Posted on 06/28/2007 1:50:22 PM PDT by ElkGroveDan
WASHINGTON - The House Natural Resources Committee announced Thursday that it will hold hearings into Vice President Dick Cheney's involvement in Klamath River water management that many think led to the die-off of more than 70,000 salmon four years ago.
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Three dozen House Democrats from Oregon and California asked for the hearing in a letter to Rahall after the Washington Post reported on details of Cheney's intervention.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
Since there is no federal protection for Kings as an endangered species Coho were part of the bs.
Do you have any links re the meth dumpings?
All of mine re removed when the link sites were taken down or the data removed.
Also, the data re the water surges with the releases seems to be unrecoverable.
You’re supposed to blow fairies, not dykes.
And a distant cousin of the vast majority.
Ah - smells fishy?
Hi, my friend.
I found the links re meth dumping and mj dumping.
One of these links:
http://www.klamathbasincrisis.org/0kbcfishkilclauden021603.htm
Has this info in the link:
Contaminated water and drugs
The DFG report states, “No substances were found at concentrations toxic to fish and therefore, were not a factor in the 2002 fish kill.” However, that may not be the case. According to the Del Norte Sheriff’s Department, the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department and Larry Hand of the California Conservation Corps (CCC), a CCC crew run by John Buttons discovered several large glass flasks used for cooking methamphetamine on Ohpah Creek, a tributary of the Klamath River just 21 miles from the mouth of the river. The flasks were found in the summer of 2002 and were left on Simpson Timber Company land above the Ohpah Creek Ranch. It now turns out the flasks were part of what is known as a “meth dump.” That is where the unused residue and cooking utensils from labs are discarded. A Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department official used a recent dumpsite at Colusa, to explain, “Mexican nationals had dumped their old chemicals and supplies into an irrigation canal.”
Many law enforcement officers confirm massive environmental damage has occurred at marijuana growing locations, including on the Shasta River. Detective Mark Merrill of the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Department explained that marijuana growers use such compounds as rat poison, insecticides and pesticides to kill unwanted animals that penetrate their operations.
Shasta County Sgt. Tim McDonald and numerous other law enforcement officials confirmed Merrill’s statement. All emphasizing that, “The chemicals end up in creeks and watersheds,” which ultimately ends up in rivers such as the Klamath. In addition there are months of human waste, paper, food cans, propane canisters, food wrappers as well as other forms of garbage that are found strewn about.
According to the Drug Enforcement Division of the Kansas Bureau of Investigations, such items as, common cold tablets containing, ephedrine or pseudoephedine, acetone, alcohol (isopropyl or rubbing), toluene, engine starter (either), drain cleaner, (sulfuric acid), Heet (methanol/alcohol), table salt, car batteries (Lithium), sodium methyl, propane tanks (Anhydrous ammonia), Red Devil Lye (Sodium Hydroxide), matches (red and yellow phosphorus), muradic acid, hydrochloric acid, phosphine, iodine, acetone, freon, hexane, white gas, laundry soap and diesel fuel are all used in the production of meth. The chemicals are then cooked in such items as Pyrex dishes or large glass flasks like the ones found on Ohpah Creek. Coffee filters are then use to filter the items cooked.
Several members of the DFG stated they were familiar with the chemicals listed and stated, “Of course they could kill fish. The fish did have gill rot, but there is the possibility they may have survived. If there was any of these chemicals in the river at any level, it would have stressed the fish and yes, it could have been a factor in the kill.”
When asked, J. Scott Foott of DFG, the specimen examiner who did the pathology report of the dead fish, agreed that if there were chemicals in the water at any level it could have been a factor in the kill. He also stated, “It depends how badly they were infected. Yes they may have survived.” He also emphasized that, “The water temperatures were similar to other years — there was a series of contributing factors.”
All law enforcement offices interviewed have stated there is a serious problem with drug activities, however as a result of insufficient funding and manpower it is impossible to do the necessary work. With California Gov. Davis’ $34.6 billion deficit, his new budget cuts and hiring freezes, law enforcement statewide (to the delight of drug producers) have had additional cuts in drug enforcement money.
According to Siskiyou County Sheriff Rick Riggins, they don’t yet know what the budget impact will have on his department or drug enforcement efforts. “There are several positions here that depend on state funding and we won’t know until March exactly what will happen,” Riggins said.
Two persons interviewed claimed there are five meth labs between Weitchpec and the river mouth. One of the labs is known to both civilian and law enforcement as the “Crystal Palace.” When asked, one Siskiyou County law enforcement official said, “If the truth were know, there are probably 50 labs.” A member of the Humboldt County Drug Task Force said, “We know there are numerous marijuana gardens along the lower Klamath but we are unable to do anything because of lack of cooperation from locals and because of finances.” The entire 41 miles of river between Weitchpec and the river mouth has no roads and is completely isolated from any civilization.
There are dozens of documented cases of Mexican and Asian drug cartels using remote areas to both grow marijuana, and manufacture meth. These cases include the Klamath River area. This has resulted in concerns for the safety of all users; either national forests and/or Bureau of Land Management lands or those who simply explore for recreation. All of these activities have been intensely compromised by these organized criminal drug activities. Shasta Interagency Narcotics Task Force Commander Russ Reeves (retired) refers to the groups involved in growing operations as “cells” because he says, “Many of these foreigners that work the fields, are so low in the scheme of things they do not even know who they work for.” He further stated that much of the money obtained from marijuana growing is used to finance illegal meth operations. Reeves went on to say, “These same meth producers then ship their product to other states. We have been successful in tracking some of that.”
