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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;font-weight:bold'> </span></font></b><b><font
size=4><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-weight:bold'>Board denies Klamath
algae pleas<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><!--subtitle--><!--byline-->John Driscoll The Times-Standard<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><!--date-->Article Launched: 03/16/2007 04:21:05 AM PDT<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><a href="http://times-standard.com/local/ci_5450958">http://times-standard.com/local/ci_5450958</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Federal
energy law pre-empts regional water quality officials' regulation of blue-green
algae in the Klamath River's reservoirs, officials said Thursday in denying
requests by the Karuk Tribe and fishing and environmental groups for strict
limits on Pacificorp's hydropower operations. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The North
Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board agreed with its counsel that the
Federal Power Act trumps its authority, and that the restriction on the
production of toxic algae would have to come through state certification of the
federal license Pacificorp is seeking. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>In that
process, Board Executive Officer Catherine Kuhlman said, state regulators are
bound to follow existing parameters in the North Coast Basin Plan. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The Karuk
Tribe, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations and Klamath
Riverkeeper asked the board to impose waste discharge requirements on
Pacificorp's project. Michael Lozeau, an attorney for the tribe, argued that
the state and federal processes don't address the need to take action on the
algae problem now. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>”The
operation itself is producing the problem,” Lozeau said. “It's not
flowing in from somewhere else.” <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>He said
that the federal Clean Water Act preserves the state's right to veto any
hydropower license, and gives it the authority to take interim measures to deal
with the algae problem. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The
blue-green algae is prolific in Pacificorp's reservoirs, and can produce a
liver toxin that the World Health Organization identifies as a moderate risk --
even in concentrations thousands of times less than water quality sampling has
shown in some summer months in recent years. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Pacificorp
attorney Robert Donlan said that the state's role is through the license
certification process. He also claimed that characterizing the reservoirs as in
violation of state law is premature, although he admitted that the project
stretch is impaired. The company also argued that the petition goes too far in
claiming the algae is “waste” produced by the project, which
triggers state water quality restrictions. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>”I
think it's fair to say that there are impairments,” Donlan said,
“but they're being worked on.” <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The State
Water Resources Control Board is working on a certification for the 30- to
50-year license renewal the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is considering
issuing to Pacificorp. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Others
characterized the algae problem as becoming steadily worse. Biologist Pat Higgins
described the reservoirs as “engines of nutrient pollution,” and
said <st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State> should develop guidelines like
<st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Oregon</st1:place></st1:State>'s
which shut reservoirs to recreational use when they contain such high levels of
the toxic algae. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Ron Reed,
a biologist and Karuk ceremonial leader, said diarrhea and rashes at camps
during summer ceremonies in which participants spent days in the water are
common. He implored the board to take immediate action. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>”We
are not a <st1:place w:st="on">Third World</st1:place> community,” Reed
said, “so we shouldn't be treated like one.” <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Prior to
rejecting the petition, board member Heidi Harris told the group that laws
aren't written with feelings, although she sympathized -- as a Trinity River
resident -- with not being able to use the river at times. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>”Remember
we can only do what we can do,” Harris said. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The board
voted unanimously to direct its staff to come to its April meeting with
recommendations for clarifying existing basin plan standards for algae, which
will be provided to the State Water Resources Control Board as it drafts its
water quality certification for the hydropower project. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>John
Driscoll can be reached at 441-0504 or <a
href="mailto:jdriscoll@times-standard.com">jdriscoll@times-standard.com</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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