Blumenauer Testifies on His Legislation to Restore the Columbia River

Tuesday, 27 April 2010 19:00

Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore) today testified before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on legislation he introduced to restore the Columbia River, which serves about 8 million people and – with its tributaries – powers 14 dams, generating over 75 percent of the Northwest’s energy.

The hearing focused on protecting and restoring America's great waters, particularly the Columbia River and San Francisco Bay. The Columbia River is contaminated with dangerous pollutants, such as PCBs, and other chemicals that imperil the ecosystem, salmon, other fish, and the health of millions of people who rely on this resource. Blumenauer’s legislation, H.R. 4652 , and Senate companion legislation introduced by Senator Merkley, would fund the cleanup and restoration of this important river.

Paul Lumley of the Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission, Debrah Marriott of the Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership and OR State Senator Jackie Dingfelder testify on behalf of the HR. 4652

The following are Congressman Blumenauer’s remarks as prepared for delivery:

Chairwoman Johnson, Ranking Member Boozman, and members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to join you today to discuss legislation that will help restore the Columbia River, an important landmark for my state of Oregon and for the entire Pacific Northwest.

The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest and the fourth largest river in the county by volume. Its huge drainage basin includes 259,000 square miles and extends into 7 states and Canada. The basin includes all or part of 5 national parks, the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area, and the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.

The Columbia River and its tributaries provide ecological and economic benefits to the entire country. It was traditionally the largest salmon producing river system in the world, and salmon are still an important part of the culture and livelihood for many people in the region. The Columbia River drainage basin also includes more than 6 million acres of irrigated agricultural land and its 14 hydroelectric dams, combined with additional dams on its tributaries, produce more power than any other North American River. There are approximately 8 million people who live in the Basin and depend on its resources.

The Environmental Protection Agency recognized the importance of the River to the nation when it named the Lower Columbia River Estuary an “Estuary of National Significance” in 1995 and the Columbia River Basin a “Large Aquatic Ecosystem” in 2006.

Unfortunately and for too long, we have treated this great river like a machine. As a result, much of the Columbia River is degraded. Habitat loss has been severe - in the last 100 years, for example, wetland habitat within the lower Columbia River corridor has decreased by as much as 75% from historic levels. Many of the once plentiful salmon runs are now listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The Federal government, as well as state, local and Tribal governments, has spent millions of dollars on habitat restoration and environmental improvements at the dams.

In addition to habitat loss, the Columbia River is plagued by toxic contamination. Scientific analysis is showing significant levels of dioxins, PCB’s, heavy metals, and other toxic chemicals. These “legacy pollutants,” some of which were banned in the 1970’s, are largely thought to have been the result of human industrial activities occurring on or near the River over the last 150 years. Yet the problem persists today as a result of continued industrial uses, stormwater runoff and sewer overflows, which discharge water contaminated with new chemicals - including flame retardants such as PBDEs, pharmaceuticals, and personal care products. According to the EPA, the four main contaminants in the River include mercury, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE). Some of the additional pollutants that have been found at levels causing impairment include arsenic, dioxin, chlordane, metals, and bacteria.

Scientific research has indicated that these contaminants can impair the growth, health, and reproduction of salmon, eagles, and other animals that are an important part of our ecosystem. They present a threat not only to the fish and wildlife in the Basin, but the humans who depend on them. The EPA’s recent Columbia River Basin Fish Contaminant Survey detected the presence of 92 priority pollutants, including PCBs, dioxins, furans, arsenic, DDE (a breakdown product of DDT), in fish that are consumed by humans – especially the Native American tribes in the region. A fish consumption survey by the Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission showed that tribal members eat 6-11 times more fish than EPA’s estimated national average.

While the Federal government has invested millions of dollars in the River on habitat restoration and environmental improvements at the dams, the level of investment is not at the scale necessary to implement sustained monitoring or make significant progress on reducing toxics.
In many areas, there has been no monitoring at all. The EPA has indicated that it doesn’t even have enough information in the majority of the Basin to know whether contaminant levels are increasing or decreasing.

This is why I, along with Committee member Brian Baird and other members of the Oregon and Washington delegation, have introduced the Columbia River Restoration Act. If enacted, this legislation would provide EPA and stakeholders in the region with the funding they need to develop a comprehensive strategy for identifying, understanding and reducing contaminant sources, expanding toxics reduction activities, and coordinating contaminant reduction efforts with habitat restoration in the region. Senator Merkley has introduced companion legislation in the Senate.

Much restoration work is already being done by the EPA, other Federal agencies, the Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership, States, Tribal governments, and other stakeholders in the region. The EPA has established a Columbia River Program as part of the River’s designation as a Large Aquatic Ecosystem, with a goal to “protect public health and the environment by reducing toxics in fish, water, and sediment of the Columbia River Basin and by increasing toxic reduction actions and implementing a collaborative monitoring and research strategy to understand toxic loads, emerging contaminants, and overall ecosystem health.” However, existing efforts are at too small a scale and current funding levels are insufficient to meet these goals. Additional resources are necessary to support the comprehensive effort it will take to reduce impairments in the River.

The Columbia River Restoration Act establishes a Columbia River Program Team within the Oregon Operations Office for Region 10 of the EPA. This Team will assist, support and coordinate implementation of existing toxic reduction and habitat restoration efforts on the River. The bill envisions providing resources to successful structures that are already in place, including the Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership, without duplicating efforts.

EPA’s 2006-2011 Strategic Plan, which named the Columbia River Basin a Large Aquatic Ecosystem, included a goal “to protect, sustain, or restore the health of people, communities, and ecosystems using integrated and comprehensive approaches and partnerships.” I think this legislation exemplifies that goal.

This legislation will ensure that all of the investments we’re currently making in protecting endangered salmon on the River are being used efficiently. U.S. taxpayers and Northwest electricity ratepayers have already spent more than $7 billion on salmon restoration efforts since the early 1980s, and are gearing up to spend even more when the Federal Columbia River Power System Biological Opinion goes into effect. Right now, however, we’re spending money to restore habitat and improve survival over the dams just to swim in a toxic river.

Efforts to clean up the Columbia River and its tributaries are complicated by a Superfund site, important industries along the river, navigation traffic, an economically important fishery, and ESA listed species. But the EPA set up the Large Aquatic Ecosystem Program to make progress on exactly these types of complex water resource management challenges. With the resources provided by this legislation, along with the efforts already being undertaken in the region, I think we can restore the River and make it safer for fish, wildlife, and the humans that depend on them.

The Assistant Administrator for Water at EPA has stated that the success of the LAE programs rests in their collaborative nature. This legislation would help the federal government be a better partner to local communities by supporting model non-regulatory community-based programs that achieve real results. It would focus on on-the-ground activities driven by local communities with coordination, technical support and base funding coming from the Federal government.

By embracing this legislation, this Committee has an opportunity to contribute to the restoration and preservation of a nationally significant River. This is not just about conserving the environment: this a public health issue, an economic issue, and an environmental justice issue. I hope that the Committee will work with me to move this legislation through the process quickly, so that we can get resources on the ground in the Northwest and begin this important work a soon as possible.