John Martinez, until recently, was employed by the Karuk Tribe in Happy Camp for nearly four years. Martinez has tried to expose those who have taken to illegal activities on and off tribal lands. He has successfully documented information about such illegal activities on the Klamath River but when he and others have spoken up they found themselves without help from anyone. According to Martinez, they have been the victims of character assassinations, death threats, gunshots at homes and threats of being set up. “I feel that if I did not leave my job immediately I would further jeopardize my safety and those close to me,” Martinez stated. “I believe my safety is still in danger for having exposed potential illegal drug-related activities.”
Several community leaders and teachers along the Klamath River have confirmed the upswing in drug usage within their communities. On several occasions these same people have gone to the Karuk Tribal Council and asked for help. Some have contacted council members personally, only to find the help they were seeking, not available. Some claim they have traveled to Medford, Ore., to meet with federal authorities — once again they discovered their efforts have been in vain. According to Gary Lake, a Karuk Tribal councilman, community leaders and residents have come to the council and ask for help on drug related issues.
Lake stated, “As a private citizen I report it to law enforcement myself and nothing has been done.” Lake confirmed much of what Martinez had previously stated. He also said, “I have been threatened many, many times myself.”
All of this raises a big question. Could the illegal marijuana and meth producers dumping chemicals, poisons and waste above the fish kill into creeks, watersheds and river be accountable for the dead fish or at least have magnified the impact of the gill rot?
Thats quite a list you “troublemaker”! Heh.
Noted and thank you.
As I recall the sheriff maintained at the time that sites were tended by illegal Mexicans.
I don’t remember that, but it is possible.
Ok, I have served on the federal Klamath River Fisheries Task Force for several years and before that sat on the Technical Working Group of the Task Force representing Siskiyou County. I have been involved in Salmon issues on the Klamath since at least 1992.
The fish die off occured when disease affected salmon that had entered the Klamath River early. The fish got infected with white spot disease and columnaris (Flavobacterium columnare.) There may also have been some infection by Parvacapsula (Parvicapsula minibicornis) and C Shasta (Ceratomyxa shasta,) but these pathogens are usually the heavy killers of juvenile fish in the Klamath http://klamathsalmonlibrary.org/documents/NicholsFoott2005pd.pdf
Here is the pathology report on the 2002 fish die off: http://www.krisweb.com/biblio/klamath_usfws_guillen_2003_killnumbers.pdf
“The majority of the recently dead fish examined exhibited one or more outward gross signs of disease including gill necrosis, bacterial growth, sores, bloody vents, and ulcerations. Pathological examinations confirmed that white spot disease and columnaris were the principle immediate causes of death.”
It is thought that the fish which may have been enticed by some earlier cool water flows, arrived early and were met in the downriver canyon by warm water, which acted as a barrier to their further migration. They pooled there in high densities and passed eachother disease. That is what caused the fish kill. Ambient air temperatures in the Klamath during that time of year are commonly around 100 degrees. In addition, the snowpack has all melted and the flows naturally decline. The solar energy warms the water.
It should also be noted that a huge amount of the Trinity River - a cold water tributary to the Klamath is being diverted to the Central Valley of California and southward. Before a Court decision, it was 90% of the Trinity River, now it is 50% http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/07/14/BAGKB7L1CE1.DTL ) It is also being held back in reservoirs to release in large flows in the winter to move built up sediment. They are very reluctant to use the Trinity for summer or early fall flows and temperatures. No one talks about the failure to get flows from the Trinity because of wealthy ag interests in the central valley and need for water south.
This hearing is a set up to get Congress to fund dam removal of the four lower dams on the mid-Klamath and to harass the Administration. That is the truth plain and simple. It is about time the American people stand up and tell the Democrats to halt the partisan witch hunts and get down to doing the people’s business. This is shamefull.
We may also have another fish die off this year. There was below average snowpack and, depending upon ambient air temperatures, the water may be hot again. If the fish are in the river, they are likely to be stressed, stopped at the canyon and susceptible to widespread disease do to density. It is largely a natural phenomenon, not a plot by Cheney.
Am I the only one who has noticed the sudden shift from Karl Rove is the “devil” to Cheney is the “devil”? Why did the left give up on Rove? Couldn’t make anything stick? I doubt they will do any better with Cheney. It’s really pathetic to watch their “fishing” expeditions. Pun intended.
What about the dems’ own responsibility for the deaths of millions of unborn HUMANS?
He’s the man.
Sorry. He’s The Man.
If the Republicans were not lazy, ignorant or evil, they would use the hearing as an opportunity to expose the Klamath fraud perpetrated by the biologists, and the lack of any scientific basis for all of their demands. But I suppose, as usual, no knowledgeable witnesses, like marsh2, will be put on the witness list. Back when the Republicans were in control, however, every hearing was filled with lying environmentalist witnesses. I suppose it’s because they are just [tag line] . . .
“...We may also have another fish die off this year. There was below average snowpack and, depending upon ambient air temperatures, the water may be hot again. If the fish are in the river, they are likely to be stressed, stopped at the canyon and susceptible to widespread disease do to density. It is largely a natural phenomenon...”
As long as water, especially cool water, is diverted in large amounts at critical times of the year, we are not talking about a natural phenomenon. Cool water in large amounts prevents spread of disease.
May they end up with Fish slime all over their faces and tax spending hands with their latest fishing expedition.
How about uneducated cowards afraid of the media and the green eco terrorists to label the repubies on this issue.
How are you doing?
“Dick Cheney...is there anything he can’t do?”
Shoot straight?
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