U.S. District judge lifts injunction on turbine use at Lake Russell Dam

CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA - A U.S. District Court judge on Friday lifted an injunction against running pump-back turbines to produce electricity at the Lake Russell Dam, the latest step in an environmental legal battle that&#39;s gone on since 1988. <br> <br> The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which built and runs the dam&#39;s hydroelectric plant, said the court agreed that the project met all requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act and should be allowed to operate. <br> <br> ``We are extremely pleased that the court has recognized that the Corps of Engineers has taken extraordinary steps to assure the environmental acceptability&#39;&#39; of the turbines, said Jim Parker, chief of public affairs for the corps&#39; Savannah District. <br> <br> South Carolina&#39;s Natural Resources Department and the National Wildlife Federation along with that group&#39;s affiliates in both states sued 14 years ago after similar turbines killed thousands of fish at a dam in Missouri. <br> <br> U.S. District Judge Falcon Hawkins let the state of Georgia join the lawsuit two years ago. <br> <br> A call to South Carolina&#39;s Natural Resources office Friday evening was not immediately returned. <br> <br> The corps want to use the four reversible turbines to pump back water between lakes Russell and Thurmond along the Savannah River and create electricity at night with the water used during the day. <br> <br> The plaintiffs won an injunction blocking the turbine&#39;s use until the corps showed they would not harm the environment. <br> <br> In 1999, the corps asked the injunction be lifted after $34 million in studies and fish protection measures proved the turbines could work safely. <br> <br> The turbines would kill between 6 million and 12 million fish a year, but that represents less than 1 percent of Lake Thurmond&#39;s fish population and the numbers have no significant impact, the corps had said. <br> <br> But the plaintiffs said the study was done in one seven-month period. ``This period cannot possibly address differing water years and conditions,&#39;&#39; the plaintiff&#39;s wrote in their suit. <br> <br> The corps&#39; Parker said the pumped storage will give more than $57.2 million a year in economic benefits to residents in the Southeast in lower energy costs compared to building fossil fuel and nuclear facilities.

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