$18.5 million dam removal contract okayed

EUGENE: In a vote that “is starting to get real,” the Eugene Water & Electric Board voted last week to engage McMillen, Inc. to provide consultant support for its Leaburg Decommissioning Program. Adding to his initial take on the action, board vice president John Barofsky noted, "When you start budgeting $18 million, I kinda get a good feel of what this is entailing.”

Portland-based McMillen was behind the nation’s largest dam decommissioning project ever—the decommissioning of the dams on the Klamath River in southern Oregon and northern California. According to a utility press release, ”that experience pushed McMillen to the top of EWEB’s competitive public purchasing process. Specifically, McMillen’s high-scoring proposal highlighted its experience with decommissioning hydropower projects overseen by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).”

At the meeting, EWEB generation manager Lisa Krentz said the $1.8 million contract with McMillen “offered a lot of flexibility” to bring in outside support. “Their team has extensive geotechnical and construction management experience,” she said, “but would also put together consultants who are very experienced with the environmental field and the legal process for FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.:”

EWEB voted to decommission the Leaburg Hydro Project in 2023 following its “triple-bottom-line evaluation,” which considered regulatory risks and the costs involved in restoring the project to normal power production.

Key aspects of the decommissioning work will include restoring the McKenzie River to a free-flowing state by removing the Leaburg Dam and addressing structural safety concerns, particularly with the Leaburg Canal. Other work will involve conducting studies on hydrology, water quality, and species impacts to minimize adverse outcomes. McMillen will also investigate ways of providing alternative infrastructures for areas dependent on the dam, like the existing bridge and access roads.

The aim is to begin on-the-ground decommissioning activities by 2032 while adhering to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) requirements.

EWEB officials say they will look toward “key information gaps that include how to remove sediment trapped behind the dam, how to restore the river through the project area and how its flow could change,” plus how “the utility can work with neighbors to reduce impacts to the local economy, recreation, and transportation networks.”

The utility says it is already working with Lane County Public Works and the engineering firm DOWL to resolve the problem of removing the bridge on top of Leaburg Dam. In September, letters were sent to 300 project neighbors advising about the issue and asking for information about the local terrain and traffic patterns.

Plans call for EWEB to begin on-the-ground decommissioning work by 2032. For more information about the Leaburg Decommissioning Action Plan, go to eweb.org/leaburgcanal