Letters to the editor for June 4

The era of dam building is over

I am writing to raise awareness about a proposed flood control dam on the headwaters of the Chehalis River.

As the Twin Harbors Waterkeeper, I work to protect water quality and habitat in the Chehalis watershed, Grays Harbor, and Willapa Bay. The Chehalis River is one of Washington’s most important salmon rivers. The tribes and the southern resident orcas depend on fish from the Chehalis River.

This proposed dam is projected to cost $628 million dollars, but will likely cost much more. It will help with some flooding issues in the area between Chehalis and Centralia, where ongoing building in the flood plain is part of the reason that “flood control” is needed. This dam will be devastating for the genetically unique salmon and steelhead that spawn above the proposed dam site.

In 1970, a massive dam was built on the upper Wynooche River, an important tributary of the Chehalis. We were promised that this dam would “improve river conditions” for salmon during water releases over the dam in times of low flow. Yet wild salmon in this river have significantly declined since the dam’s completion. The city of Aberdeen had to obtain a congressional moratorium on its share of the cost of the dam to avoid bankruptcy.

Our state is in a financial crises. Even more reason to demand a “plan B” that provides flood resiliency in an equitable way, and does not harm one of our great coastal rivers.

Lee First, Cosmopolis, Twin Harbors Waterkeeper

Shame on Home Depot

I recently made a long-delayed shopping trip to the Home Depot store in Olympia. I needed several home maintenance hardware items and had heard that the store was open — deemed essential.

I donned my home-sewn mask and set out for the fastest trip possible. I was shocked, and greatly saddened, to find most employees and shoppers with no masks. I could not find a section of disinfected carts. As I checked out, the checker was a young woman, no mask, behind a plexiglass shield. When the debit card reader malfunctioned, she stepped away from the shield, tried a couple times to get the reader to work, and then had to call for a manager to do a reset. These attempts required her to move toward me — approximately 2 feet away.

The manager arrived, again with no mask, and leaned in close to me to adjust the reader. When I asked why she and other staffers were not wearing masks, she said “We keep our distance.” I observed to both of them that this was clearly not the case and that I was very disappointed with the lack of sanitation safeguards.

Costco, which requires masks, has the right idea and Home Depot has lost my business forever. The next letter goes to the CEO.

Rebecca Sisler, Lacey