It was not intended to be a chance to give your opinion on dam removal, but many local residents used it that way. A Washington Department of Transportation engineer fielded questions for three hours tonight about what happens to transportation if the dams are removed. It was largely about how goods like grain would be shipped to the ocean without the barge traffic we have now that brings costs way down compared to train or truck.
Local resident Rick Hanks stopped by to see, among other things, how much the study itself cost. The answer is roughly $4million. He says he’s done the research and the best way to save the fish that are the dams’ sticking point, is to do what we do now. That’s barge them upriver past the dams.
“Use barges. Save the fish, save the dams, save our electricity, save global warming. The benefits are so huge. And then to waste $4million on this study? For what?”
Lori Sanders came from Benton County to tonight’s meeting to see where things stand with the study. She’s a member of the Benton County PUD board, but she was just giving her personal opinion when she spoke with us. She says she’s disappointed in the fact that the study is lacking information. She says it doesn’t include supposed earth-destroying facts.
“The state claims we are in a climate crisis. We’re all going to die if we don’t do something. So it strikes me as odd, as they do not have in the model, the carbon emissions from the diesel trains. I just find that kind of stunning.”
Even though President Trump shut down the idea of breaching the dams for now, this study was created at the state level and will continue.
