In May, contractors working for the Longview Fibre Company drained nearly all of the water out of the Camp Kwaneesum Reservoir, a Girl Scout Camp in Skamania County. The contractor was conducting dam maintenance work and was planning to lower the water about two feet. The error was huge. A large fish kill and major pollution problems resulted. The resulting environmental problems included sediment, turbidity and habitat damage.
Sediment causes problems to the aquatic habitat by covering up gravel for fish spawning.
It was a very sad thing to see. In some fish pools, silt was 28 inches deep. In addition, environmental problems will likely be long-term because the trapped sediment will continue to release into the river system. To date, Longview Fibre has not responded to the penalty action.