Crowd pushes feds
to rip out Klamath River dams
Hundreds of people
turned out Thursday night in a
passionate display before federal
regulators to tell them that the
dams on the Klamath River should be
torn down.
Staff with the
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission -- charged with issuing
another license for four
hydropower dams owned by
Pacificorp -- heard speaker after
speaker demand the agency consider
removing the dams instead of
letting them continue to operate.
The health of the regional
economy, of people and of fish
runs is more important than the
pittance of power the dams
generate, they were told.
”I plead with
you,” said conservationist
Claire Courtney, “use no other
option -- take the four dams
down.”
So many showed
up that about 200 people
packed the hallway outside the
hearing room at the Red Lion
Inn. Frustrated people were
turned away as the 350 people
in the room was the maximum
allowable according to fire
codes.
FERC's John
Mudre, assessing the
situation in the hall,
blamed local biologist Pat
Higgins and the media for
getting too many people to
turn out to a public
meeting.
”You guys
caused the problem,”
Mudre said.
FERC
booked the same room --
with similar results --
in June 2004.
The
commission has the
authority to issue
another license to
Pacificorp.
During
the hearing, Mudre
said that the term of
the license could be
30 or 50 years. The
agency recently
released its draft
Environmental Impact
Statement, which
outlined its intent to
leave the Iron Gate,
Copco I, Copco II and
J.C. Boyle dams in
place.
But
an administrative
law judge's ruling
last month made it
clear that
Pacificorp would
likely have to build
fish ladders to
allow salmon to
reach hundreds of
miles of spawning
grounds cut off by
the dams. Pacificorp
has proposed to trap
fish and truck them
above and below the
dams.
”The
salmon need to go
home,” Yurok
Tribal Chairman
Howard McConnell
said. “Their
home is the Upper
Klamath Basin. The
time is now.”
Repeatedly FERC
staff was
admonished for
not analyzing
removal of the
four dams, and
were called on
to heed a recent
California
Coastal
Conservancy
study that holds
that
decommissioning
the structures
is not nearly as
expensive as
building fish
ladders. They
were also told
that the federal
document fails
to address the
cultural costs
of the dams to
American Indian
tribes like the
Yurok, Hoopa and
Karuk, or
economic costs
to fishermen.
State Sen. Wes
Chesbro said
FERC's current
tack would be
about “as
effective as
putting
lipstick on a
pig.”
He told the
representatives
that
removing the
four dams
should be
the
centerpiece
of FERC's
proposal,
and said
that up to
$525 million
through
Proposition
84, passed
this month
by voters,
could be
used toward
taking out
the dams.
Agencies
like the
National
Marine
Fisheries
Service
and the
U.S. Fish
and
Wildlife
Service
must
finalize
conditions
for fish
passage
and other
issues by
January
30, and
FERC's
final
environmental
document
is due in
April.
Then, both
California
and Oregon
must
consider
issuing
water
quality
certifications
before a
federal
license
can be
granted.
Comments on
FERC's
draft
Environmental
Impact
Statement
are due
by
December
1. The
document
can be
viewed
at
www.ferc.gov.
Search
for
Klamath.