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U.S. Energy Secretary and Rep. Newhouse Spar Over 'Catastrophic' Snake Dam Agreement by Annette Cary Tri-City Herald, March 23, 2024

Granholm said the agreement would prevent consideration of breaching the dams for 10 years.
Although it includes a study of replacement benefits

Kennewick, WA -- The nation's energy secretary defended a recent federal agreement on the lower Snake River dams after Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., said breaching the dams would be "catastrophic."

He questioned Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm earlier this week at a hearing of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water.

The agreement made public in December lays the groundwork for the federal government to work with four Northwest tribes and the states of Oregon and Washington to protect and restore salmon, steelhead and other native fish to the Columbia River Basin, including the Snake River.

It also requires studies on how the benefits of the four Snake River dams in Washington could be replaced. Benefits include electricity production, barging of farm products and other goods, irrigation and recreation.

Commitments made to states and tribes in the agreement are estimated to cost the federal government more than $1 billion.

The agreement, worked out behind closed doors in federal litigation, has been called a "roadmap" toward breaching the dams from Ice Harbor near Pasco to Lower Granite near Lewiston, Idaho.

"The agreement makes commitments to develop energy replacement for the dams, as well as recommending spillage operations," Newhouse said.

Spilling more water over the dams rather than using it to produce electricity can help juvenile salmon, but too much spill increases gases -- such as oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen -- in the water that can kill juvenile salmon.

"Adjusting spilling operations could make the dams functionally obsolete and useless," Newhouse said. "Energy prices will skyrocket, people who depend on the river system will suffer, and I believe the salmon population will be harmed, as well. It is in fact a de-facto breaching of the dams."

Congress has the sole authority to breach the dams, Granholm said during the Wednesday hearing.

"I think the agreement was a positive step to replenish salmon, to be able to address hatcheries, to work with the tribes on additional power," she said.

But that's because there is not enough power being produced, rather than to replace hydropower, she said.

The agreement calls for the federal government to assist the four lower Columbia River tribes -- the Yakama, Umatilla, Nez Perce and Warm Springs -- in developing tribally sponsored clean energy projects.

Newhouse said it seems clear from the Biden administration "that the plan is in fact breaching the dams."

But Granholm said the agreement would prevent consideration of breaching the dams for 10 years. Although it includes a study of replacement benefits, "There is no de facto or subterfuge here," she said.

WA transportation issues

Newhouse also has asked a Washington state official about the impacts of dam breaching.

He and six other Republican Northwest congressional representatives, including Washington's Cathy McMorris Rodgers, recently sent a letter to Roger Millar, Washington state secretary of transportation, asking how the state would handle increased truck and train traffic if the Snake River dams are breached.

At a January hearing of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Ore., told Millar that about 39,200 rail cars and nearly 150,800 semi trucks a year would be needed to move cargo that currently is barged on the Snake and Columbia rivers.

That would require three times the number of heavy and tractor-trailer drivers now employed in Washington, Oregon and Idaho at a time of worker shortages in both trucking and rail, the letter said.

Now 60% of all U.S. wheat exports are barged through the lower Snake River dams, with a single four-barge tow carrying as much wheat as about 540 semi-trucks.

It is the lowest cost shipping option, according to the lawmakers signing the letter.

Without the dams to allow barging on the Snake River, the increased fuel costs, highway maintenance costs, terminal facility maintenance cost, driver pay and vehicle maintenance costs would come to $69 million a year, the letter said.

Rail costs would likely be higher as well, it said.

More than $1 billion would be needed for capital investments in highway, rail, grain elevators and other infrastructure, it said.

Capacity on highways and railroads would be at all-time high, it said.

The letter asked Millar for more information on how the Washington state Department of Transportation could continue to meet transportation needs if the lower Snake River dams are breached and how it would provide alternatives to continue to grow the Pacific Northwest economy.

Signing the letter in addition to Newhouse, McMorris Rodgers and Chavez-DeRemer, were Reps. Cliff Bentz of Oregon, Russ Fulcher of Idaho, and Matt Rosendale and Ryan Zinke, both of Montana.

