FERC opposes Crescent Bar residents

EPHRATA — The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) acknowledged having people live on Crescent Bar Island is against its policies, according to a March 10 letter sent to Grant County PUD.

The letter, released this week by the PUD, states that residential development and occupancy of project lands “is inconsistent with (FERC’s) policy of maximizing public recreation development.”

Grant PUD is involved with the issue because it owns the island. The issue is also tied into FERC license requirements for the PUD’s Columbia River dams.

A lease with the Port of Quincy allowing people to live there expires in 2012 and its renewal has been a cause of concern for residents.

“The letter is very strongly worded, but it doesn’t say move tomorrow,” said Dorothy Harris, a PUD spokesperson, on Tuesday. “It asks for a plan and a schedule to accommodate the plan.”

On March 29 at 2 p.m., Grant PUD commissioners meet to hear staff present a technical compliance analysis and license recommendations.

The meeting is open to the public. A comment period will be opened later for the public’s response.

In August 2008, Grant PUD staff recommended the utility not renew the lease.

“They were looking at license requirements and existing conditions on the island,” she explained.

Harris said she didn’t know if staff’s recommendation changed, as the “analysis is being fine-tuned now.”

The PUD must submit a plan and schedule to FERC regarding Crescent Bar complying with license requirements by April 30.

The March 29 meeting is an opportunity for commissioners to see the information that goes into that compliance analysis and to hear the staff recommendation in detail, Harris says.

“While this letter from FERC accelerates our timeline to some degree, we have known for some time that difficult decisions regarding Crescent Bar Island were coming,” stated Grant PUD commission President Bob Bernd.

“After considering broad public input, amending our recreation plan and filing the shoreline management plan, we can now provide a path forward beyond 2012,” Bernd commented.

“We know it is impossible to fully please every interest, but are unanimous in our commitment to reach a solution that benefits future generations of Grant County residents and the recreating public,” he stated.

Doug Caton, a spokesman for a group of island residents, said he’s waiting to hear back from the PUD about their understanding of FERC’s letter. He also questioned the letter’s timing.

“We know it’s a FERC policy to discourage private use of public lands, we’ve heard that before,” Caton commented.

He explained the residents’ group wants “to retain what’s already there, keeping in mind we want to enhance public access … We’re hoping it’s going to proceed along those lines.”

After a series of public meetings about Crescent Bar last year, “the outcome was overwhelmingly in favor of keeping existing development and enhancing public recreation,” Caton says.

To view Grant PUD’s shoreline management plan, FERC’s letter and more information about Crescent Bar Island, visit www.gcpud.org/resources/resLandWater/shoreline.html.

To submit comments electronically, a form will be posted online at www.gcpud.org on March 29.

To submit future comments responding to the March 29 presentation, e-mail commissioners@gcpud.org, or write to PO Box 878, Ephrata, 98823.

Originally published March 17, 2010