Olsen: Irrigators Directly Impacted By Snake River Dam EIS

Federal defendants in the litigation on biological opinion for salmon and steelhead final environmental impact statement are seeking to dismiss irrigators' claim. Columbia Snake River Irrigation Association Representative Darryl Olsen said the defendants are claiming the irrigators wouldn't be harmed by anything in the environmental impact statement.

"That is blatantly false. The environmental impact statement reviews alternative that looks at for dam breaching and in that alternative they explicitly fail to include all of the impact area for the irrigated ag and explicitly fail to identify any mitigation associated with that.”

According to Olsen, both of those things are unlawful underneath EIS preparation which is the basis for the cross claim.

"We obviously can be harmed by an unlawful environmental impact statement and they also failed to take into account other hydro alternatives that might have reduced the need for mitigation which is also a violation of the law for EIS preparation."

The Columbia Snake River Irrigation Association is a defendant intervener in the case. 

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