Activists may sue fish hatcheries
H&N May 16, 2003

GRANTS PASS (AP) -- Environmentalists have warned the state they intend to sue over pollution discharged from fish hatcheries around Oregon.

Hatcheries have committed 1,500 violations of the U.S. Clean Water Act and are discharging fish wastes, fish food tainted with toxic materials, and various chemicals used in the hatcheries into rivers, said Mark Riskedahl, executive director of the Northwest Environmental Defense Center.

A coalition of six conservation organizations sent a letter to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife on Thursday warning they intend to file a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Portland unless the problems are addressed to their satisfaction within 60 days.  Riskedahl said the violations came despite a notice in 2001 from the Department of Environmental Quality of systematic violations of water quality standards in state-run hatcheries.

"We are in the process of reviewing it," said Steve Williams, assistant administrator for the department's fish division.  "Our intent always has been to follow the law.  We are going to evaluate the information here."

The notice included a list of 15 of the state's 34 fish hatcheries with 14 pages of alleged violations.  Riskedahl said more then 5 million pounds of commercial fish feed passed through state-run hatcheries into state waters last year.

Other plaintiffs in the case are Oregon Trout, Trout Unlimited, the Native Fish Society, Pacific Rivers Council and the Oregon Natural Resources Council.  Riskedahl said the notice was focused solely on the Clean Water Act, and had nothing to do with the new policy adopted by the department last week for managing hatcheries without harming wild fish populations.