Newhouse, McMorris Rodgers: Recent Dam Study A Slap In The Face Of Eastern Washington Ag

A recent study done by Seattle-based ECONorthwest claims removing the four lower Snake River dams exceeds the cost.  The study was done for another Seattle-based company, Vulcan Inc.  Vulcan oversees the business and philanthropic interests of Microsoft co-founder and former Seattle Seahawks and Portland Trailblazer owner, the late Paul Allen.

The Study said despite the loss of generated hydropower as well as barge transportation, the public benefits justify removing the four dams.

"This privately-funded study is a slap in the face of our state’s agricultural economy,"  said representatives Dan Newhouse and Cathy McMorris Rodgers.  "It is another example of Seattle-based interests seeking to disrupt our way of life in Central and Eastern Washington. Increases in carbon emissions, higher electricity bills, and billions of dollars in infrastructure improvements that would be needed for irrigation and transportation hardly come across as a ‘public benefit.’ This report, like many others before it, fails to consider the consequences of dam breaching for communities and industries throughout the Northwest."

The two republicans continued, “We trust the federal scientists and experts who are currently conducting a legal and comprehensive environmental impact study of the Snake River Dams. They should be able to do their jobs without groups from downtown Seattle dictating a cursory conclusion.”

A briefing session to provide further explanation of the study will be hosted by Vulcan in Seattle on July 30, 2019 from 3:30 p.m.  There is currently no briefing scheduled in Central or Eastern Washington.

In December, Governor Jay Inslee proposed a $750,000 line item in the state budget to support evaluation of the Lower Snake River dams by a state task force.  Newhouse and McMorris Rodgers released a statement opposed to the study.

In May, McMorris Rodgers and Newhouse urged Governor Inslee to veto the line item in a joint statement, citing widespread support for the dams.

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