0630_CP_MW Congressional field hearing 6

From left, Rep. Mike Collins of Georgia, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington and Rep. Cliff Bentz of Oregon get a briefing on Ice Harbor Dam during their tour of the dam June 26 in Burbank, Wash.

RICHLAND, Wash. — Republican lawmakers, during a field hearing here June 26, hammered at the secrecy of federal surrounding mediation designed to reach a solution in long-running litigation over the four lower Snake River dams.

In 2020, a coalition of environmental and fishing groups, led by the Earthjustice law firm, sued over the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation and Bonneville Power Administration‘s latest dam operations plan.

0630_CP_MW Congressional field hearing 8

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., look over a spillway at Ice Harbor Dam in Burbank, Wash., June 26, as part of the congressional tour and field hearing on the importance of the Snake River dams.

0630_CP_MW Congressional field hearing 3

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers gets information about removable spillway weirs from Paul Ocker, chief of operations for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Walla Walla District, during a tour of Ice Harbor Dam June 26 in Burbank, Wash.

Snake River dam removal

The four lower Snake River dams.

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