Counterspin

BY PHIL HAYWORTH

Pioneer Press

Fort Jones , CA

530-468-5355

mailto:pioneerp@sisqtel.net

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Page E11, Column 1

The study of how blue-green algae affects lake users at Copco and Iron Gate will
likely have a powerful impact on the future use of the lake - and on Siskiyou County's and
Southern Oregon's electricity producer, PacifiCorp.

Folks who think different are like little boys whistling in the dark, afraid of facing the
boogeyman of truth.

The power company operates seven hydroelectric dams along the Klamath River, but Iron Gate and Copco One and Copco Two are today in the cross-hair. Iron Gate alone
produces 18,000 megawatts, the Copco dams add more to the soup, and the seven hrydro dams together produce about 161 megawatts for about 70,000 customers, producing power worth about $29 million a year, according to the California Energy Commission.

It's an important energy producer. It's also an important water storage source.

But four Klamath Tribes who support removal of four dams farthest down river filed a
$1 billion suit against PacifiCorp in May 2004 for damages associated with the loss of salmon in the Klamath Basin .

The company is owned by Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., which itself is majority owned by Warren Buffet. That's deep pockets, and Buffet is known for being brutally decisive.

When the details of the negotiated settlement are made public - and that could be soon -- the power company will likely take a big hit.

Say What?

Meanwhile, the CDC and the California Department of Health Services recently issued
an absurd statement that, in the end, this summer's algal study "will not be able to determine whether blue-green algal toxins in Copco or Iron Gate reservoirs do or
do not cause health problems."

But what if the study strongly suggests that the lakes in summertime are toxic cesspools that should be closed immediately for further study?

This could be the algae that broke the power company's back.

The power company has only themselves to blame.

They've had decades to find ways to remediate the algae problem on the lakes, but only recently installed solar-powered water circulation units that, some area residents say broke down shortly after installation.

Sam Wakim, a newly appointed North Regional Water Quality Control Board member from Siskiyou County , spent most of Friday touring the lake with water board chairman John Corbett and vice-chairman Robert Anderson, along with a board staff attorney.

Wakim said the group did not constitute a quorum.  If four of the seven members had been there, a public notice would have had to be filed and the public invited.

But Friday was a private party, hosted by the Karuk Indian Tribe, whose representatives
escorted county health director Barber, Klamath Riverkeeper director Regina Chichizola and the board to some of the nastiest, algae-clogged spots around Iron Gate and
Copco.

A representative from PacifiCorps was there, too, but was originally not invited. She
crashed the party, you might say, but after a few awkward moments, Karuk water resources director Corum conceded and let her join the tour.

The Pioneer Press, however, was asked to leave by Corum and the water board's staff attorney.  They said they didn't feel "comfortable" with having the press around.

No Press Allowed

According to Wakim, the parties were cordial.

The intention of the  meeting, Corum said, was to give them all the chance to experience the nature of the algal situation and to discuss it.

But even after seeing the worst of the algae, Wakim believed that remediation efforts could work. The dams should stay, he said, and his mission now, he said, is to support Gov. Arnold Schwarzenneger's agenda to keep the dams. Indeed, the Governor wants to
build more. But anyone who has been on the water there in the summer knows that the algal solution might be complicated - and expensive.

After all is done and the checks have been mailed, it'll likely come down to whether PacifiCorps, its board and, ultimately, its shareholders, are willing to spend the estimated
$300 million needed to fix the algae and fish problem.

All this comes at a time when the power company is trying to get relicensed by the Federal Energy Commission.

Correspondence between the Federal Energy Commission and California Energy
Commission strongly suggest that the company would be better off financially
get rid of the dams, or at least tear down Iron Gate .

B.B. Blevins, California Energy Commission executive director, wrote in a
letter dated April 19, 2007 to FERC - complete with the Governor's signature
and the California seal -- that "results affirm that decommissioning the Klamath
Hydro Project and procuring replacement power for 30 years would be less costly to

Pacifi-Corp and its ratepayers than relicensing the project and mitigating its impacts."

There are a lot of good arguments to both keep and remove the dams.

But if guys like Warren Buffet have anything to say about it, it'll likely come down to what's best for his company's bottom line.

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