Groups’ Suit Accuses Bpa Of Making Deals Without Considering Fate Of Fish

Idaho Rivers United and other groups on Monday filed suit in the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, charging the Bonneville Power Administration with negotiating business deals while ignoring the dwindling salmon and steelhead runs.

The lawsuit accuses Bonneville of violating the Northwest Power Act, National Environmental Policy Act and the Administrative Procedure Act by leaving endangered salmon out of the equation.

“They’re making long-term, ironclad agreements to maintain the status quo on the river,” said Charles Ray of Idaho Rivers.

The Northwest Power Act requires that a suit against Bonneville be filed in the appellate court, Ray said.

Idaho Rivers United is lead petitioner in the suit. It is joined by the Yakama Indian Nation, Northwest Environmental Defense Center, American Rivers, Oregon Natural Resources Defense Council, Save the West and the Northwest Resource Information Center.

By forcing Bonneville to open up its business dealings, the groups hope to get at the heart of how the Columbia and Snake River hydropower system is operated, Ray said. Biologists estimate the dam turbines and slackwater reservoirs claim 95 percent of Idaho’s salmon each year.

The petitioners are asking the court to halt negotiation of the Canadian Entitlement and the Pacific Northwest Coordination Agreement.

The Canadian Entitlement is a pact with Canada covering use of power and stored water from Columbia River reservoirs in that country, Ray said. The Pacific agreement is a contract between Bonneville and federal and private power producers which jointly manage parts of the rivers.

The petitioners also ask for a halt to negotiations of Bonneville’s power sales contracts with utilities and large industrial customers.

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