Group: Settlement will cut oil pollution at Washington dam
SEATTLE — The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on Thursday agreed to obtain a pollution permit to settle allegations that operations at the Grand Coulee Dam in eastern Washington polluted the Columbia River in violation of federal clean-water laws.
Under the settlement filed in U.S. District Court in Spokane, the federal agency said it would, for the first time, obtain a permit for discharges at the Grand Coulee Dam, the nation’s largest hydropower producer.
It also agreed to investigate the use of more environmentally friendly oils and to disclose the amount of oil, greases and other pollutants used at the dam that could possibly be released into local waters.
The settlement resolves a 2016 lawsuit by the non-profit Columbia Riverkeeper, which alleged the federal agency released oil and other pollutants from the dam into the river without a required permit designed to monitor and control water pollution.