River News for the Week of December 8, 2000
REFORM OF THE CORPS: A 10-month investigation by the federal government's independent Office of Special Counsel revealed that the Army Corps of Engineers manipulated data in a seven-year study - the Upper Mississippi River-Illinois Waterway Navigation Study - to support a $1 billion expansion of locks on the Upper Mississippi River in Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri. The investigation was prompted by a whistle-blower, Corps economist Don Sweeney of the St. Louis district, who came forward with allegations that top Corps officials in Washington, D.C., Vicksburg, Miss., and Rock Island, Ill., purposefully overestimated demand for barge traffic to convince Congress that 1,200-foot-long locks on the Upper Mississippi were economically justified. The Office of Special Counsel also found that an "institutional bias for large-scale construction projects" may exist throughout the Corps, jeopardizing its objectivity. According to Sweeney's affidavit, Corps officials directed him to ignore the possibility of towboats' helping one another through the locks more rapidly during periods of high congestion (a common practice). They also directed Sweeney to alter a key term used in estimating the real economic value of reducing barge congestion. Corps officials directed that another study be altered to state that immediate lock extensions would save millions of dollars. The charges have led to congressional hearings and prompted the Army to ask the National Academy of Sciences to review the study. The results of this review are expected in February 2001. (American Rivers release 12/6).
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ENDANGERED SPECIES: This week the Rocky Mountain News reviewed the plight of four endangered fish species in the Colorado River: the Colorado pikeminnow, razorback sucker, humpback chub and bonytail. About $100 million has already been spent over the last two decades to recover the species, and the price tag could continue to climb to $238 million in the next 10 years. As reports the Journal Geology (12/1), marine life in the Colorado River delta has declined by 95 percent since the 1930s when new dams began diverting water to the cities of the Southwest. All in all, dams, ditches and predators have led to the decline of native species. And all species are important, says Bob Burdick of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, since even the small ones are cogs in the wheels of nature with every species needing each other. As reports the Rocky Mountain News, the Endangered Species Act dictates that these fish and other imperiled species be protected, regardless of cost.
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RAPPAHANNOCK RIVER: 75 workers from across the Rappahannock watershed came together last weekend to transform a serious erosion problem on the Rappahannock River into a stable bank. Some 600 feet of vertical eroding river bank was sending large amounts of sediment downstream with every rainstorm. Following work by the Virginia Department of Transportation to grade back the bank, the volunteers came together to tackle the riverbank and the adjoining uplands by planting trees and bushes, laying rock, and setting "biologs," cedar revetments, and erosion fabric.
The project was coordinated by the Friends of the Rappahannock, and is receiving funding and assistance from the federal Chesapeake Bay Program, the VA Department of Conservation and Recreation, the VA Department of Forestry, the VA Department of Transportation, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the Natural Resource Conservation Service, Culpeper Soil and Water Conservation District, and the Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program of the National Park Service. (How's that for a good news story, you all??!)
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MORE ENDANGERED SPECIES: Following the announcement by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last week that the agency is ordering almost all listing efforts to stop because it cannot afford to list any more species in fiscal year 2001, several environmental groups are preparing to sue the agency for violating the Endangered Species Act. The agency says it has no money to fund the listing of species under the act due to the large amount of litigation over critical habitat that has resulted in numerous court orders and settlement agreements. The orders and settlement agreements will consume nearly all or all of the Service's listing budget for FY 2001, says the agency. The agency will also not respond to new petitions this fiscal year, ending September 30, 2001. As reports Greenwire (12/6), the agency requested less money for FY '01 than it did for '00, -- $7.2 million in FY '01, down from the $7.5 million request in '00, and $3 million less than the Bush administration's FY '92 appropriation of $10.2 million. But FWS spokesman Hugh Vickery says that comparing the 1992 budget with this year's is like comparing apples and oranges because at the time of comparison, the listing budget did not include prelisting and delisting work, which it now does.
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CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has delayed a decision on drawing down Chattahoochee River reservoirs in Florida to float a barge carrying new generators to a nuclear power plant in Alabama due to concerns of already low water levels along the waterway. As reports the Florida Times Union (12/4), the Southern Nuclear Operating Company has requested that water be released from West Point Lake near LaGrange and Lake Seminole along the Georgia-Florida line, but the Corps is holding off until concerns of interests along the river are heard. The company is hoping to provide enough water to float three 360-ton steam generators from Apalachicola, Fla., to the Farley Nuclear Plant near Dothan, Ala, saying that they cannot be transported by road or rail. A public hearing is expected within the next couple weeks. Water resource officials are concerned about the low water level of the reservoirs and its further lowering in case of drought.
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IDAHO WATERS: Almost half of all the rivers and streams evaluated in Idaho fail to meet water quality standards for fishing, aquatic life or recreation, says the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality. 8,229.6 stream miles do not support their designated uses as set by the state, representing 47 percent of the total stream miles for which the department has enough information to assess their health. As reports the Idaho Statesman (12/4), that number is worse than the national average - currently 35 percent. Beyond the polluted rivers and streams, another 4 percent of streams in the state are considered potentially "threatened" by pollutants, such as sediment from streamside runoff. However, the numbers might be misleading since the worst sections of rivers were evaluated first, making Idaho look bad in comparison to those states that do testing on a more random basis, says Michael Edmondson, a DEQ water quality science officer. A look to its neighbors shows that Oregon lists 26 percent of its assessed rivers and streams as being too polluted to support swimming, fishing or aquatic life, while Washington has identified 44 percent of its rivers and streams.
