Judge orders breach of dam at hydroelectric project on Puyallup River - The Seattle Times

Judge orders breach of dam at hydroelectric project on Puyallup River | The Seattle Times

PUYALLUP TRIBAL LANDS — A federal judge ordered Electron Hydro to breach a dam on the Puyallup River because it violates the Endangered Species Act.

The dam in 2020 was the site of a spill of toxic bits of ground-up tires used in artificial turf, which was placed in the river as a liner as part of a construction project.

The company then installed a rock-and-sheet-pile dam that same year and it has remained in place since. After visiting the hydroelectric project Thursday, Judge John Coughenour on Friday issued a written order for the company to apply for permits to begin removing the bulk of the dam before adult salmon return to spawn, with work to not extend beyond Sept. 15.

The rock dam, said Eric Marks, a biologist with the tribe’s fisheries department, in court documents, likely attracts fish away from the fish ladder, and its jagged edges could potentially injure both out-migrating juveniles and adult fish returning to spawn that attempt to jump and move past it.

In 2023, for the first time since monitoring began, the Puyallup Tribe Fisheries Department found no redds, or egg nests, in the river or its tributaries above the dam, said Lisa Anderson, the tribe’s environmental attorney.

“It’s grim,” Puyallup Fisheries Director Russ Ladley said earlier this month. “Our big concern is steelhead, which is the most depressed of all the Puyallup salmonids right now. They are going to be making their way this month, and they’re gonna be trying to spawn in April and in May, and unfortunately, they may not be able to get upstream to do so.”

In October of last year, the toxic rubber bits were still visible in the river, Marks wrote in a court filing.

The crumb rubber used in artificial turf is made from old tires that contain the chemical 6PPD, intended to protect tires from weathering. When 6PPD reacts with ozone, it forms 6PPD-q, which is toxic to salmon, trout and many other fish and aquatic species. Studies have shown the chemical is lethal to coho salmon.

“We’re trying to figure out with all these lands that were stolen and taken from us, how to clean them up,” said Puyallup Vice Chairwoman Sylvia Miller on Friday, in tribal council chambers after the order was filed. “They’re changing Mother Nature’s way. We’ve been telling them for years and years that this is not OK.”

The order does not preclude Electron from moving forward with its additional plan to replace a portion of an existing wooden dam with an “inflatable bladder dam” made of rubber. The goal is to allow natural releases and transport of sand, gravel, boulders or other debris downstream to protect the company’s infrastructure.

The Puyallup Tribe, in court documents, has argued the bladder dam proposal would be an equally harmful alternative. They plan to continue monitoring the company’s permits.

The Electron Hydropower Project begins about 6 miles west of Mount Rainier National Park. Water is diverted from the river along a 10.2 mile wooden flume topped with a railroad track to a reservoir before plunging 875 feet downhill through steel penstocks to a powerhouse that generates enough energy to power more than 20,000 homes. It hasn’t been operational since the turf spill.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.