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NFC: Fw: [currents] RiverCurrents Online -- Week of February 18, 2000



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 River News for the Week of Febraury 18, 2000


COLUMBIA RIVER: Calling the move "inevitable," on Monday a coalition of
environmental organizations filed the first lawsuit aimed at the proposed
deepening of the Columbia River shipping channel in order to protect
endangered salmon.  "When federal agencies such as the Army Corps want to
destroy salmon habitat and the responsible fish protection agency, the
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), steps aside to let them do it,
a
lawsuit is inevitable," said Nina Bell, Executive Director of Northwest
Environmental Advocates.  The lawsuit asks a federal court in Seattle to
set
aside the December, 1999 approval of the project by NMFS. The federal
fisheries agency was required to rule on the channel deepening project
because there are 13 stocks of salmon  listed under the federal
Endangered
Species Act that use the Lower Columbia River.  Every adult and juvenile
salmon in the Columbia River Basin must pass through the estuary, where
they
make the transition from fresh to salt water and back again.  The estuary
is
a critical nursery area for juvenile salmon, as well as sturgeon, smelt,
crabs, and other wildlife. In its Biological Opinion giving channel
deepening a green light, NMFS urged the project's sponsor, the Army Corps
of
Engineers, to conduct further studies and to make efforts to restore
habitat
in the estuary, but only after the Corps has completed the dredging
project.
Joining Northwest Environmental Advocates and American Rivers as
plaintiffs
are the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, Institute
for
Fisheries Resources, and Trout Unlimited.

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NW SALMON: This week federal officials were “swamped” by a steady
processing
of local residents and members of fishing and conservation groups
concerned
about the decline of salmon runs over the last three decades,
repercussions
on the community and the desire to bring the salmon. As reports the Daily
Astorian (2/17), “nearly everyone who spoke told the federal government
that
tearing down the Snake River dams is one of the best ways to ensure
salmon's
return - and help revive a struggling commercial fishing industry.” A
common
feeling expressed was that the cost of not removing the dams was salmon
extinction and a profound change in the way of life for the lower
Columbia
River.

     *     *     *

MINING: This week after a disastrous cyanide spill in Eastern Europe,
devastating aquatic life in the Tisza and Danube rivers, the Philadelphia
Inquirer (2/15) reported on the wide-spread use of cyanide in mining.  As
reports the Inquirer, cyanide “has been a boon to the mining industry,
but a
bane to the environment.” The extremely toxic substance is used to remove
gold from ore, allowing mining companies to go back to old, played out
mines. But it also threatens rivers worldwide – in the US alone, more
than
100 million pounds of cyanide are now being used annually in mining. Two
years ago, voters decided to ban cyanide mining in Montana, where the
Blackfoot River was being threatened by a proposed cyanide mine a quarter
mile from its banks. Other cyanide mining incidents in the US include the
abandoned Summitville Mine, in Summitville, Colorado, where cyanide was
found to be leaking into the Alamosa River. The EPA has since spent $170
million over eight years, cleaning up the site. In fact, the president of
the Mineral Policy Center in the US this week said that Eastern Europe’s
spill is “comparable in size and environmental impact to the 1992
Summitville mine cyanide spill.”(Colorado Springs Gazette 2/16). Colorado
cracked down on gold mines following that spill. In Idaho, the US Forest
Service has been forced to take emergency action to stop cyanide from
leaking out of waste ponds at the Heleca Mining Co.'s Grouse Creek Mine
into
Jordan Creek, which provides critical habitat for chinook salmon.

In another mining story, in Nevada, environmentalists, ranchers and
Native
Americans have joined together in an effort to combat gold mines in
Nevada
that use large amounts of water from underground aquifers, reports the
Wall
Street Journal (2/16). The groundwater level has dropped more than 1000
feet
in some places in Nevada, which could be the largest such decline in the
world. Since aquifers are critical for environmental and agricultural
uses,
the mining industry must limit its operations, say critics of the
practice.

     *     *     *

DAM REMOVAL: A proposal to remove Eno Dam on the Eno River between Durham
and Hillsborough in North Carolina is currently being studied by state
officials. With the intention of returning the river to its natural flow,
this is the latest dam in the state to be targeted for removal to restore
waterways to their natural states and help migrating fish spawn. The dam
is
only 12 feet high, but slows the river to a crawl for a mile and a half,
reports the Wilmington Morning Star (2/15). The proposal to remove the
dam
will be studied by state engineers for six months – if approved and the
“price tag is reasonable,” the dam could come out within three years. The
dam currently is cracked and unsafe, and impedes spawning migration of
fish,
snails and freshwater mussels.

