Judge won't stop Rogue River dam removal
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(AP) — GRANTS PASS, Ore. - Work to remove Gold Ray Dam on the Rogue River resumed Wednesday after a federal judge refused to extend a temporary stop work order.
U.S. District Judge Owen Panner ruled that four local people trying to prevent removal of the century-old, defunct hydroelectric dam near Gold Hill were unlikely to win their lawsuit. The lawsuit argues that their civil rights were violated because a county hearings officer who granted a key permit was inherently biased because he is paid by the county.
Stopping removal of the dam was not in the public interest, and the plaintiffs had not shown they would suffer any harm, the judge added.
County administrator Danny Jordan called the lawsuit frivolous, intended to delay removal so that the county would lose a $5 million federal stimulus grant. Deadline for removal is the end of October.
The county has obtained and complied with all necessary permits, and would go ahead with dam removal even it federal funding was lost, Jordan said.
The contractor resumed work on a coffer dam to divert the river so the actual dam could be removed, Jordan said. The week lost to a temporary restraining order will not significantly delay progress.
Jack Swift, a Grants Pass attorney and Tea Party sponsor representing the plaintiffs, said the ruling made it unlikely they could stop removal of the dam.
"Once it's breached, the game is over and rightfully or wrongfully, what are you going to do about it," he said.
Lead plaintiff Charles Boyer has said he envisioned the preservation of the dam and the historically significant architecture of the powerhouse as a tourist attraction along a scenic highway that runs parallel to the river.
Other plaintiffs living upstream of the dam have complained they would lose wetlands created by the backed-up water.
Their appeals to the county and the state Land Use Board of Appeals have all been rejected.
"These challengers had no case from the get-go," said Pete Frost, an attorney representing conservation groups that intervened in the case. "The only thing historic about this dam is it has been killing wild salmon for over a century."
The dam has long been identified by biologists as an obstacle to salmon and steelhead on the Rogue, where coho salmon are listed as a threatened species.
Jackson County, which took ownership of the dam after it quit operating, decided to remove it as a long-term financial liability after receiving a $5 million federal stimulus grant from NOAA Fisheries Service.
If the dam is removed as scheduled this fall, it will be the third to be removed in the past three years, opening more than 150 miles of river to unimpeded fish passage below Lost Creek Dam.
