TO: Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors
RE: Mark Bransom/KRRC’s Misrepresentations
CC: State Agencies, Elected Officials, Concerned Citizens
Via EMAIL Only – Open Letter (May be published)
April 3, 2024
Dear Siskiyou Board of Supervisors Chairman and Board Members (‘BOS’), et. al.
The evidence is clear and abundant that Mark Bransom, the CEO of Klamath River Renewal Corporation lied directly to the BOS on several recent occasions (video-taped) regarding the impacts of the polluted sediment release in January 2024 into the main-stem of the Klamath River and impacts on Native Fish and other life forms.
Quite the opposite of what Mr. Bransom has represented to the BOS, native species aquatic life-forms, including multiple species of native fishes, have been decimated with a total death toll estimated in the *millions (*based upon sampling extrapolation). (SEE ARTICLE BELOW)
It is now imperative that the BOS take every available immediate action in the best interests of the true restoration of the Klamath River by demanding that the remaining ~15-million cubic yards of polluted clay sediments be removed from the lake bottom canyons of Copco and Iron Gate Lakes, as soon as possible. In this matter, it may be in the County’s best interests to sue for this solution. Pursuant to the expert testimony from Siskiyou County Agricultural Commissioner testified, ‘it is unlikely‘ that the plantings of the sediments will stabilize them against wind erosion (becoming toxic airborne dust), let alone withstanding a scouring flood in the lake bottom canyon. This sediment poses an ongoing serious threat, short-term and long-term, to the community living around the lake-bottom canyons, the river ecosystem and all life-forms, ground water wells, and pets, livestock and wildlife. It is certain that animals, both domestic and wildlife, will consume the grass and plants on polluted sediments containing numerous bio-accumulative toxins, which even at low-doses over time pose serious health impacts, as well as trophic magnification.
Removal of the polluted sediments is the only way to assure the best and safest outcome for the citizens living on and around the drained lakes and the Klamath River, as well as the short and long term heath and recovery of the Klamath River ecosystem and its fishery.
Please refer to the detailed news article linked below about this exigent situation.
Respectfully Yours,
William E. Simpson II – Rancher – citizen scientist
https://www.siskiyou.news/2024/04/03/klamath-river-native-species-dead-or-alive/
