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December
23, 2022
Washington
clean-energy project seen as threat to tribal resources
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Denmark investment firm Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners would own
a pumped-storage hydro project along the Columbia River in
south-central Washington. Tribes oppose the project.
Washington Department of Ecology
Tribes adamantly oppose a pumped-storage hydro
project in south-central Washington that otherwise got passing marks
in a new report by the Washington Department of Ecology.
The Goldendale Energy Storage Project along the Columbia
River in Klickitat County would not significantly harm wildlife,
water quality or aquatic life, according to the final environmental
impact statement, which was released Dec. 21.
The 681-acre site was occupied by an aluminum
plant until 2003. The project would buy water from a public utility
district that already has a water right.
The development, however, would block, disturb or destroy hunting,
foraging and spiritual sites that the Yakama, Warm Springs, Umatilla
and Nez Perce tribes have used for longer than anyone can remember,
the EIS reports.
Rye Development, a Boston company planning the
$2.5 billion project for the owner, Denmark investment firm
Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, has suggested ways to minimize
damage. “The tribes have indicated that
this is not sufficient,” according to the EIS, which calls the
adverse impacts to tribal resources “significant and unavoidable.”
This coming year will be critical for the
project, Rye Development Vice President Erik Steimle said in an
email. The company is committed to protecting cultural, heritage and
botanical sites, he said.
“That’s why we hired tribal consultants from
affected tribes and proposed more than two dozen mitigation
measures,” he said. The Goldendale project
would be Washington’s first large pumped-storage power plant.
Project proponents say it would supply on-demand energy to back up
wind and solar power. Rye proposes to dig
a reservoir on a plateau overlooking the Columbia River 8 miles
southeast of Goldendale and fill it once with river water.
When released, the water would rush down a
tunnel for thousands of feet and flow through an underground
powerhouse to generate electricity. The
water would resurface and empty into a lower reservoir near the
river. The water would be pumped back to the upper reservoir. The
system would use more energy than it would make, but reinforce the
electric grid to meet peak demands, according to proponents.
Such projects are vital to achieving the
state’s clean-energy goals, Gov. Jay Inslee said this month.
“It’s absolutely imperative to find some way to store energy
so that when the sun shines we can store that energy for days that
are cloudy,” he said.
Rye hopes to start construction in 2025 and
have the system working by 2030. The Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission must license the project, a separate process that’s
underway. According to Ecology’s EIS, the
project will need eight federal permits and 14 state permits.
Agencies will need to consider treaty and other tribal rights,
according to Ecology. The Yakama Nation
ceded the land in 1855, but retained hunting, fishing and gathering
rights.
Archeological sites could also be at risk,
according to the state Department of Archaeology and Historic
Preservation. Details about the sites were redacted in the EIS.
In comments submitted to Ecology, the Yakama Nation called
the area sacred and that “development would destroy the lives of our
tribal members.” Efforts to obtain comment
from the tribe Dec. 22 were unsuccessful.
Copenhagen bought the Goldendale project in
2020. At the same time, Copenhagen acquired the Swan Lake
pumped-storage project in Klamath County, Ore. Rye has continued to
develop both projects. The FERC licensed
Swan Lake in 2019. Rye hopes to begin construction next year. It
will be the first pump-storage project in Oregon.
FERC has licensed 24 pumped-storage projects that are
operating or under construction in the U.S. Four are in California,
the most of any state.
FERC has not licensed any pumped-storage
projects in Idaho. PacifiCorp has applied for a license for the
1,800-megawatt Dry Canyon project in southeast Idaho.
Green Play Ammonia™, Yielder® NFuel Energy.
Spokane, Washington. 99212
www.exactrix.com
509 995 1879 cell, Pacific.
Nathan1@greenplayammonia.com
exactrix@exactrix.com
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