Klamath Water Users and Tribes Negotiate Removal of Warren Buffett’s Dams That Poison Local Communities and Result in Public Health Warnings

In May Klamath River Keeper and other affected community members filed a public nuisance claim against PacifiCorp over the role the dams play in creating algae blooms and creating conditions lethal to salmon. Said Hillman, “PacifiCorp is destroying the most vital natural resource river and coastline communities have while poisoning us at the same time.” Lawyers for the plaintiffs include Robert Kennedy, Jr. of the National Water Keeper Alliance and Joseph Cotchett. Tribal and state governments are not plaintiffs in the suit.

Last May, Hillman and other Tribal leaders joined with conservation groups and fishermen to take their grievances straight to Buffett at Warranpalooza, the annual shareholders’ meeting of Buffett’s investment firm Berkshire Hathaway. Buffett declined to address the groups’ appeal to remove the Klamath dams.

“In the end, PacifiCorp’s investors and ratepayers will hold its management accountable. Not only is removing these toxic waste factories the moral thing to do, it’s the economically sound decision as well,” stated Hillman.

Hillman refers to the economic analysis performed by the California Energy Commission which concludes that PacifiCorp would save over $100 million by removing the dams instead of meeting the terms of a new operational license.

Currently over two dozen Klamath Basin stakeholders are seeking to negotiate an agreement that would remove the dams as well as address issues of in stream flows and power needs of farmers.

“Everyone in the Klamath Basin is working on solutions to these problems. Its time for PacifiCorp to get real about removing these dams and stop exploiting Klamath communities and their own ratepayers,” concluded Hillman.

For more information, see the California Coastal Commission sediment study that concludes that dams can be removed safely.

Craig Tucker received his B.S. in biochemistry from Clemson University in 1993 and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Vanderbilt University in 1999. He was the Outreach Director at Friends of the River, developing grassroots campaigns on a variety of California water issues. Each campaign was based on the connection between sustainable environmental policy and social justice. Currently Craig is the Campaign Coordinator for the Karuk Tribe's 'Bring the Salmon Home' campaign. The goal: removal of four dams on the Klamath River which would represent the largest dam removal project in history. Tucker and the Karuk Tribe have prodcued a film, "Solving the Klamath Crisis; Keeping Farms and Fish Alive".