NEWS
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2021
Environmental
group sues
Army Corps over
Columbia River
dam pollution
By GEORGE PLAVEN
EO Media Group
An Oregon environmen-
tal group is suing the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers
claiming the agency pollutes
the Columbia River with
heated water, oil and other
toxic chemicals at three
hydroelectric dams between
Portland and the Tri-Cities
in southeast Washington.
Columbia Riverkeeper
fi led the lawsuit on Dec.
8. It alleges the Corps has
failed to obtain permits reg-
ulating pollutants discharged
into the Columbia River at
The Dalles, John Day and
McNary dams, in violation
of the federal Clean Water
Act.
Miles Johnson, senior
attorney for Columbia Riv-
erkeeper, said the dams are
making the river too warm
for endangered salmon and
steelhead.
“Our runs of salmon and
steelhead in the Columbia
Basin are in serious trouble,”
Johnson said. “It’s really dis-
appointing to see the Army
Corps refuse to even comply
with our basic laws for pro-
tecting clean water.”
According to the lawsuit,
pollution is occurring daily
at the dams, threatening the
health and survival of anad-
romous fi sh.
Columbia Riverkeeper
initially sued the Corps in
2013 over discharges. The
lawsuit was dropped a year
later after the agency agreed
to apply for Clean Water Act
permits through the Environ-
mental Protection Agency.
Those permits still have
not been issued seven years
later, Johnson said.
“We don’t think anyone,
especially the federal gov-
ernment, is above the law,”
he said. “We’re asking for
the Army Corps to follow
the law and reduce pollution
going into the river.”
Matt Rabe, spokesman
for the Corps’ Northwest
Division, said the agency
applied for the EPA per-
mits in 2015 and takes its
Clean Water Act obligations
seriously.
“Our team is working
tirelessly to fi nd solutions
that balance all of the pur-
poses of the system, includ-
ing the needs of fi sh and
wildlife, fl ood risk man-
agement, navigation, power
generation, recreation, water
supply and water quality,”
Rabe said.
Water temperature is one
of the “pollutants” regulated
by the EPA under the Clean
Water Act. Both Oregon
and Washington have estab-
lished a maximum tempera-
ture of 68 degrees Fahren-
heit for the Columbia River
to protect salmon and steel-
head runs.
Temperatures higher than
68 degrees can cause stress
and disease among salmo-
nids, leading to signifi cant
die-off s.
A recent EPA report for
the Columbia and Snake
rivers
concluded
that
water temperatures regu-
larly exceed 68 degrees at
the dams between July and
October.
Johnson said Clean Water
Act permits could address
this problem several ways.
They might require the
Corps to improve fi sh lad-
ders at the dam, or draw
down the reservoirs during
the warm summer months
to keep cooler water moving
quickly through the system
— rather than sitting stag-
nant and absorbing sunlight.
However, Rabe said that
though the pools behind the
lower Columbia River dams
are considered reservoirs,
they are largely not storage
reservoirs but rather run-of-
river facilities.
“This limits our ability to
impact water temperatures
by drawing down water lev-
els in the spring,” he said.
Other users of the Colum-
bia River system have ques-
tioned the temperature stan-
dard for salmon, arguing it is
not realistically achievable
and threatens the dams’ con-
tinued operations for naviga-
tion, hydropower and water
supplies.
Kurt Miller, executive
director of Northwest Riv-
erPartners, said the tem-
perature standard adopted
in Oregon and Washington
is setting the dams up for
failure.
Northwest RiverPartners
is a group based in Vancou-
ver, Washington, that advo-
cates for hydroelectricity,
transportation and agricul-
ture within the Columbia
River system.
Looking at the EPA’s
report released last year,
Miller said water coming
into the system from far-
ther upstream was already
warmer than 68 degrees —
suggesting there is noth-
ing dam operators can do to
meet the target.
While the lawsuit does
not specifi cally mention
breaching dams, Miller said
unachievable temperature
standards could be used as a
mechanism to further argue
for dam removal.
“I think it gets at the moti-
vation they’re going for,” he
said.
Scientifi c research into
the eff ect of dams on river
temperatures is also mixed.
In 2002, the Pacifi c North-
west National Laboratory in
Richland, Washington, pub-
lished a study indicating
dams might actually off er a
degree of protection, since it
takes longer for larger bod-
ies of water to heat than
smaller waterways.
Combined with produc-
ing carbon-free electric-
ity, Miller says productive
hydroelectric dams should
be part of the solution to
combating climate change
and keeping waters cool for
fi sh.
CONCEALED CARRY
PERMIT CLASS
SATURDAY
DECEMBER 18 TH
Hermiston
Ranch & Home
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3
Catching a breakfast with Santa
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Santa Claus, also known as Hermiston City Councilor Doug Primmer, greets 9-month-old Roslyn on Saturday, Dec. 11,
2021, at Pancakes with Santa at the Hermiston Community Center.
Former Echo coach sues for more than $200K
Aaron Noisey alleges
gender discrimination
in lawsuit against
school district
By PHIL WRIGHT
Hermiston Herald
The former head coach
for the Echo High School
boys basketball team has
fi led a discrimination law-
suit against the Echo School
District.
Aaron Noisey, through
the Dolan Law Group, a
Portland fi rm, fi led the
complaint Thursday, Dec.
2, in Umatilla County Cir-
cuit Court. Noisey seeks
$203,391 — $2,391 in eco-
nomic damages and non-
economic damages of at
least $200,000.
Echo School District
Superintendent
Raymon
Smith said he received a
copy of the lawsuit but the
district could not comment
on pending litigation, and
the district’s insurer would
handle representation.
The district employed
Noisey from 2018-21 as
an alternative education
teacher, head high school
boys basketball coach, assis-
tant high school girls bas-
ketball coach and assistant
high school football coach.
According to the eight-page
complaint, Smith in March
2020 asked Noisey if he was
interested in taking over the
head high school girls bas-
ketball coach position.
During the next few
months, according to the
court fi ling, “Smith made
it clear that the job was
(Noisey’s) to turn down,”
and Noisey said he wanted
to take over the position.
The complaint claims
Noisey applied for the job
in May 2020 and on June 9
had an in-person interview
for the job with a committee
that included Athletic Direc-
tor Don Walker, high school
football coach Thomas
VanNice and school board
member Jennifer Cox.
The complaint also
claims the district inter-
viewed Brandi Russell, dis-
trict math teacher, physical
education teacher and mid-
dle school girls basketball
coach.
After the interview,
Walker told Noisey he did
not get the job because the
district wanted a woman
coaching the girls team.
The complaint claims
Noisey asked the dis-
trict several times to rec-
tify the gender discrimina-
tion, including an in-person
meeting with Smith and
Walker that resulted in
Walker agreeing to write an
apology for discriminating
against him.
That letter came in
an email Sept. 24, 2020,
according to the complaint,
but was not an apology,
although it acknowledged
Noisey’s gender was a rea-
son he did not get the job.
Noisey on Oct. 12, 2020,
gave the Echo School Dis-
trict a tort claim notice.
Following that, the dis-
trict became a diffi cult
place for Noisey to work,
the complaint alleges, with
once friendly co-workers
now excluding him. Noisey
left the district in early June.
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