Portion of Columbia River tops endangered list

Hanford Reach of the Columbia River ranks number one among endangered river areas in North America

April 6, 1998
Web posted at: 2:33 p.m. EDT (1833 GMT)

(CNN) -- The national conservation group American Rivers on Monday named the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River in Washington state the most endangered river in North America, and urged the Clinton administration to create a 90,000-acre refuge to protect it.

One of the largest, undisturbed river stretches left in the United States, the 51-mile Hanford Reach upstream from Richland, Washington, topped the group's list of 20 rivers considered threatened by pollution, residential and commercial development and overuse.

CNN's Sharon Collins reports on the condition of the nation's rivers VXtreme streaming video (2:00)

The Hanford Reach, a popular place for water recreation, was listed as threatened by agricultural development and nuclear waste contamination. It is home to one of the Northwest's strongest salmon populations, at a time when many salmon runs on other dammed stretches of the Snake and Columbia rivers are on the brink of extinction.

The area was once shut off from development in the name of military secrecy but is now open to the public.

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A L S O :

List of the 20 most endangered rivers

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"The river has been protected, ironically, because the Hanford nuclear facility made it off limits. And so we didn't dam that part of the river, we didn't develop the lands or banks of the river," said Rebecca Wodder, the president of American Rivers.

"But now that facility is closed down, the Department of Energy is deciding what to do with the land, and it will be in Congress's hands to decide whether we should keep this protected or whether we should just hand it over to be one more piece of irrigated, agricultural land."

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, and Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Washington, have introduced bills to designate the Hanford Reach a National Wild and Scenic River. American Rivers would like to see the proposal taken a step further, with a 90,000-acre refuge to help guard against damage to the river banks.

Farm sewage a factor for other rivers

Hog farm spillage threatens the Wisconsin's Apple River

Factory farms were considered a threat to the Pocomoke in Maryland, the Apple River in Wisconsin and Illinois, and the Potomac in West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia and Pennsylvania.

Such farms, which raise thousands of chickens, pigs or cows, generate massive amounts of manure, which can contaminate rivers with harmful bacteria.

For example, chicken farms are under fire around the Pocomoke. Last summer, runoff from the farms was cited in an outbreak of the microbe pfisteria, which killed fish and sickened fishermen on the river.

Spills from hog farms pollute the Apple River near Chicago. And the Potomac, on a comeback path after decades of pollution by human sewage, remains threatened by animal sewage.

The ulcer-causing pfisteria microbe infected fish and sickened fisherman around the Pocomoke in Maryland

"Just one of these facilities can produce as much waste as a medium-sized city. But a medium-sized city is going to have a waste treatment plant. ... And that's not the case with these large factory farming operations," Wodder said.

American Rivers says dams threaten six rivers on its list, including the lower Snake River in Washington state, where dams have blocked salmon and steelhead runs, despite government efforts to truck and barge young fish around the dams.

American Rivers hopes its list will mobilize community action to protect these places that provide drinking water, playgrounds, and scenic beauty.

Correspondent Sharon Collins contributed to this report.

Related sites:

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• American Rivers
  • List of the 20 most endangered rivers
• Hanford Reach: Save the Reach homepage

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.

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