U.S. Supreme Court tie upholds ruling that will cost Washington billions

By Joe Teehan June 12, 2018 7:10 am

KGMIMelissa Erkel, a fish passage biologist with the Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, looks at a culvert, a large pipe that allows streams to pass beneath roads but block migrating salmon, along the north fork of Newaukum Creek near Enumclaw, Wash. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

6-12-2018

SEATTLE, Wash. — The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling on a fish culvert case that has gone on for nearly twenty years.

The State Attorney General’s Office reports the Court’s decision forces the state to replace fish barrier culverts in Washington, which is expected to cost billions.

The court tied 4-4 with Justice Anthony Kennedy recusing himself.

Jay Julius, chair of the Lummi Indian Business Council, said it was a win for treaty rights, river rights and salmon.

The state has argued that its treaties with the tribes created no obligation to restore salmon habitat and that the ruling forces state taxpayers to cover the costs of the federal government’s faulty culvert design.