Senate Candidate Blasts Snake Dam Study Murray Spokesman Calls Radio Ads Paid For By Bayley ‘Cynical Political Cheap Shots’

The Army Corps of Engineers shouldn’t even be considering a plan that talks about removing the Lower Snake River dams, Republican Senate candidate Chris Bayley said Tuesday.

And incumbent Patty Murray should be replaced for not stopping the Corps’ study, Bayley says in a campaign ad being broadcast on Eastern Washington radio stations.

The Corps says it’s not recommending the removal of the four dams. It’s just doing what Congress asked it to do - look at viable alternatives for restoring the endangered salmon.

“If you’re going to take an honest look, you have to look at these alternatives,” said Mark Charlton, deputy district engineer for the Corps’ Walla Walla District.

A spokesman for Murray’s campaign called the radio ads “cynical political cheap shots.”

“Patty Murray has not proposed tearing down these dams,” Rick Desimone said.

Bayley, a former King County prosecutor seeking the GOP nomination to oppose Democrat Murray, is spending about $20,000 on radio ads. With the Spokane Falls as a backdrop Tuesday morning, he played his ad for a handful of supporters and a couple of reporters.

“We all agree we need to save the salmon,” Bayley said. “The mere fact that they’re studying (removal) is what concerns me. I don’t think they should be studying it.”

He also said the Corps should not be studying the removal of the John Day Dam on the Columbia River.

Bayley added that he didn’t back any particular plan to help restore the dwindling Columbia and Snake River salmon runs. The important thing, he said, was to get all the people involved to sit down, discuss the problem and reach consensus.

Under a 1995 order from the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Corps is preparing a report on three alternatives that could improve salmon runs on the Snake River. One is to make minor adjustments to the current dam system; another is to build bypass facilities and modify the power turbines; the third involves breaching dams or routing water around them, knocking out the power plants and the navigation locks and ending commercial traffic on the lower Snake.

The Corps is not studying the removal of the John Day Dam, said Stuart Stanger, project manager for that dam’s fish program. It is preparing a study that would include an option called “natural river” - but the study is in the early phase and no one is sure what that means.

“There are no decisions. The ultimate decision will be made by Congress,” Stanger said.

Congress hasn’t made any decisions on a salmon solution, Corps officials said. It did approve money for the Snake River study last year as part of the Energy and Transportation Appropriations Bill.

Murray voted yes, as did all other Northwest senators on the bill that passed 99-0.

Rex Carney, a spokesman for Murray’s Senate office, said she has requested a General Accounting Office study into whether the Corps is operating the dams efficiently. She also supported a series of modifications to the dams as cooperative efforts among river users “to make sure we don’t have to do something drastic” like removing the dams.

FACT CHECK Dam ad called oversimplification The ad: A 60-second radio commercial, airing in Eastern Washington, has GOP Senate candidate Chris Bayley’s criticism of Democratic incumbent Patty Murray and the Corps of Engineers. “Did you know that the Clinton administration is actually considering dismantling five productive Eastern Washington dams … But Patty Murray has done nothing to stop these dams from being removed.” The background: The corps is under orders by the National Marine Fisheries Service to come up with alternatives to improve dwindling salmon runs. It is in the middle of a four-year process to produce an Environmental Impact Statement, giving Congress three different alternatives from which to choose. One of those alternatives would breach, or remove, four Snake River dams. Removal of the fifth dam, the John Day, is not currently an option, the corps says. Opponent’s reaction: A Murray spokesman calls the ad a blatant distortion because Murray “has not proposed tearing down these dams.” Campaign response: Bayley acknowledges removing the dams is so radical it is unlikely to happen, but says Murray should take steps to make sure it wasn’t even an option. Analysis: The ad suffers most from trying to consolidate one of the region’s most complex issues - restoring salmon without hurting other uses on the river system - into 60 seconds. Saying the Clinton administration is considering dismantling dams is an oversimplification because the final decision will be made by Congress. The corps points out that in order to choose the best alternative, Congress will need to know the costs and benefits of all the options.