For Immediate Release: February 18, 2005
For more information:
Allen Foreman, Chairman, Klamath Tribes 541-783-2219 x170
Dan Israel, Attorney, Klamath Tribes 303-246-9027Scottish Power Denies Responsibility for Killing Klamath Salmon
Utility asks U.S. court to dismiss $1 Billion lawsuit filed by Klamath Tribes
Chiloquin, OR- Last Friday, Scottish Power requested that a $1 billion lawsuit filed by the Klamath Tribes for denied access to salmon be dismissed.
Scottish Power owns a complex of six dams on the Klamath River that block over 350 miles of historic salmon spawning habitat. Because of the dams, the Klamath Tribes of Oregon have not seen salmon in their homelands since the first dam was built in 1917 without fish ladders. Before the dams, salmon were plentiful, providing a staple of the Tribes’ diet and playing a fundamental role in the Tribes’ cultural practices.
Before dam construction, the Klamath River was the 3rd most productive salmon and steelhead river in the United States, hosting the return of 1.1 million adult fish annually. Current runs of Klamath River fall chinook salmon are less than 8 percent of pre-dam populations. For coho salmon, the numbers are less than 1 percent. Coho salmon are now listed as Threatened Species under the U.S.Endangered Species Act.
In 1916, when COPCO Dam was under construction, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, acting on behalf of local tribes, asked the dam builder, California-Oregon Power Company (COPCO), how they would accommodate the needs of migrating salmon. The company replied in writing:
“…Ample provision has been made in the plans for the dam for a fish ladder which will permit unobstructed passage of fish up the Klamath River…When the tunnel and flumes through the dam which now permit the run of fish to pass are closed up, the fish ladder will be in operation.”
Despite the promise, fish ladders were never installed.
Today the dams are owned and operated by the multi-national energy giant Scottish Power (NYSE-SPI). Last summer the Klamath Tribes along with their downstream tribal neighbors joined forces with Friends of the River and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA). Together, tribes, fishermen and conservationists asked Scottish Power shareholders to help restore the struggling Klamath fishery. The group managed to meet with Scottish Power CEO Ian Russell. Mr. Russell pledged to the group that he would make a personal commitment “To find the right solution.
Although Scottish Power did not build the Klamath dams, according to Alan Foreman, Chairman of Klamath Tribes, “they inherited the responsibility to provide fish passage when they acquired PacifiCorp.” PacifiCorp had previously acquired California Oregon Power Company.
According to Jeff Mitchell, Klamath Tribes’ representative in Scotland, “We left Scotland encouraged by Mr. Russell’s words. He seemed to understand our need to bring the salmon home.”
No agreement to resolve the crisis has been reached yet, and the company appears resolved to use legal gymnastics to shirk responsibility.
Chairman Foreman stated, “Scottish Power’s strategy ignores the central role which Klamath Treaty fishing rights plays in the Tribes’ current lawsuit. Those rights were not affected by termination of federal recognition for the Tribe in 1961. Nor were they affected by congress’ reinstatement of the Tribe in 1986.”
As the legal battles and dam relicensing continues the salmon struggle to survive long enough to see the outcome.
