Stephen
Bechtel Jr. Funds Peripheral Canal Report!
By Dan Bacher, publisher of the Fish
Sniffer
July 19, 2008. The people and foundations who fund
"scientific" reports and studies often reveal what is
the real agenda behind the publishing of any document.
A new Public Policy Institute (PPIC) report recommending the
construction of a peripheral canal on the California Delta,
"Comparing Futures for the Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta," was released yesterday with wild acclamation by the
Governor and the state's water contractors, since it
"scientifically" justifies the destruction of the West
Coast's largest estuary by building a canal.
Little noticed in the media reports was where the funding
came from. According to the PPIC's press release: "The new
report, Comparing Futures for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta,
builds on the findings of a 2007 PPIC study by the same team,
which concluded that the need for a new Delta strategy is
urgent. The new report was funded in part by Stephen D. Bechtel
Jr. and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation."
Stephen D. Bechtel, Jr. (born 1925) is, with his son Riley,
co-owner of the Bechtel Corporation. He is the son of Stephen
David Bechtel, Sr. and grandson of Warren A. Bechtel who founded
the Bechtel Corporation, the world's largest engineering firm.
Bechtel Corporation, one of the world's largest engineering
and construction firms that is instrumental in the
"reconstruction" of Iraq, is a leading advocate
throughout the world of the privatization of water systems. It
was Bechtel that sued the country of Bolivia for canceling a
contract there sponsored by the World Bank.
A CorpWatch report, "Profiting from Destruction,"
provides case studies from Bechtel's history of operating in the
water, nuclear, energy and public works sectors. These case
studies reveal a legacy of unsustainable and destructive
practices that have reaped permanent human, environmental and
community devastation around the globe. Letters from "Bechtel
affected communities" included in the report provide
first-hand descriptions of these impacts, from Bolivia to Native
American lands in Nevada. The report reveals a 100-year history
spent capitalizing on the most brutal technologies, reaping
immense profits and ignoring the social and environmental costs.
For more information, go to http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=6975
Another CorpWatch report, http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=6670,
details "Bechtel's Water Wars" in Bolivia.
Fortunately, the people of Cochabama rebelled against Bechtel's
scheme to privatize their water system and won.
The role of Stephen Bechtel, Jr. in funding the PPIC report
must be exposed. Are the scientists who authored this report
aware of Bechtel's record of devastation across the globe? And
will Bechtel profit from the destruction of the California Delta
fish, farms and people if a peripheral canal is built? These are
both questions that must be asked!
Central Valley chinook salmon and Delta fish populations are
in a state of collapse, largely due to massive increases in
water exports from the Delta in recent years. A broad coalition
of recreational anglers, commercial fishermen, Delta farmers,
Indian Tribes and environmentalists is opposed to the peripheral
canal because it would result in the diversion of more water
from the Delta and further exacerbate the current fishery
collapses.
The PPIC report amounts to being an "elaborate sales
brochure" for the peripheral canal, quipped Bill Jennings,
executive director of the California Sportfishing Protection
Alliance. I completely agree, especially when you consider who
is funding the report!
