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Sediment not likely to be harmful Dam�s removal shouldn�t damage environment, agency says By Paul Fattig GRANTS PASS � Sediment released by removing the controversial Savage Rapids Dam on the Rogue River isn�t likely to harm the downstream environment, according to the latest Bureau of Reclamation study. The study, to be released Aug. 3, shows that less sediment than previously believed has built up behind the 80-year-old irrigation dam, and that no toxic materials are contained in the sediment, a bureau spokesman said Friday. "My understanding is that they didn�t find any toxic materials, and that, based upon the samples and additional data, they have revised the calculations of the volumes of sediment to indicate there is less sediment than folks originally thought," said Bob Hamilton, a resource management coordinator at the bureau�s regional office in Boise. Hamilton said his observations come from having talked to researchers and that he has not seen the full report. Results of the sediment study will be presented by bureau representatives during a meeting Aug. 3 in Grants Pass. The presentation will begin at 7 p.m. in the Anne Basker Auditorium at 604 N.W. Sixth St. The public is invited to arrive at 6:30 p.m. to view exhibits and discuss issues with agency representatives before the presentation. Representatives of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the private firm McLaren-Hart Inc., which both provided a peer review of the bureau�s findings, will also be at the meeting. The dam is upstream from Grants Pass. Using a floating platform, specialists from the bureau drilled for samples in the sediment last spring and fall. The agency also had conducted a sediment study immediately upstream from the dam in 1995. A 1998 Environmental Protection Agency study concluded there were heavy metals in the sediment but the levels weren�t high enough to warrant concern. The Savage Rapids Dam Task Force, convened in 1996 by Gov. John Kitzhaber and the state Legislature, had requested the additional studies on potentially hazardous contaminants in the sediment and how their release, if found, would affect irrigation pumps and fish. Operated by the Grants Pass Irrigation District, the dam has become a contentious point between those who believe it needs to be removed to protect fish runs and those who argue that it does not harm the environment. Opponents to dam removal have claimed that removing the dam would release toxic material built up over years of mining upstream. In 1995, the bureau concluded that removing the dam would be the least expensive way to improve fish passage. It proposed allowing winter flooding to remove the sediments trapped behind the dam. The latest study appears to indicate that scenario will work well without detriment to the river environment, Hamilton said. "We�ve done some modeling based upon what we can anticipate happening," he said. "You�re looking at sediments moving during a high-flow situation when the river is already dirty because that�s when Mother Nature is moving sediment along the river." Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA