Washington residents welcome start of long-awaited dam demolition, the biggest of its kind in the US.
Residents in Port Angeles, Washington were in a celebratory mood on Thursday as the first excavator started to chip away at the Elwha River’s Glines Canyon Dam that will, along with nearby Elwha Dam, be demolished over the next three years.
The $325 million venture is the largest dam demolition project in U.S. history and the latest in a series of efforts to dismantle dams and restore balance to river ecosystems.
“Removal of the two fish-blocking dams for the Elwha River is probably the most significant restoration action in the history of the Pacific Northwest,” said Lars Mobrand, chairman of the Hatchery Scientific Review Group.
A group of state dignitaries, including Gov. Chris Gregoire and officials from the Lower Elwha Klallam aboriginal tribe, marked the occasion with a ceremony adjacent to the dams, whose demolition was 20 years in the making.
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