NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Tuesday, July 30, 2019
Tribe, others challenge water quality agreement
By ERIC BARKER
Lewiston Tribune
LEWISTON, Idaho — A
recent deal between envi-
ronmental regulators in Ore-
gon and Idaho that promised
to advance Idaho Power’s
attempt to relicense its three-
dam Hells Canyon Complex
is facing a pair of lawsuits.
Last week, the Nez Perce
Tribe and the environmen-
tal groups Pacific Rivers and
Idaho Rivers United chal-
lenged, in two separate law-
suits, Oregon’s water quality
certification of the dams for
what they say is a failure to
provide fish passage and ade-
quately ensure water quality
standards for temperature
and mercury will be met.
The Nez Perce Tribe
filed suit against the Ore-
gon Department of Envi-
ronmental Quality in Ore-
gon’s Marion County Circuit
Court while the environ-
mental groups filed their
case against the agency in
Oregon’s Mutnomah County
Circuit Court.
Idaho Power is seek-
ing a new 50-year license
for the dams that were built
between 1958 and 1967. The
dams provide 70 percent
of the power the company
sells to 530,000 customers in
southern Idaho and Eastern
Oregon.
When they were built,
Contributed photo by Idaho Power
A recent deal between environmental regulators in Oregon and Idaho that promised to ad-
vance Idaho Power’s attempt to relicense its three-dam Hells Canyon Complex is facing a pair
of lawsuits.
the dams lacked adequate
fish passage and wiped out
80 percent of the spawn-
ing habitat for Snake River
fall chinook, and eliminated
other salmon and steelhead
runs from reaches above the
projects. To compensate, the
power company agreed to
fund salmon and steelhead
hatchery programs down-
stream of the dams. But
the reach above the dams
remains identified as criti-
cal fall chinook habitat and,
despite its degraded habitat
and water quality, could one
day see reintroduction of the
fish.
The company’s original
license to operate the three-
dam complex expired in
2005. Ever since, the com-
pany has been in the pro-
cess of seeking a new license
from the Federal Energy
Regulator Committee and
operating on temporary
licenses issued on a year-to-
year basis.
Key to getting a new
license is securing state
water quality certification
stating the dams are in com-
pliance with Section 401 of
the federal Clean Water Act
and Idaho and Oregon state
water quality standards. For
years, the two states that
share a border along the
Snake River in Hells Canyon
took different approaches to
water quality certification.
Oregon had insisted that
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
WEDNESDAY
Plenty of sun
Plenty of sun
90° 57°
91° 61°
92° 60°
94° 64°
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
Sunshine
SATURDAY
Mostly sunny and
pleasant
90° 56°
87° 59°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
96° 68°
93° 60°
91° 59°
OREGON FORECAST
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
70/57
84/50
90/55
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
90/63
Lewiston
77/55
93/57
Astoria
69/55
Pullman
Yakima 91/58
77/53
93/59
Portland
Hermiston
82/60
The Dalles 92/60
Salem
Corvallis
80/52
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
88/55
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
84/52
86/47
91/54
Ontario
98/65
Caldwell
Burns
92°
53°
90°
60°
107° (2018) 42° (1959)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
81/53
0.00"
0.01"
0.21"
4.56"
5.10"
5.91"
WINDS (in mph)
96/61
90/51
0.00"
0.04"
0.33"
9.61"
6.49"
7.91"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 86/50
82/55
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
HERMISTON
Enterprise
90/57
86/61
90°
53°
90°
60°
104° (2014) 38° (1917)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
78/55
Aberdeen
86/57
88/62
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
76/60
Today
Boardman
Pendleton
Medford
90/57
Wed.
WSW 8-16
W 7-14
SW 6-12
W 6-12
88/49
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2019
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
will be able to use a walker as
well. Since the swelling has
gone down, the full extent of
her injuries has been evalu-
ated, and the only injury not
previously found was a frac-
ture to her wrist, accord-
ing to the doctors at Kadlec
Regional Medical Center in
Richland, Washington. Doc-
tors said Mulhair is also hav-
ing some memory issues.
“She is a strong person
with a lot of will and fight in
her,” Nicole said.
The family created a
GoFundMe page to help off-
set the medical costs and
other expenses while Mul-
hair is unable to work. The
campaign has gone viral on
social media and as of July 26
has raised $1,150 of its $9,000
goal, according to Nicole and
the GoFundMe page.
Money has gone toward
her cellphone service, storage
unit fees and towing her car,
which could not be moved
because the keys are missing,
possibly lost in the fall.
Jacki has been able to see
her two children now that
the healing has begun. They
are still staying with family
while she recovers but Nicole
said when the children vis-
ited, that was the happiest
she had seen her sister since
arriving at the hospital.
“It was a smile on my sis-
ter’s face that I have never
seen before,” Nicole said.
Mulhair was visiting
Indian Rock for the first time
to watch the sunset with her
boyfriend, Jeff Hill, when
she jumped out of the truck
to take a look over the edge.
While Hill was backing up
the car, Mulhair got too close
to the ledge and slipped over,
falling 86 feet. She had taken
off her boots and sat on her
butt to scoot down to the
lower bench of the cliff for a
better view when she started
to slide. When she realized
she was falling, Mulhair
flipped onto her stomach to
try and grab something, slip-
ping off the cliff’s edge.
High 115° in Needles, Calif. Low 33° in Dillon, Colo.