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HUDSON RIVER: The US EPA has ordered the dredging of 500 acres of PCB-contaminated sediment from a 35-mile stretch of the Hudson River in New York State to clean up 30 years of PCB contamination. GE argues that the contamination is now safely contained within the river bottom sediment, but the EPA disagrees, and says the company will have to bear the cost of the cleanup if the proposal becomes a formal order next year. As reports the New York Times (12/6), "a G.E. spokesman called the $490 million plan unprecedented in its scope and reckless for the health of the river." The EPA plan to dredge the river will be finalized in June after a 60-day public comment period. The EPA plans a targeted cleanup over five years in sections of the riverbed between Albany and Hudson Falls to the north, and it is expected to start in 2003. One hurdle the EPA faces is finding sites to store the dredged PCBs. A spokesman for GE says that the project is one that will "devastate the ecosystem of the Hudson for a generation." (CNN.com 12/6) Further, GE Vice President Stephen Ramsey says that "The company is never going to shy away from spending money if it will have a positive impact on cleaning the river up. We're not inclined to spend money if its going to result in the destruction of this ecosystem.'' (Albany Times Union 12/7).
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OREGON WETLANDS: $25 million has been authorized by the federal Migratory Bird Conservation Commission for wetlands projects across North America. As reports the Portland Oregonian (12/4), Oregon will benefit from the authorization through the funding of three major projects to buy, protect and restore thousands of acres of wetlands across the state, including more than 2,000 acres along the Willamette River. The projects include the protection and restoration of about 2,000 acres of wetlands along the Willamette River from Eugene to Portland through conservation easements, land purchases and donations, and repair of damaged wetlands; the purchase of nearly 6,000 acres of wetlands in the 32,000-acre Sycan Marsh northwest of Klamath Falls and restoration of 2,600 acres of wetlands and buffer property; and finally, the purchase and restoration of more than 4,600 acres of wetland and streamside habitat in the Grande Ronde and Baker Valleys of eastern Oregon and Washington, more than tripling the expanse of protected marsh in the valleys.
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SNAKE RIVER: Out of concern for the health of the Snake River's chinook, sockeye and steelhead runs, the US Army Corps of Engineers has canceled plans to dredge portions of the Snake River after concerns about salmon were raised by the National Marine Fisheries Service and others. The Portland Oregonian (12/4) reports that the Corps will instead warn barge companies about potential high spots in the bottom of the lower Snake River that will be left in place due to the cancellation of this winter's river maintenance contract. The Corps had planned to dredge the river from December 15 to March 1 when they felt the effect on salmon would be minimal since fewer of the fish would be in the river at that time. However, the National Marine Fisheries Service "raised concerns about the potential loss of spawning habitat if cobblestones are removed from the lock approaches."
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YAZOO PUMPS: The Army Corps of Engineers wants to spend 181 million federal tax dollars to build the world's largest hydraulic pumping plant known as the Yazoo Backwater Pumps. The project is designed to control flooding on 600,000 acres of northwestern Mississippi, but environmentalists say that it would instead drain and damage 200,000 acres of wetlands. Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt has called the project the "most cockamamie" project he has ever heard of, reports American Rivers. American Rivers also says that this single Corps project would damage twice as many acres of wetlands as are destroyed by all other public and private projects across the nation during an entire year. The public comment period is open until December 8, 2000. With the deadline fast approaching, environmental and special interest groups have coordinated efforts in a "Dump the Pumps" campaign featuring a website that "asserts the project would harm the environment by draining 200,000 acres of wetlands and increasing pesticide pollution by allowing for increased agricultural production," reports Greenwire (12/7). The "Dump the Pumps" site can be found at: http://www.dumpthepumps.org/
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WHITE RIVER: The Indiana General Assembly this week released a 6 page comprehensive report ordered by the Indiana General Assembly that concludes that the state's regulations were inadequate to deal with the massive 1999 fish kill on the White River. The report was ordered to address ways in which to restore the river, what new laws could help reduce the likelihood of similar events, and how to improve the response if another disaster occurs. The Indianapolis Star (12/6) says that the report does not seem to address many of those concerns, since it contains no analysis of what happened when chemicals crippled the Anderson wastewater treatment plant a year ago, killing most of the fish in the White River, and only once regulatory change. Environmentalists say the report is not comprehensive and lacks substance. The fish kill in December of 1999 in Madison County is considered one of the state's worst environmental disasters, spreading 50 miles and resulting in a final count of 117 tons of dead fish. The report's only policy recommendation is for the state to take over regulation of industrial wastewater pretreatment plants from federal regulators - a move that was already in place before the ecological disaster.
Restoration efforts along the river continue, with more than 300,000 bass, bluegill, crappies and catfish already released at 18 sites between Anderson and Indianapolis by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and a private organization, White River Rescue 2000.
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WILLAMETTE RIVER: People who eat fish from parts of the Willamette River are at a greater risk of cancer, reports the AP (12/6). The findings come from a study of a 45-mile stretch of the river between Oregon City and Salem by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. Anglers who consume many of the fish they catch from the river, women of childbearing age and children are at highest risk of health problems. The study looked for 85 chemical compounds known to cause health problems if consumed in excessive amounts in four fish species -- carp, largescale sucker, northern pikeminnow and smallmouth bass -- and confirmed results of studies in the past 20 years.
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ATLANTIC SALMON: The state of Maine this week appealed the federal government's decision to list wild Atlantic salmon as endangered on several Maine rivers. The state says that the government listed the salmon on the endangered species list less than two years after determining that the species was not likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future, says the Portland Press Herald (12/8). The listing applies to salmon in eight rivers - the Dennys, East Machias, Machias, Pleasant, Narraguagus, Ducktrap and Sheepscot, and Cove Brook. Federal protections will remain in effect until the court acts on the state's appeal, which is not expected for several months.
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