News Release
| Release Number: | 02-124 |
| Dated: | 7/22/2002 |
| Contact: | Matt Rabe, 503-808-4510 |
Portland, Ore. -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will host a public hearing in Vancouver, Wash., to take comments on its draft supplemental report for the Columbia River Channel Improvement Project.
The hearing – an opportunity for the public to formally comment on the Supplemental Integrated Feasibility Report and Environmental Impact Statement – will be held Wednesday, July 31, at Water Resource Education Center, 4600 SE Columbia Way, Vancouver, Wash.
The sessions – one in the afternoon and another in the early evening – will begin at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. respectively. An hour-long open house will precede the evening session.
Additional public hearings will be held in Longview, Wash., on Sept. 5, and Astoria, Ore., on Sept. 10. Each meeting will include one-on-one discussion opportunities and public testimony.
The public comment period for the draft supplemental officially began July 12, with the filing in the Federal Register. The report is available at https://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/. The formal comment period closes Sept. 15, 2002.
The Corps’ proposals include deepening the federal navigation channel between the Pacific Ocean and Vancouver, Wash., by 3 feet. Additionally, the Corps plans to implement nine restoration features for aquatic and wildlife species.
In 1994, the Corps' Portland District began the feasibility study to evaluate improvements to the Columbia River federal navigation channel. The study's non-federal sponsors are the six lower Columbia River ports – Portland and St. Helens in Oregon, and Longview, Kalama, Woodland and Vancouver in Washington.
The purposes of the proposed project are to improve transport of goods on the navigation channel by improving the channel's ability to handle deep-draft vessels and to provide ecosystem restoration for fish and wildlife habitats. The need for navigation improvements has been driven by the steady growth in waterborne commerce, and the use of larger and more efficient vessels to transport bulk and containerized commodities. As the use of deep-draft vessels grows, so do limitations created by the existing channel dimensions. The existing 40-foot channel prevents many of the larger vessels from transiting the river at full capacity.
Following consultations for threatened and endangered species with the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Corps updated its original report on the Columbia River Channel Improvement Project. The Corps developed new costs, reexamined the benefits and the benefit to cost ratio, and updated the report with new information that has become available since the report was issued in 1999.
Additionally, interested parties will be welcome to observe the opening and closing sessions of the technical review panel as it discusses the validity and accuracy of the project costs and economic analysis, and receives technical presentations. The panel will report on its findings Friday, Aug. 9.
The technical review panel will meet from Aug. 5 to Aug. 9 at the Fifth Avenue Suites, downtown Portland.