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SPOKANE RIVER: State and federal environmental officials met this week to
discus the public health risks of lead in the Spokane River in Idaho,
reports the Spokesman Review (2/13). The lead comes from a legacy of
Idaho
mining activities, washing down from the Lake Coeur d'Alene onto beaches
and
shorelines along the river. Samples taken in 1998 and 1999 of shoreline
sediments show extremely high lead levels -- 470 to 3,500 parts per
million -- at several sites.  The EPA, local health district officials
and
the Washington Department of Ecology, will be asking the public for
comment
on their uses of the river. As reports the Review, “with input from the
public, the EPA can develop a stronger risk model for the Spokane River.”
At
most concern is elevated lead levels in children – with sufficient
exposure,
lead can cause mental retardation and other developmental problems.

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ALABAMA STURGEON: A voluntary agreement between the federal and state
governments and a business coalition might keep the Alabama sturgeon off
the
federal list of endangered species. As reports the Birmingham News
(2/16),
the US Fish and Wildlife Service says the agreement is very significant,
and
will be used by the agency to determine whether or not to list the fish
as
endangered. The agreement sets out specific conservation measures to
ensure
the continued existence and recovery of the Alabama sturgeon. As reports
the
News, “the state would capture and maintain the fish for propagation,
create
hatcheries, protect and study the fish's habitat and reintroduce the
species
where appropriate.” Together, the parties involved promise to provide
$952,000 this year to carry out the plan.

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DAM RELICENSING: Tacoma Power has applied to the Federal Energy
Regulatory
Commission (FERC) for a new 40-year license for the Cowlitz hydroelectric
project in Washington State on the Cowlitz River. In the hopes of
receiving
a new license to allow them to continue to run the Mayfield and Mossyrick
hydroelectric dams, the company is prepared to spend tens of millions of
dollars improving runs of chinook and coho salmon and steelhead. To that
end, the company has “drafted an environmental study listing a handful of
alternative methods for restoring runs on what is one of the most
productive
salmon and steelhead rivers in the Northwest,” reports the Tacoma News
Tribune (2/13). An official with Tacoma Power says that this effort is
“one
of the largest and most controversial projects to go through FERC's new
relicensing process.” Relicensing will cost about $1.5 million. Last year
FERC offered the utility a license under terms that Tacoma Power
calculated
would cost $2.5 million a year more than it could charge for the
electricity
generated, reports the Tribune.

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DAM OPERATION: Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt this week said that “all
federal dams should undergo the same periodic full-scale review of
operations, benefits and environmental impacts that privately owned dams
are
subject to,” reports the Seattle Post Intelligencer (2/12). His statement
came during celebration of the agreement to remove two privately owned
dams
from the Elwha River on the Olympic Peninsula. The removal of these dams
is
in part thanks to the requirement that privately owned dams must be
relicensed through FERC, says Babbitt. Salmon runs are expected now to
restore themselves within 30 years, with removal of the dams, which were
built more than 70 years ago without fish ladders.

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ATLANTIC SALMON: In order to help growers comply with the state's
Atlantic
salmon conservation plan, Maine's $75 million wild blueberry industry is
asking the Legislature for $8.3 million that would underwrite much of the
cost of moving irrigation pumps out of the state's salmon rivers and
constructing alternative water sources. As reports the Bangor Daily News
(2/16), the funds would also be used to “help growers negotiate the state
and federal permitting processes for impoundments and other water
sources.”
The state’s Atlantic salmon conservation plan calls for the development
of a
water use management plan to protect Atlantic salmon habitat. The salmon
conservation plan was developed in an effort to keep the federal
government
from listing salmon in seven rivers as a threatened species. More than
15,000 acres in the watershed of three of the rivers are irrigated by
major
growers who hope to use irrigation in combination with other practices to
result in a 150-million-pound crop within 10 years.

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CHESAPEAKE BAY: This week Maryland Governor Parris Glendening committed
an
additional $10 million to a program that provides farmers an incentive to
develop buffers along streams. With a $100 per acre signing bonus to
farmers
who participate, the program hopes to lead to the creation of 100,000
acres
of stream buffers. As reports the Baltimore Sun (2/18), farmers are
encouraged through the program to plant trees and grasses around streams,
as
opposed to crops from which fertilizer-tainted runoff often enters
streams.
The program is hoped to remove more than 5,750 tons of nitrogen, 550 tons
of
phosphorus and 200,000 tons of sediment from the Chesapeake Bay and its
tributaries each year.

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 Interested in Legislative Policy Updates? Email Suzy McDowell at
 smcdowell at amrivers_org with your name, address with nine-digit zip code,
and
 email to be placed on the weekly river policy update listserve.

 American Rivers is also involved in a campaign to reform operations by
the
 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to restore habitat for river wildlife and
 reduce future flood losses. To receive periodic updates on this
activity,
 email Suzy McDowell at smcdowell at amrivers_org with your name, address
with
 nine-digit zip code, and email address.

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 For more news, visit American Rivers at www.amrivers.org