And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
NEWS RELEASE
via "Wild Rockies Alerts" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
August 9, 1999
Contact: Mark Solomon, The Lands Council, mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
208.699.2658
Kristen Boyles, Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund
206.343.7340
Rick Johnson, Idaho Conservation League
208.345.6933
Bill Sedivy, Idaho Rivers United
208.343.7481
Conservationists file suit to protect Snake River salmon from Potlatch
pollution
(Lewiston, ID) Due to the Potlatch pulp mill's outdated pollution controls
harming Idaho salmon and steelhead, a coalition of conservation groups filed
suit today against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failure to
comply with the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
The Potlatch mill discharges approximately 40 million gallons of hot, toxic
wastewater per day directly into the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater
rivers and the path of migrating salmon, steelhead, and bull trout -- all
listed as threatened or endangered under the ESA. In the lawsuit, the
conservation groups seek an order compelling EPA to consult with National
Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)
regarding the effects of the Potlatch effluent discharges on threatened and
endangered salmon, steelhead, and bull trout. This "consultation" mandate is
required under Section 7 of the ESA.
Potlatch's harmful pollution is not a new problem. Conservationists notified
EPA of their concerns with the Potlatch pollution and possible harm to fish and
water quality in January 1997. "The technology exists for Potlatch to
decrease, if not eliminate, the need to use the Snake River as an industrial
sewer," said Mark Solomon of The Lands Council. "If it wanted to, Potlatch
could be helping salmon and steelhead, the Lewiston community, and their
workers. The company just has to be willing to truly invest in our region's
future," Solomon continued.
One of the most significant threats to salmon and steelhead survival in the
lower Snake River is elevated water temperature. While the State of Idaho has
established a temperature standard of 68°F for these waters, Potlatch's permit
allows it to discharge more than 35 million gallons a day of 92°F waste water.
Heating of the river's water in slackwater reservoirs already causes the Snake
River to exceed the protective temperature standard. In a bandaid approach to
the problem, the Army Corps of Engineers drains cold water from behind Dworshak
Dam on the North Fork Clearwater River to cool the Lower Snake River. Other
significant pollutants present in the discharge include dioxin and associated
chlorinated hydrocarbons, suspended solids, and nutrients.
"Potlatch has mounted a major publicity and political arm-twisting campaign to
protect the four Lower Snake River dams, not because it wants to help fish or
farmers, but because it wants to continue to pollute," said Rick Johnson of the
Idaho Conservation League. "Dilution is not the solution to pollution, here --
prevention is."
(more)
(Potlatch lawsuit continued)
"It is more than ironic, it is an outrage, that Potlatch can continue to heat
up the river at the same time that people of Orofino must pay for that
pollution with the water of the North Fork stored behind Dworshak Dam," said
Bill Sedivy of Idaho Rivers United.
Potlatch's discharge is regulated by a Clean Water Act permit issued by EPA.
Even though Potlatch's permit actually expired in 1997, EPA extended the permit
indefinitely. A recent Government Accounting Office (GAO) study found that EPA
is failing to meet the renewal requirements of these permits by an average of
five years for all permits across the nation. In Idaho, one permit at Hecla's
Lucky Friday mine has been extended without reissuance for over seventeen
years.
The plaintiffs in this action are The Lands Council, Spokane, the Idaho
Conservation League, Boise, and Idaho Rivers United, Boise. They are
represented by Laird Lucas of the Land and Water Fund of the Rockies, Boise and
Kristen Boyles of the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, Seattle.
-30-
************************************
Mark Solomon
PO Box 8145
Moscow, ID 83843
(208) 882-4087 (ph &fx)
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
The Duty to Produce Destroys the Passion to Create
Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine
of international copyright law.
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Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)
Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
UPDATES: CAMP JUSTICE
http://shell.webbernet.net/~ishgooda/oglala/
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