I copied this over from the ifish board from a post by bait o' eggs, thought you all might like to see this:
The following is copied from the Oregonian. 90 of 100 fish were hatchery???? coincidence, or is trying to keep the penalty lower since the wilds ones are valued at a higher price.
PORTLAND METRO SOUTH
Electrical charge kills salmon in Willamette
PGE and wildlife agencies are investigating the high-voltage-lines accident at the Sullivan Power Plant
Friday, April 13, 2001
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By STEPHEN BEAVEN of The Oregonian staff
OREGON CITY -- An estimated 100 spring chinook salmon were killed this week after two high-voltage PGE power lines short-circuited and sent electricity coursing through the Willamette River, the utility said Thursday.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the state police and the National Marine Fisheries Service, with the help of PGE, are investigating the kill. They're trying to find out what happened at the utility's Sullivan Power Plant at Willamette Falls on Wednesday evening.
PGE suspects a 13,000-volt line short-circuited about 5:10 p.m., causing a 57,000-volt line nearby to short-circuit as well, said Kregg Arntson, a spokesman for PGE.
The Sullivan plant automatically shut down as a safety measure, Arntson said. But PGE thinks that before it did, electrical current from the plant traveled through the ground and east through the river toward the Canemah substation.
It's unclear why the lines short-circuited. But Arntson said a variety of factors could have caused the outage, including equipment failure.
"Our engineers are out right now trying to piece this together," Arntson said Thursday afternoon.
Wild spring chinook salmon, now in full migration up the Willamette River, are protected by the federal Endangered Species Act, which calls for civil penalties of as much as $25,000 per violation. Criminal violators face fines of as much as $50,000 or a year in prison, or both.
As the investigation into the fish kill began, however, state officials were reluctant to speculate about potential penalties.
Fishermen spot floating fish
On Wednesday evening, after anglers noticed the fish floating belly-up on the river, some began trying to revive them, moving the fish back and forth to get water in the gills and mouth.
For some, seeing the fish floating by was an unsettling experience.
"It was very distressing," said Dave Logan, an insurance adjuster from Northeast Portland who saw about 15 to 20 dead fish.
Three anglers were cited for allegedly trying to scoop up the dead fish in nets, a violation of state law, according to state police. State police on Thursday were looking into three additional reports of netting.
Of the estimated 100 fish found Wednesday night, about 90 were hatchery fish, said Jim Muck, a district biologist for the state wildlife agency. The rest were wild spring chinook.
There were also reports of a dead sturgeon and a dead northern pikeminnow, Muck said.
If the state investigation concludes that PGE was responsible for the kill, the wildlife department will ask the utility for reimbursement for the dead fish, said Chris Wheaton, an agency regional director based in Clackamas County.
Wild spring chinook: $500 each
Under state law, the value of each wild spring chinook salmon is set at $500 and the value of hatchery chinook salmon is set at $125 each, Wheaton said.
Arntson said the utility takes fish protection very seriously. But he declined to comment on the potential for reimbursement.
"Until all the facts are in, I don't want to speculate about reimbursement," he said.
The wildlife agency takes the kill seriously, too, Muck said. Although there are surpluses of hatchery fish this year, the death of the wild fish is significant.
"We don't have many wild fish at this time," Muck said. "It is a big deal to us."
jk Roy
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