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NFC: Fw: [currents] RiverCurrents Online -- Week of June 25, 1999





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River News for the Week of June 25, 1999

MISSOURI RIVER: Senator Bob Kerrey (D-NE) introduced his Missouri River
Valley Improvement Act of 1999 this week, a $320 million bill designed to
revitalize riverfronts, attract recreation and tourism, and protect river
wildlife.  Kerrey's bill, co-sponsored by Senator Tom Daschle (D-SD),
authorizes new riverfront revitalization projects, interpretive centers,
and
recreational facilities, establishes a river monitoring program, and
expands
existing habitat restoration efforts in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and
Missouri.
The bill also requires the Corps of Engineers and the Department of
Interior
to consider whether to create a habitat restoration program for the
Dakotas
and Eastern Montana, acquire land from willing sellers to expand the
Missouri's refuge system, and to study dam operations designed to aid
cottonwood along the 149-mile Wild and Scenic segment in Montana. The
bill
also amends the Flood Control Act of 1944 to put fish and wildlife on an
equal footing with navigation, flood control, hydropower and irrigation.
(American Rivers press release 6/24).

     *     *     *

CUYAHOGA RIVER: June of 1999 marks the 30th anniversary of the burning of
the Cuyahoga River in Ohio, an event that mobilized America’s commitment
to
cleanup its rivers. As a result, water quality has improved across the
nation and today the Cuyahoga is “clean but not pristine." Sewage from
Cleveland and runoff from fertilized farm fields still enters the river
during heavy rainfalls. The river will not burn again, but today’s rivers
face an even greater threat -- population growth and unchecked sprawl are
among the fastest growing, most ominous threats to our nation’s rivers,
which was highlighted in this year’s Most Endangered Rivers report
published
by American Rivers. As reports American Rivers (6/21), “Today’s challenge
is
not to allow the threats of sprawl and development to overtake the gains
of
the Clean Water Act. At one time, cities measured their prosperity by the
pollution their rivers evidenced. Today, they are recognizing clean,
healthy
rivers as a valuable asset that leads to quality of life, recreational
opportunities, and improved health.”

     *     *     *

GOOD PIG MANURE: Canadian scientists have created a pig “whose manure is
expected to do far less harm to the environment than the poop of ordinary
porkers,” reports the Boston Globe (6/24). The cells of the animals have
been modified to create the “first animals designed specifically to
combat
an environmental problem.” The manure of the “Enviropig” contains less
phosphorus, a pollutant of waterways, making it safer to use as
fertilizer.

     *     *     *

TROUT: Nine environmental groups have filed a suit on behalf of
California’s
threatened steelhead trout, claiming that the National Marine Fisheries
Service has failed to protect the fish. As reports the Center for
Biological
Diversity (6/22), the suit identifies more than 30 streams from San Luis
Obispo County to Sonoma County that have been bulldozed or degraded,
destroying trout habitat. Jeff Miller of the Alameda Creek Alliance was
quoted as saying: "Some of these streams already have so few steelhead
left
that we've considered naming them rather than counting them.”

     *     *     *

DAMS: The Elwha Dam on the Elwha River on the Olympic Peninsula in
Washington will no longer be used as a bartering chip by Sen. Slade
Gorton
to protect the lower Snake River dams. As reports the Tacoma News Tribune
(6/21), “aides to Gorton have confirmed that the appropriations bill he
unveils Tuesday won't require protection for the four dams as a condition
for funding to remove two dams to improve salmon passage on the Elwha
River
south of Port Angeles on the Olympic Peninsula.” Gorton feels he has come
up
with other strategies for saving the Snake River dams, such as the
language
he was able to successfully pass in the Energy and Water appropriations
bill
that would most likely prevent the Bonneville Power Administration from
saving up enough money to breach the dams.

     *     *     *

CHESAPEAKE BAY WATERS: 10 rivers entering the Chesapeake Bay pose “high
levels of concern,” containing metals, banned pesticides, and PCBs. In
particular, sediment in the Magothy River contains arsenic; sediment in
the
Severn river contains copper, zinc and nickel; and banned pesticides,
Dieldrin and DDT have been found in the upper reaches of the Chester
River.
The Potomac River still evidences polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). A
recent
study examined 31 rivers with 10 being identified as areas of concern..
Most
of the contaminants are identified as resulting from non-point sources,
including significant urban runoff. The report is the “first
comprehensive
attempt to gauge the amount of toxic chemicals that have seeped into the
tidal rivers feeding the Chesapeake Bay,” reports the Newport News
(6/23).

