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Lacking permits, utility puts off dam breaching

The Columbian
Published: April 6, 2010, 12:00am

Condit Dam, which has blocked the White Salmon River since 1913, probably will stand in place for another year.

Dam owner PacifiCorp is still awaiting Clean Water Act permits from the state Department of Ecology and the Army Corps of Engineers, utility spokesman Tom Gauntt said Monday. In addition, the company needs an official license surrender order from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

The utility had hoped to receive those permits by the end of March to provide enough time to adjust the demolition plan to any new requirements of the permits, solicit bids from contractors and prepare the site for dam removal in October.

“We’ve pretty much missed the deadline for getting it accomplished in 2010,” Gauntt said.

In 1999, PacifiCorp reached an agreement with environmental groups, government agencies and the Yakama Nation to remove the dam. PacifiCorp estimates it will cost $28 million to remove the structure. The company opted for pulling the dam after balking at the even-higher cost of retrofitting it with fish ladders, which federal officials would have required with a renewed operating permit.

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