Feds Point Out Lousy Data On Susitna Dam Study; AK Responds W. Screeching, Hysterical Letter
WASILLA -- The state entity pushing a contentious dam on the Susitna River fired off an outraged response this week to the federal contention that the project’s salmon science is flawed. The National Marine Fisheries Service last month filed a critical letter with federal regulators saying the Alaska Energy Authority's fish data was so unreliable it wasn’t usable. The NMFS critiqued everything from juvenile coho salmon wrongly labeled chinook to shortcuts in field studies and problems with scientific models.
Wayne Dyok, the authority’s dam project manager, dismissed the agency’s flawed science claims as "untenable, bordering on the absurd" in an aggressive and at times abrasive letter filed Tuesday with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. “We really needed a strong letter,” Dyok said during an interview Thursday. “We felt that the professionalism and integrity of our team, particularly the fisheries team, was being questioned, and we really take that challenge very seriously.”
The tone of Dyok’s letter was unusual for a federal hydro filing, especially when compared to letters from agencies like the Alaska Department of Fish and Game or Department of Natural Resources, said Jan Konigsberg, an energy analyst and Susitna dam critic who has spent years evaluating projects going through the federal licensing process.
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The agency’s top Alaska official in a Sept. 22 letter told the authority that the report contained “data issues” that undercut the state’s ability to understand the health of Susitna salmon now and predict the effects of the massive project on fish in the future. Among other things, the letter faulted data collection methods -- it describes a “very high percentage” of misidentified juvenile salmon -- and said problems getting access to Alaska Native corporation lands last year led to incomplete studies. The authority initially failed to get permission to conduct research at the dam site and project area from a number of Alaska Native village corporation landowners. The agency also contends federally approved study plans aren’t being correctly followed.
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http://www.adn.com/article/20141009/states-angry-letter-defends-susitna-dam-salmon-science