     *     *     *

ICHETUCKNEE SPRINGS: The Ichetucknee Springs State Park is benefiting
from a
decision by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to reject
Suwannee American Cement Co.'s proposed factory near the park. The
decision
was based on the parent company’s poor environmental track record. As
reports the Tallahassee Democrat (6/22), the Department used “a seldom
used
state code that allows regulators to consider an applicant's past
compliance
with DEP rules in determining whether to issue new environmental
permits.”
The company will challenge the ruling.

     *     *     *

FORESTS AND WATER QUALITY: Water management and watershed health will be
the
new management standard for the US Forest Service, according to the
Forest
Service Director, Mike Dombeck. Timber sales, which had typically funded
most of the forest service programs, had traditionally made timber
production the guiding standard, with recreation, water quality, wildlife
and other issues taking a back seat. As reports the AP, “the new focus
will
require new funding sources, especially as timber sales decline.”

     *     *     *

SAN PEDRO RIVER: An agreement was signed by the US and Mexico to
coordinate
efforts to save the San Pedro River, listed as one of the nation’s most
endangered rivers of 1999 by American Rivers. The San Pedro is Arizona’s
largest undammed river, and is a “critical rest stop in southeastern
Arizona
for millions of migrating birds.” As reports the Phoenix Arizona Republic
(6/23), Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt also announced a major
initiative
to purchase land and water rights to keep the river wet, but some critics
claim the agreement is simply a “mirage” that will not substantially
assist
the river.

     *     *     *

ALABAMA STURGEON: The US Fish and Wildlife Service’s intent to place the
Alabama sturgeon on the endangered species list is being opposed by the
Alabama-Tombigbee coalition which says the listing could interrupt
river-based commerce over much of Alabama and the Tennessee-Tombigbee
Waterway. Such a listing would halt all federally funded or regulated
activities harmful to the fish, which is no longer found in 85% of its
natural habitat. Sam Hamilton, Regional Director U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service in Atlanta, says that “listing the sturgeon will not stop any of
these activities, period. There are already four federally listed species
in
those rivers, one a sturgeon. Adding another will not change anything.”
(U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service news release 6/23). Others opposed to the
listing claim that the fish is not significantly different from the
“flourishing” shovelnose and pallid sturgeons, and hence is not
endangered
at all.

     *     *     *

HYDROPOWER RELICENSING: Friends of the Presumpscot River will challenge a
bid by Sappi Fine Paper to renew their licenses for its hydroelectric
dams
along the Presumpscot River. Licenses on five of the dams will expire in
2001, requiring the company to relicense the dams through the Federal
Energy
Regulatory Commission. The conservation group is opposing license
renewals
for three of those dams, saying that they don’t generate enough power to
compensate for their effect on the environment. As reports the Bangor
Daily
News (6/23), removal of the dams would return 10 miles of the river to a
free-flowing state.

     *     *     *

VIRGINIA WATERS: A lawsuit filed by the American Canoe Association and
the
American Littoral Society has won a court order compelling federal
officials
to more aggressively monitor pollutants allowed in Virginia’s waters. The
suit claimed that the EPA was not enforcing the Clean Water Act, and will
require Virginia to set pollution levels for the waterways. If the state
fails to do so under a specified schedule, the EPA will draft guidelines
and
ensure compliance. “The order could lead to a major cleanup of rivers and
the Chesapeake Bay and to rebounding populations of fish and aquatic
 plants,” reports the Washington Post (6/23). Critics of the ruling feel
that the “EPA settlement of the cases could lead to unnecessary intrusion
by
the federal government and give the agency power to dictate land-use
patterns and economic development.”

