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[yumitori@montana.com (Ron Martino)]

Montedodge@aol.com wrote:

>      Gripe of the week::: Foot long cracks found in Milltown dam ( built in
> 1923) just 120 miles upstream from Missoula Mt.  Info was on Federal web
> site, but removed Friday because of possible " National Security" they claim.
> Citizen security must be second place?? ( Or right to know??)

	Hey, Monte. I don't know where your information is coming from, but
there's some errors -

	The Milltown dam is closer to six miles upstream of Missoula, not 120.
And that's measuring the course of the river, not straight-line
distance.

	The locals are well aware of the condition of the dam, and we are
currently involved in a rather complicated process to determine what to
do about it. Options include removing the dam entirely.

	The Milltown dam is quite small, as dams go. This isn't the Hoover Dam,
not by a long shot. Were it to fail catastrophically, or be breached by
an explosion, there would be relatively little damage from flooding, and
probably next to no loss of life.

	The actual issue is that Milltown is downstream from the massive mining
operations in Anaconda and Butte. At the time, a great deal of mining
waste was released into the rivers, and the dam has collected quite a
lot in the basin it formed. The ground water in the area is now too
contaminated with heavy metals for safe use.

	The question before us is whether or not to remove the dam, and the
sediments behind it (but what do we do with the contaminated soil once
it's removed?), or try and stabilize the dam and leave them where they
are (but can the dam truly be made safe in the long-term?).

	I cannot imagine why the Feds would think any of this would be of
particular interest to terrorists. I can think of many 'better' dams to
target, even here in Montana. Incidentally, I popped 'Milltown Dam' into
Google and turned up a great deal of information on the issue, if
anyone's interested.

	Ron
--

It is our attitude toward free thought and free expression that will
determine our fate. There must be no limit on the range of temperate
discussion, no limits on thought. No subject must be taboo. No censor
must preside at our assemblies.
	William O. Douglas

yumitori(AT)montana(DOT)com