Environmental groups sue over fish poop
followed by commentary

Hatcheries pollute water, groups allege

05/16/03

 Hatcheries that produce salmon and trout for Oregon's fisheries are
 illegally sending tons of fish waste into waterways, conservation
 groups alleged Thursday in a notice of intent to sue the Oregon
Department of Fish and Wildlife.

 The critics, seeking compliance with the federal Clean Water Act, want
the state to close some hatcheries to solve the problem. They said that
 is the most economical way to cover the cost of upgrading hatcheries to
 control discharges of ammonia-laden fish feces and other wastes
 generated by the production of tens of millions of fish each year.

A Fish and Wildlife official on Thursday said the department needed
 time to review the claims.

 Conservation groups said 19 of the state's 34 hatcheries have racked up
more than 1,500 water quality violations since May 2001, when the
 Department of Environmental Quality first warned about serious, ongoing
 permit violations.

 DEQ's notice of noncompliance identified five "systemic" problems:
 solid waste discharges, acidity levels, chemical residuals, failure to
 report monitoring results and tardy reporting.

 Joe Rojas

COMMENTARY

 

I knew it would happen sooner or later: the GAGs have found out that fish do
"it" in the water.  So suing ODFW will help?   Consider ODFW's remedial
options:
1.  get rid of fish?
2.  fence them away from streams
3.  set aside stream sections for fish-sewage treatment (could pump polluted
water out on riparian areas to be filtered and returned to the stream.  Golf
courses are good for this purpose.)  (This option may require some training
for the fish....little shock collars?...{perhaps the little collars ODFW is
using on ground squirrels could be adapted; however the cost of retraining
personnel would be a consideration since collaring fish is very different
from collaring squirrels, plus employees required to give fish a little
shock when they poop in the wrong place could cause employee stress which
might require guilt counseling}
4. Use tough love...if the fish poop in the water club them with baseball
bats until they quit.
5. Do a study to find out if:
   a.  Hatchery fish poop more that wild fish (TONS?)
   b.   "                "         "   is heavier than wild fish poop(TONS?)
   c.   "                "          "  has different chemical composition from wild fish(TONS?)
   d.  "                 "          " and wild fish poop is the same and really enriches the streams of Oregon.
6. Give the un-named GAGs a lot of money to go away and sue someone else.
7. Half heartedly defend against the law suit so the GAGs win, get a bunch
of money and get to tell ODFW how to manage fish and continue to tell DEQ
how to manage water.
8.  Get the suit dismissed as frivolous and sue the GAGs for harassment and
lawyer fees and expose their real agenda:  to close hatcheries so they can
show that fish numbers are declining and in danger of extinction so the
state and federal government can continue spending huge amounts of money on
the recovery industry who will be the only salvation for clean water and t&e
species so that the economy of Oregon will stay in crisis so taxes can be
raised to make up for failed small businesses and the exodus of big
business, so people will lose jobs and leave, so schools will decline so
more people leave so that farms and ranches will sell out to the GAGs who
will take the land off the tax rolls so the whole state can be part of the
wildlands project and thus fulfill the green dream.

So what is the rest of the story???  Suggested reading: Lord of the Flies

Like the wolves, when the Gags have it all, they will cannibalize each
other.

If you need further assistance don't hesitate to call 1-800-784-2433.
(that's the suicide prevention hot line)