Post by blackcrowheart on May 16, 2006 13:59:05 GMT -5
Tribe criticizes impact statement on dam license
By The Associated Press Seattle Times
EPHRATA — A draft environmental-impact statement for the Priest Rapids hydroelectric project is premature, incomplete and patently defective, the Yakama Nation says in a 15-page letter to federal regulators.
The impact statement is a requirement for the Grant County Public Utility District as it seeks a second 50-year license to operate Priest Rapids and Wanapum dams on the Columbia River. The utility filed for the new license in October 2003.
The original project license expired last year. The utility now operates under an annual license issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission until a final decision is made on the new license. The current annual license extends through October 2006.
FERC published the draft impact statement in February, opening it to public comment. Through its attorney, Tim Weaver in Yakima, the Yakama Nation submitted a letter critical of the document on May 2.
The statement fails to include an analysis of a settlement agreement between federal, state and tribal parties to resolve disagreements on salmon and steelhead populations affected by the two dams, the letter said.
The settlement agreement was signed by the utility district's board of commissioners in December 2005 and was to become a comprehensive and long-term management program for fish. The Yakama Nation, however, did not sign the agreement.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, state Department of Fish and Wildlife and Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation negotiated the settlement with the utility and signed it.
Weaver said because FERC did not analyze the settlement agreement in the draft statement, the federal agency must prepare a supplemental impact statement before a final statement on the license is issued.
Stephen Brown, the utility district's director of natural resources, said that would delay getting a new license.
"No matter what you do, there is somebody that's not going to be happy with what you did, no matter how thorough you are," Brown said.
The final impact statement is not expected to be issued before this fall, Brown said.
By The Associated Press Seattle Times
EPHRATA — A draft environmental-impact statement for the Priest Rapids hydroelectric project is premature, incomplete and patently defective, the Yakama Nation says in a 15-page letter to federal regulators.
The impact statement is a requirement for the Grant County Public Utility District as it seeks a second 50-year license to operate Priest Rapids and Wanapum dams on the Columbia River. The utility filed for the new license in October 2003.
The original project license expired last year. The utility now operates under an annual license issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission until a final decision is made on the new license. The current annual license extends through October 2006.
FERC published the draft impact statement in February, opening it to public comment. Through its attorney, Tim Weaver in Yakima, the Yakama Nation submitted a letter critical of the document on May 2.
The statement fails to include an analysis of a settlement agreement between federal, state and tribal parties to resolve disagreements on salmon and steelhead populations affected by the two dams, the letter said.
The settlement agreement was signed by the utility district's board of commissioners in December 2005 and was to become a comprehensive and long-term management program for fish. The Yakama Nation, however, did not sign the agreement.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, state Department of Fish and Wildlife and Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation negotiated the settlement with the utility and signed it.
Weaver said because FERC did not analyze the settlement agreement in the draft statement, the federal agency must prepare a supplemental impact statement before a final statement on the license is issued.
Stephen Brown, the utility district's director of natural resources, said that would delay getting a new license.
"No matter what you do, there is somebody that's not going to be happy with what you did, no matter how thorough you are," Brown said.
The final impact statement is not expected to be issued before this fall, Brown said.