Hanford Reach Management Deal Reached Counties To Send Proposal To Congress

A local panel has reached agreement on a counterproposal to U.S. Sen. Patty Murray’s bill on how to manage the last free-flowing stretch of the Columbia River.

The panel - appointed by the commissioners of Benton, Franklin and Grant counties - will offer its proposal to Republican U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., who represents the area in Congress.

The panel wants the river’s Hanford Reach to be managed by a joint federal-state-local commission after the U.S. Department of Energy relinquishes control.

The competing proposal by Murray, D-Wash., would protect 51 miles of the reach as a wild and scenic river and place it under control of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The reach contains the only major salmon spawning area left on the main stem of the Columbia. Federal scientists have identified it as critical to the recovery of salmon stocks throughout the Columbia Basin.

The proposal by the counties’ panel calls for Congress to set aside $10 million for capital projects along the reach, to be spent only if the counties and state raise matching funds.

The Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee plans to hold a public hearing in the area this year on the two proposals.

Both sides want to manage the shoreline as a wildlife and recreational area. But they differ on who should be in charge.

The two sides also strongly disagree on how the neighboring Wahluke Slope should be used as an ecological buffer zone for the environmentally sensitive river corridor.

Key features of the counties’ proposal include:

Setting the river corridor at about 47 miles long and at a quarter mile inland or slightly more on each shore. This means the county corridor would be slightly shorter, but slightly wider, than Murray’s proposal.

DOE transferring to state ownership parts of the corridor that have been cleaned of contamination from the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. The would occur within six months of the bill’s passage.

Creating a seven-person commission to supervise the reach. The three counties would appoint one member each. The federal government would appoint two. The state would pick one. Those six members would pick a seventh from a county along the Columbia River.

Requesting the federal government to provide a third of the annual costs of managing the reach, with its share not to exceed $300,000. The counties and state would provide the other two-thirds.

Requesting $10 million in federal money for capital projects along the reach, such as better boat ramps, informational kiosks and memorial sites. The proposal calls for the local and state governments to pay for 60 percent of any capital projects, while the federal government would pay 40 percent.

That provision bothered some members of the counties’ panel Tuesday.

“A selling point of this plan is keeping the federal government from providing money,” said Ami Mac- Hugh, a local-control advocate.

Murray’s bill does not have budget estimates or funding guarantees.

John Hall, the only wild-and-scenic river supporter on the panel, criticized the panel for not seriously looking at Murray’s bill.