Electron Hydro LLC and its chief operating officer pleaded guilty to a gross misdemeanor violation of operating an unlawful hydraulic project, and face a record state penalty for an environmental crime.
Agency action sets stage for removal work to begin next year by Kiewit Infrastructure West, in effort to restore water quality and ailing salmon population.
The four dams — Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose and Lower Granite—provide a 1,000 MW of carbon-free power for the region, but also hinder the passage of salmon.
Critics from industry and academia are raising questions about a study from the University of Oxford's Saïd Business School about the true cost of large hydropower dams.