February 29, 2024
Roger Millar
Secretary
Washington State Department of Transportation
310 Maple Park Avenue SE
P.O. Box 47300
Olympia, WA 98504-7300

Dear Secretary Millar,

We write to you today to follow up after your testimony on January 17th, 2024, to the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure’s hearing entitled "The State of Transportation." We appreciate your testimony and availability to answer questions from Members of the Committee on important issues affecting transportation and our economy; however, we are deeply concerned with some of your answers related to the lower Snake River dams (LSRD).

As you know, the Columbia/Snake River System Operations (CRSO) is the federal system of locks and dams which serves as an important trade route for the Pacific Northwest economy. Barges and ships transport thousands of containers along its 2,321 miles of waterways annually. Additionally, the LSRD provide approximately 3,800 megawatts of carbon-free energy to electricity consumers all over the region.

(bluefish notes: LSRD have never produced 3,800 megawatts of electricity. Never. Indeed, over the past quarter century, the LSRD have on average produced 780 to 1050 aMW annually, far below what the Members of Congress are suggesting to be the case. Moreover, this energy is not carbon-free.)

In December 2023, the Biden Administration, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), and six sovereign nations released a final package of commitments in the ongoing CRSO litigation and mediation. In this package, a myriad of provisions were included and the general consensus amongst many Pacific Northwest stakeholders is the agreement serves as a de-facto breaching the LSRD. Despite some believing the only solution for salmon survivability in the region is to breach the dams, doing so would be a fatal blow to the Pacific Northwest economy, public power, recreationists, and river-dependent ports and communities. Moreover, it would negatively impact environmental quality along the LSRD, which provide immeasurable benefits to the region and nation.

During the Jan. 17 hearing, Congresswoman Chavez-DeRemer (OR-05) described the insurmountable burden this would place on the rail and trucking industries, indicating it would take 39,204 rail cars and 150,784 semi-trucks per year to move the cargo that is currently barged through the Columbia/Snake Rivers. Congresswoman Chavez-DeRemer asked you specifically if you believed that Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) would still be able to meet its objectives after adding this substantial amount of rail cars and trucks to railroads and highways, to which you replied in the affirmative.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2022 report, there were 37,250 heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in Washington, 22,690 in Oregon, and 14,030 in Idaho. That total would have to be tripled to meet the projected number of trucks needed consistently on the road to make up for lost barge transport.

Overall, 60 percent of all wheat exports are barged through the LSRD. A single four-barge tow carrying wheat moves the equivalent to 538 semi-trucks and is the lowest cost shipping option. Dam breaching will add 23.8 million miles in additional trucking activity annually, leading to increased fuel costs, highway maintenance costs, terminal facility maintenance cost, driver time, and vehicle maintenance costs by $69 million per year.

Removing the dams will likely lead to higher rail costs as well and harmful CO2 emissions by over 1,251,000 tons annually. Highway, rail, grain elevators, and local infrastructure will need over $1 billion in capital investments. In your testimony, you stated WSDOT works to maintain and improve local roads, railroads, and airports. We find it incredibly hard to believe WSDOT will continue to meet these broad objectives after breaching the dams, as capacity on highways and railroads will meet an all-time high. Combined with worker shortages in truck and rail networks, and the negative environmental impacts, we respectfully request answers to the following questions:

• Please expand on the stated objectives of WSDOT as a transportation agency;
• Please specifically detail how WSDOT will continue to meet these transportation objectives if the Lower Snake River Dams are breached, especially as it relates to impacts from increased traffic on highway and rail transportation networks; and
• How will WSDOT maintain its objectives and provide viable alternatives to continue to help robustly grow the Pacific Northwest economy?
• If these objectives are maintained, why does WSDOT believe they still need additional DOT grants with respect to the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative?

We remain deeply concerned with the plan to breach the dams given the significant environmental and economic impacts. We appreciate your continued attention to this important issue and look forward to hearing from you.

Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Member of Congress
Russ Fulcher, Member of Congress
Ryan Zinke, Member of Congress
Cliff Bentz, Member of Congress
Matt Rosendale, Member of Congress