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Louisiana teachers' union concerned about educators' future; Supreme Court hears arguments in Trump immunity case; court issues restraining order against fracking waste-storage facility; landmark NE agreement takes a proactive approach to CO2 pipeline risks.

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Speaker Johnson accuses demonstrating students of getting support from Hamas. TikTok says it'll challenge the ban. And the Supreme Court dives into the gray area between abortion and pregnancy healthcare, and into former President Trump's broad immunity claims.

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The urban-rural death divide is widening for working-age Americans, many home internet connections established for rural students during COVID have been broken, and a new federal rule aims to put the "public" back in public lands.

Aging Dams Pose Challenges for Fish and Feds

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Monday, February 6, 2012   

BURBANK, Wash. - The Army Corps of Engineers is testing the oil used in dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers to see if it contains PCBs, chemicals which can contaminate the water around the dams. The Corps says the tests are a precaution after oil leaks were discovered in December at the Ice Harbor Lock and Dam on the Snake River.

The tests bring up the bigger topic of the aging hydro-power system, with the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) predicting what it calls significant new requirements for "non-routine extraordinary" dam maintenance. Bert Bowler, a retired fish biologist and founder of Snake River Salmon Solutions, says it isn't surprising with dams at an average age nearing 50 years.

"As these dam projects age over time, sure, there'll be all kinds of issues with old equipment that will end up leaking oil and those kinds of issues associated with turbine units that go back to the early '60s."

PCBs - polychlorinated biphenyls - are found in older transformers and other electrical equipment and were phased out starting in the 1970s because of harmful health effects. A common way humans ingest these chemicals is by eating fish. Advocates for Northwest salmon say oil leaks have become a chronic problem, and are another reason to consider decommissioning outdated dams.

The federal government operates 12 hydroelectric dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers. BPA lists 41 maintenance projects for this year and next on Corps of Engineers-operated dams, 20 of them considered "high risk" if not funded.

Bowler says paying for those repairs is a major concern.

"They're in need of a lot of money to keep the system viable. I'm sure, in times ahead, the federal government is not going to just be ponying up a whole bunch of money to keep this system viable without a substantial increase in contributions from the users."

He says the Obama administration wants to raise the user fees and add a lock fee to boost funds for lock and dam maintenance. However, some in Congress see the fees as taxes and don't support them, while others say the growing costs are a signal to rethink using the Lower Snake River for shipping.

Dam maintenance information is online in BPA's 2010 Integrated Program Review, bpa.gov.


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