We discovered that the “science” was not up to par on the Klamath system in California when we had two highly qualified scientists volunteer to serve on the federal salmon Task Force and to represent the County. They found a lot of rot in the science being used to support pro fish politics. The Bush Admin. had the NAS come out and did some analysis of the science and they found erroneous conclusions had been made by the agencies. (Such as the claim that a turn on of irrigation water in the upper Klamath had directly caused a giant fish kill.)
We have a local scientist who reviewed the science supporting the morratorium on suction dredge mining and there is faulty science there. A recent published paper linking irrigation to lower instream flows was found to have been based on invented data.
After years of experience with this, the County hired a consultant to review the science behind the plans to remove the Klamath dams. He found that sediment transport models being used were experimental - not up to accepted engineering standards and assumed the wrong partical size. He found that, when PCBs/dioxin and cyanide had been found in the very limited sampling of sediment behind the dams, further sampling for these problems was shut down and other sampling limited to areas where such sediments would not be found. (Clean up of toxic substances would add astronomically to the cost of dam removal.) The County has had to force them through press releases into further sampling and using a more appropriate model.
Just recently, the County found that a sampling report had found PCBs in the water. The agencies issued a report trying to twist the findings by attributing the PCBs to atmospheric sources - which they were not.
Scientific integrity is a thing of the past. It is shocking when a County has to hire someone to serve as a watchdog to protect the public by keeping the state and federal agencies honest.