Critics warn staff discounts at federal agencies that supervise American dams could endanger public safety

Coulee Dam, Wash. (AP) – Trump administration’s labor reductions to federal agencies that supervise American dams threatens their ability to …

Coulee Dam, Wash. (AP) – Trump administration’s labor reductions to federal agencies that supervise US dams threatens their ability to provide reliable electricity, provide water farmers and protect flood communities, employees and industry experts.

The complaint office offers public and hydropower to the public in 17 Western states. Nearly 400 workers of the agency were cut through the Trump Discount Plan, an administration official said.

The “strength discounts” memories have also been sent to current workers and several dismissals are expected. The discounts included workers from the Grand Coulee dam, the largest hydropower generator in North America, according to two dismissed employees interviewed by Associated Press.

“Without these dam operators, engineers, hydrologists, geologists, researchers, emergency managers and other experts, there is a serious potential for increased risk for public safety and economic or environmental damages,” said API Spragens, executive director of the Association of Safety Officials in Kentucky, Kentucky.

The white house spokesman Anna Kelly said the federal labor reductions will ensure that disasters are not prevented by bureaucracy and Bacate.

“A more effective workforce means more resources access to all Americans,” she said by E -mail.

But a hydrologist of the office said they need people from the workplace to make sure the dams are working properly.

“These are complex systems,” said the Midwest worker, who is still employed, but spoke under anonymous conditions, for fear of possible reprisals.

The workers keep the dams safely by monitoring the data, identifying weaknesses and doing yard exams to check if there are cracks and drain.

“As we retire to obtain these projections, as we lose the institutional knowledge from the people leaving or the early retirement, we limit our ability to ensure public safety,” the worker added. “Having people available to respond to operational emergencies is essential. Personnel discounts threaten our ability to do this effectively. “

A federal judge on Thursday ordered the administration to refurbish the test workersBut a Trump’s spokesman said he would fight back, leaving unclear if any.

The heads of 14 water and electricity agencies in California sent a letter to the complaint office and the interior department last month, warning that the elimination of workers with “specialized knowledge” in the operation and maintaining the aging infrastructure “could negatively affect our water delivery system and threatens the public”.

The US Army Engineers Corps also operates national dams. Matt Rabe, a spokesman, refused to say how many workers had left through early purchasesBut he said that the agency did not say to reduce his workforce.

But Neil Maunu, the executive director of the North -West Pacific Association, said he learned that over 150 workers of the Portland Army Corps, Oregon, were said to be ceased and expect to lose another 600 in the north -the Pacific Vest.

Fire includes “district bosses to ship operators” and critical people for safe navigating the rivers, he said.

Their last day is not known. The body said to provide a plan to the US Office for Personnel Management until March 14, Maunu said.

Several other federal agencies that help to ensure secure dams also have been confronted with dismissions and closures. The national oceanic and atmospheric administration is Depositing 10% of the labor force and the National Commission for reviewing the safety of the emergency management dam, was abolished in January.

The discounts come in a moment when the nation’s dams need attention to experts.

A AP review The data of the Army Corps last year showed that at least 4,000 dams are in weak or unsatisfactory conditions and could kill people or could harm the environment if they fail. They require inspection, maintenance and emergency repairs to avoid catastrophes, Ap found.

Heavy rain damaged the leakage to the Oroville dam in California in 2017, forcing almost 190,000 residents to evacuate and Michigan’s Edenville dam Breed in storms in 2020, found AP.

Stephanie Duclos, an office of the complaint worker fired at the Grand Couulee dam, said he was among a dozen workers initially. The dam on the Columbia river in the state of Washington Central generates electricity for millions of houses and provides water to a 27 mile tank (43 kilometers) that irrigate the Columbia Basin project.

“This is a big infrastructure,” she said. “It will take a lot of people to lead it.”

Some dismissed employees have worked there for decades, but have been in a test status because of a position switch. Duclos was an assistant for program managers who organized training and was a connection with human resources. The only person who does that job is afraid of how others will cover work.

“You will get a burning of the employees” in the workers left behind, “she said.

Senator Alex Padilla, a Democrat in California who made a bipartidist effort to ensure that the national dam safety program was authorized until 2028, said: “The safety and effectiveness of our dams is a national security priority.

“Americans are better worth it and I will work to make sure that this administration is responsible for their reckless actions,” Padilla said.

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The Associated Press reporter of the White House, Chris Megerian, contributed from Washington, DC