     *     *     *

PENOBSCOT RIVER: In an effort to clean up the mercury in the Penobscot
river
in Maine, the Maine People's Alliance and the Natural Resources Defense
Council have submitted a notice of intent to file. As reports the Bangor
Daily News (6/22), this move could either “help this slow-moving project
along or stall it through legal wrangling.” The State of Maine and
HoltraChem, the current owner of the chlor-alkali facility near the
river,
have been working over a year to limit mercury emissions which cause
behavioral and physiological disorders. The hotspots of mercury in the
river, however, precede the ownership of the facility by HoltraChem.

     *     *     *

MINING: Taxpayers in Montana will likely have to come up with as much as
$400,000 to maintain the now-defunct Zortman and Landusky mines for the
rest
of the year, since the company maintaining the gold mines walked off the
job
this week. The state of Montana informed Reclamation Services Corp. of
New
York that it would be fired since it had already spent its annual budget
in
just six months. The company was formed when the now-bankrupt Pegasus
Gold
Corp. reorganized. Pegasus was the company that was fighting to build a
cyanide leach gold mine near the headwaters of the Blackfoot river,
prompting American Rivers to list the river as one of the nation’s most
endangered rivers of 1998. As reports the Missoulian (6/25), reclamation
of
the mines is expected to begin by the end of 1999 or beginning of 2000.

     *     *     *

STEEL MANUFACTURING: In an effort to reduce nitrate discharge into the
Connoquenessing Creek in Pennsylvania, the Armco plant in Bulter, PA will
be
using hydrogen peroxide to clean its steel, rather than nitric acid. The
plant must reduce the nitrate discharge or loose its state
water-discharge
permit, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer (6/21). The company believes
this
is the first time a steelmaker has attempted to use peroxide to clean or
“pickle” steel.

     *     *     *

STREAM ACCESS: Access to stream banks along private lands is at the
center
of a debate in Oregon as a bill sponsored by the Association of Northwest
Steelheaders died this week in committee. As reports the Portland
Oregonian
(6/22), the bill that would have granted recreational access to
streambanks
almost made it out of the Senate, but was killed by strong opposition
from
agricultural groups and other activist landowners. With the failure of
the
bill, “the steelheaders plan to press a lawsuit the group hopes will
force
the state to declare more rivers as navigable, meaning the public has the
right to use the banks below the normal high-water line.” So far, only 10
rivers in Oregon are officially declared “navigable.”

     *     *     *

NIAGARA RIVER: Pollution from chemical plants along the Niagara River has
significantly decreased by as much as 50 percent or more over the past 12
years. However, 18 “priority toxics,” including mercury, arsenic, lead,
PCBs
and dioxin, still pollute the river, according to a progress report for
the
Niagara River Toxics Management Plan. Though progress has been made, the
end
goal is to be able to consume the fish from the river. Advisories to
limit
consumption of sport fish taken from the river, prompted by elevated
concentrations of mercury, PCBs and mirex, remain in effect, reports the
Buffalo News (6/22).


     *     *     *
     *     *     *

ACTION ITEMS:
LOWER SNAKE RIVER: Billions of dollars have already been spent on failing
efforts to save Pacific Northwest salmon. Four federal dams on the Lower
Snake River have driven all runs of Snake River salmon onto the
endangered
species list. By the end of this year, the federal government must come
to
decision on the best way to recover salmon on the Snake River. Please
contact your elected Representative in Washington D.C. and urge them to
sign
on to the “Dear Colleague” letter sponsored by Reps. Petri (R-WI) and
Miller
(D-CA). This letter asks the President to “oppose any appropriations
riders,
bills, or agency attempts to circumvent relevant laws or postpone prompt
consideration of a full range of salmon recovery options on the Snake
 River.”

To pass this letter on to the President with strength, it is essential
that
you make an effort to contact your Representative and encourage that the
letter be signed. Relay the following three messages that the President
must
receive: 1) All options for the future of the Lower Snake, including dam
removal, should be kept on the table until studies are completed later
this
year. 2) All options should be run through rigorous economic and
scientific
studies in a timely manner. 3) It would be inappropriate to make
decisions
or exclude possible solutions prior to the timely completion of these
studies.

For more information call: MIKE HOGAN- TAXPAYERS FOR COMMON SENSE
1-800-829-7293 or e-mail: mike at taxpayer_net Learn about the Snake River
Campaign on the web: http://www.taxpayer.net/TCS/snake_river.html



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