STATE HEARING BEGIN ON PACIFICORPS DAMS
Will California give PacifiCorp a 50-year license to
pollute or Un-Dam the
Klamath?
Hearing Dates: July 22nd in Sacramento (Time to be
announced)
July 31 in Klamath at the Yurok offices 11-1pm
July 31, in Orleans at the Karuk DNR, 6 to 8
August 1st in Yreka at the Yreka Grange 11-1 pm
PacifiCorp’s Klamath Dams threaten the health of the
Klamath River by degrading water quality and creating
massive blooms of toxic blue green algae on an
unprecedented scale. While downstream Tribes, fishermen
and recreational interests are continually exposed to
these algal toxins, no action has been taken by
California to correct the problem. Meanwhile PacifiCorp
continues to spend millions to fight impacted
communities in court, argues that the states cannot
regulate water quality during FERC processes, and
suppress their own monitoring results.
California can now stop PacifiCorp's dam pollution
Now the state of California is considering PacifiCorp’s
application for a Clean Water Act permit for continued
operation of the dams. The Clean Water permit may be the
most important step in the dam relicensing process as
the Supreme Court has ruled that states can deny Clean
Water Act permits and thereby trump attempts to
relicense polluting dams. Klamath Riverkeeper has joined
local communities’ struggle to make sure PacifiCorp does
not get another 50-year permit to pollute.
Take Action to Make the Klamath Fishable and Swimmable
In the next six months there will be multiple public
hearings, rallies and comment periods relating to
whether PacifiCorp will get this permit. Go to
http://www.klamathriver.org or call our office for
sample comments and information on upcoming hearings and
rallies. Contact Jennifer Watts at the State Water Board
at
jwatts
[at] waterboards.ca.gov or (916) 341-5397 for
background information on the 401-certification.
For rides to Sacramento from the Klamath River or North
Coast, call Georgianna Myers, Klamath Riverkeeper
Empowerment Project Coordinator, at 707 599-0877 or call
Molli White from the Karuk Tribe at 530 627-3346 ext.
6. Email
sregonlady [at] gmail.com or
regina [at]
klamathriver.org for more information.