a handful of developers decided the location. Now, the school officials are pouting that anyone would question their "wonderful" decision.

It's time for OSU to release the studies and face the backlash.