Columbia Riverkeeper Sues Army Corps Over Illegal Pollution and Lack of Clean Water Act Permitting
Miles Johnson, Senior Attorney at Columbia Riverkeeper speaking at a Salmon Vigil held last August.
Permits would address dams’ heat pollution that killed Sockeye salmon last summer
From Columbia Riverkeeper:
Columbia Riverkeeper is suing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for illegal pollution of the Columbia River with hot water, oil, and toxic chemicals. Four dams operated by the Army Corps on the Columbia River between Portland, OR, and Tri-Cities, WA, discharge illegal pollution in violation of the Clean Water Act, as explained in today’s complaint.
A graph from Columbia River Inter Tribal Fish Commission
Dams on the Columbia River make the water too hot for endangered salmon and steelhead, according to government studies. Last summer, Columbia Riverkeeper captured graphic images of sockeye salmon dying from hot water in the Columbia River Gorge. Clean Water Act permits would require the Army Corps to reduce heat and other types of pollution from the dams.
“Salmon are dying because the water is too hot. It’s past time for the Army Corps to reduce illegal heat pollution from dams,” said Brett VandenHeuvel, executive director of Columbia Riverkeeper. “No one is above the law. Columbia Riverkeeper is fighting for cool, clean water—and the dams make the river too hot.”
Columbia Riverkeeper is represented in this lawsuit by the firm Kampmeier and Knutsen.
From US Army Corps of Engineers:
The US Army Corps of Engineers has received notice that the Columbia Riverkeeper organization has filed a complaint with the US District Court for Eastern Washington over concerns it has with the operations of USACE dams on the lower Columbia River.
The following is this agency’s statement on the complaint.
"We just became aware of the lawsuit and will coordinate with the Department of Justice to determine the appropriate next steps,” said Matt Rabe, Regional Director of Public Affairs. “The US Army Corps of Engineers applied for the permits at issue in this complaint in 2015, and we take our Clean Water Act obligations seriously. Our team is working tirelessly to find solutions that balance all of the purposes of the system, including the needs of fish and wildlife, flood risk management, navigation, power generation, recreation, water supply, and water quality. To dispel misinformation, USACE notes that Columbia Riverkeeper's press release does not accurately describe our ability to manage water behind the dams in the lower Columbia River. Although the pools behind the Lower Columbia River dams are considered reservoirs, they are largely not storage reservoirs, but rather run-of-river facilities. This limits our ability to impact water temperatures by drawing down water levels in the spring."
