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Reach plan again stalls after talks collapse
Just about everyone involved with the Hanford Reach says they still want to find common ground for how to manage it. But no one is talking. Again. And efforts to find a compromise don't appear likely to resume anytime soon, now that years of debate and months of closed-door work have led only to stalemate. Most of the principals involved were saying last week that it's someone else's job to patch things up and move forward after hard-won trust built slowly in private and mediated negotiations recently crumbled. And a divide has materialized in a once-unified group of county officials seeking to have a "meaningful voice" in managing the 51-mile stretch of river above Richland. A handful of Mid-Columbia leaders have broken from the pack, backing the compromise and saying the region needs to find agreement before a federal directive locks them out of any control. "We may not all agree unanimously with every point," said Bob Kelly, Kennewick city manager. "But taken as a package, we think (the most recent proposal) forms a basis for drafting a solution." Several of those involved in the negotiations are pleased with what they accomplished. The draft compromise was designed to limit the authority of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and give more responsibility to local and state officials and the region's tribes through a 12-person advisory board. Rich Steele, who sat in on the talks for the Columbia River Conservation League, said: "We had some really good discussions. It surprised me, but we really did. ... I really thought it was a done deal." Kelly, also one of the compromise committee members, stressed the suggested Wild and Scenic River designation could bolster the federal commitment to Hanford cleanup. Others have said a federally recognized river protection program might also help obtain money for restoring declining salmon runs. Commissioners from the three affected counties - Benton, Franklin and Grant - maintain they never had the final draft bill to look at, much less discuss with constituents. At least some of them, however, were aware of substantial parts of the negotiations. Almost inexplicably, several other key people at the edge of the tenuous negotiations also were not well informed. Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash., hadn't been given a copy of the committee's discussion draft bill by the time things began to unravel Jan. 31, said Cynthia Bergman, Gorton's spokeswoman. And Rep. Doc Hastings' office said the 4th District Republican also didn't get a "final deal." "There was nothing to strike down," said his spokeswoman Jennifer Scott, responding to criticism that Hastings squashed progress. The Port of Mattawa, a potential recipient of federal aid proposed in the pact, also pleaded ignorance. "We were never involved in the negotiations," said Richard Leitz, a port commissioner. "We are being treated like the bastard step child once again." There's no clear answer reason for the apparent lack of communication or why the process faltered. "We came up with an agreement, and it never did get signed by anyone," said Steele. "It seemed like it just came to an end." What is clear, however, is the late January leak to the press of a discussion draft bill stopped whatever was in motion. Up to that point, said Scott, "The local process was working." County commissioners said their staff wasn't authorized to strike a deal, and at least one commissioner also grumbled about poor communication within the county bloc as the compromise developed. "All of a sudden we are hearing in the newspaper that a bill is written," said LeRoy Allison, Grant County commissioner. "It looks like somebody wanted to push us into a corner where we don't want to be. "It almost makes me feel like somebody is very desperate to make somebody else look bad. I thought we were trying to work together." Hastings is pushing for a Reach protection committee that shares power between local, state and federal governments. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., is floating a bill that would put the Reach under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a Wild and Scenic River, though her staff said she was "really pleased" that the compromise committee offered "a lot of local control." Gorton has tried to stay in the middle, stressing the need for compromise. Still, "We're hesitant to encourage greater federal presence in Eastern Washington," Bergman said, voicing the same concerns as many local officials. Officials from the three counties have said all along they don't want a federal agency calling the shots, and most of the nine county commissioners don't feel the "compromise" offered enough shared authority. "It became obvious that in the process, we could not address enough of the issues," Kelly said. "If that's a collapse, then I guess we had a collapse." The draft did offer several items to the counties, including a Basin City sewage treatment plant, a Hanford Reach visitors center and a White Bluffs memorial. But it didn't give counties the influence they seek over Reach decisions - and offers of economic help even seemed to incite anger. "It is extremely concerning that the carrot has been dangled in front of the county commissioners that they are going to receive dollars if they accept the Wild and Scenic designation," said Benton Commissioner Max Benitz. "I am not going to sell my principles." The path ahead is unclear. Benton County has pulled its staff off the compromise committee, but Benitz said it's conceivable that the staff could be sent back if there was something to be gained. Steele said the ball is in the county's court. "It seems to me like they are the ones who walked away," he said. Allison said Steele and other environmental representatives should step up. "What I am looking for is some real compromise ... from that other side," he said. Murray's office said she hopes something "bubbles up" from the Mid-Columbia. And Benton County Commissioner Claude Oliver sent a letter Friday to the federal politicians involved asking them to scrutinize the draft legislation and accept a visit from a compromise committee delegation to discuss remaining disagreements. Steele and Allison - ideologically miles apart - agree on one thing: If a compromise committee is ever convened again, it would need to come with strict guidelines about how participants interact and talk to the media, guidelines that may have been breached in the last go-round. If that doesn't happen, Hastings and Murray will be left to convince Congress of their bills' merit. Or, perhaps President Clinton will step in and declare the Reach a Wild and Scenic River, as has often been rumored in the last few years. "We'd like to hold off on asking for that," said Tovah Ravitz, a Murray spokeswoman. "We'd like to hold that in reserve." So, any new direction remains uncertain. "We're still trying to find any common ground we can," Allison said. "My hope is that we can." | ||