First
Full
Last
10 abandoned boats removed
from Swan Island Lagoon
Firefighter injured battling
Oregon blaze
July 31
Aug 7
Aug 15
Aug 23
SWAN ISLAND (AP) — State and
local agencies removed 10 abandoned
boats from the water at Portland’s Swan
Island in the first of several cleanups
being discussed.
The Oregon State Marine Board says
they along with the Oregon Department of
State Lands and the Multnomah County
River Patrol coordinated the abandoned
boat cleanup Friday in the Swan Island
Lagoon.
Marine Industrial Contractors used two
barges to remove watercraft and transport
the boats, some of which were along the
shoreline and others which were partially
submerged in the lagoon.
Marine Board spokeswoman Ash-
ley Massey says the Swan Island Lagoon
cleanup effort will cost approximately
$18,000 and includes taking the boats to
a storage facility, removing hazardous
or recyclable materials, and dismantling
each boat.
The Department of State Lands and
Marine Board are covering the costs.
CANYONVILLE (AP) — A firefighter
battling a large blaze in southwestern Ore-
gon was injured when he was struck by roll-
ing debris.
Authorities say the firefighter was trans-
ported early Monday to a medical center,
where he was treated and released. The fire-
fighter was one of about 1,000 people bat-
tling the 11,600-acre Mile Post 97 fire that
broke out Wednesday near Canyonville,
apparently from an illegal campfire.
Officials said the fire was growing slowly
toward the south, paralleling Interstate 5.
The fire was at 10 percent containment.
Crews hoped to make progress as clouds
and cooling temperatures were forecast for
the area.
The Federal Emergency Management
Agency has also authorized the use of fed-
eral funds to help with firefighting costs.
An Oregon Department of Environ-
mental Quality air advisory issued due to
smoke was extended Monday for Jackson,
Josephine and Klamath counties, and now
includes southern Douglas County.
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
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flurries
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40s
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ice
60s
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BRIEFLY
New
NATIONAL EXTREMES
showers t-storms
LA GRANDE — Jacki
Mulhair, who fell from
Indian Rock Overlook July
15 after sitting near the
edge, has been transferred
to Regency Hermiston Nurs-
ing and Rehabilitation Cen-
ter where she will spend the
next three months recovering
from her injuries.
Since her fall, the 34-year-
old La Grande woman has
had multiple surgeries at
Kadlec Hospital in Richland,
Washington, to repair her
broken leg and hip.
When her family asked
what she is going to do about
the rod in her leg, which
broke in three places, Mul-
hair told them she was “going
to dance it off,” according to
Nicole Mulhair, Jacki’s sister.
Mulhair will have to use
a wheelchair during the next
few months, but her family
and doctors are hoping she
5:36 a.m.
8:27 p.m.
3:44 a.m.
7:39 p.m.
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
-0s
By SABRINA
THOMPSON
La Grande Observer
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
-10s
quality plays in the protec-
tion of those resources,” said
Shannon F. Wheeler, chair-
man of the Nez Perce Tribal
Executive Committee, in a
news release. “This in turn
helps protect the health and
welfare of the tribe’s cit-
izens who exercise their
treaty rights in waters within
Oregon.”
The dams are within
the tribe’s historic territory
and tribal members once
fished for salmon, steelhead,
Pacific lamprey and white
sturgeon there.
The
environmental
groups say their members
enjoy fishing for salmon and
steelhead and have a mission
to protect and restore rivers,
anadromous fish runs and
water quality.
“Idaho Power has failed
to protect the rights of Idaho-
ans in sustaining the import-
ant fisheries of the Snake
through the proposed actions
on the dams it operates,” said
Nic Nelson, executive direc-
tor of Idaho Rivers United
at Boise. “Compliance with
water quality standards is not
optional, and we must take
action to preserve the integ-
rity of this river system.”
Jennifer Flynt, chief pub-
lic information officer for the
Oregon Department of Envi-
ronmental Quality, said the
agency does not comment on
pending litigation.
Union County woman transferred
to Hermiston rehabilitation center
Nice with plenty of
sunshine
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
93° 63°
the dams be outfitted with
fish passage equipment that
would allow salmon, namely
fall chinook, to migrate
upstream. Idaho, on the other
hand, opposed fish passage
measures or the reintroduc-
tion of threatened fish spe-
cies above the dams.
Last month, the two states
hammered out a water cer-
tification agreement that did
not include fish passage at
the dams but called for the
company to spend $400 mil-
lion on projects designed
to improve aquatic habitat
and reduce water tempera-
tures on tributaries to the
Snake River. Each state’s
departments of environ-
mental quality then issued
water quality certifications
to Idaho Power, allowing
the recertification process to
proceed.
The lawsuits by the tribe
and environmental groups
contend that Oregon’s cer-
tification violates both the
Clean Water Act and Oregon
statute. Oregon law requires
all dams to provide fish pas-
sage unless exempted. Nei-
ther the state nor the federal
government has issued the
company an exemption. Rick
Eichstaedt, a Spokane-based
attorney representing the
environmental groups, said
they chose to file in Oregon
because of the state’s strong
fish passage law.
Both the tribe and envi-
ronmental groups also claim
slack water behind the dams
leads to the conversion of
mercury to methylmercury
that accumulates in the flesh
of fish, which poses health
risks to people who eat the
fish. They also said the cer-
tification does not include
concrete assurances that
water quality standards for
temperature and mercury
will be met over the course
of a new 50-year license.
“The tribe has consis-
tently advocated for the adop-
tion of 401 certifications for
this project that are protec-
tive of the tribe’s treaty-re-
served rights and resources
due to the central role water
70s
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warm front stationary front
110s
high
low
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