05/17/05 Dredging up answers to concerns, Pt.1

05/17/05 Dredging up answers to concerns, Pt.1

It has not happened since 1999. That was the last time the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conducted maintenance dredging along the Lower Snake River where it reaches to the Port of Lewiston Idaho at the meeting of Snake and Clearwater Rivers. By federal order of Congress, the Corps is responsible for maintenance dredging. But since 1999, attempts by the Corps to conduct dredging have been met by opposition from environmentalists concerned that the clearing of sediment would damage spawning habitat for endangered and threatened salmon and steelhead. Opponents have successfully halted attempts to dredge through the courts. But undaunted, the Corps has once again offered a draft Environmental Impact Statement on plans to dredge. SANDS: We anticipate, as long as we're successful in getting all the environmental compliance documentation taken care of, we would go ahead and target this winter for dredging activity that would clean out essentially five locations. The furthest downstream would be the approach to Lower Monumental Dam as well as the approach to the navigation lock at Lower Granite Dam, and then two port facilities up near Lewiston / Clarkston. And the largest area which is the primary concern is the federal channel in the confluence area where the Clearwater comes into the Snake River. And Jack Sands of the Corps says in that main area of navigation, the required depth of fourteen feet has decreased to only almost eleven feet at the Port of Lewiston, and just over eight feet at the Port of Clarkston. And with the Lower Snake serving as a key thoroughfare for agricultural goods for areas as far as the Rocky Mountain states, the concerns of ag and industry types to get the channel dredged continue to mount with each passing year. So why does Sands believe that this most recent E.I.S. for dredging is one that will pass court muster, if not environmentalists' approval? SANDS: That alternative is maintenance dredging combined with beneficial use of the dredged material produced within those selected areas that we are dealing with less than fourteen foot depths within the navigation channel and two public port facilities up there. Beneficial use is translated as improved salmon and steelhead spawning habitat through creating a habitat more beneficial for those population improvements. Details of the plan, and what many in the environmental community think about it, is discussed in our next program.
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