AGENDA 21 RADIO

By Scott Cahill

As I had predicted, long ago, those responsible for the Oroville Dam are now drafting their position of protectionism. They have employed “reporters” and “experts” who’s only requirement is that they agree with them, to write reports stating that everything is fine and there is no big problem.

I, for my effort in dissemination of information, have been attacked by a few of these fools (trolls) who insult and assault commenters on my post to dissuade us from writing what we believe.

Some things have been fixed. It appears that they were able to grout the parallel port that was migrating beneath the slabs of the primary spillway. That is a really good thing. The rocks dropped from helicopters will be excavated from the stilling basin. They were placed there within instants of the primary spillway’s actuation at only 40,000 c.f.s. The rains stopped for the moment, and forsaking a traumatic event, those responsible for such a miserable failure (nearly killing two hundred thousand people is a failure) are now turning their attention to spending this money so freely given to them, and drafting an alternative reality to put forth as truth to cover up their failures.

They are hiding things from those who wait downstream. They always shall. It is in the nature of such men to mislead, to lie. It is how they maintain their bureaucracy. If someone would look back through my writings on this matter, one would see a stream of predictions. All of them came true. I do not offer this to self-promote. I gain nothing from this horrible mess except the honor bestowed on me by many fine people who respond to my posts. I am not looking for work or a “nice” contract to “help”. Too many men change their tune for a buck, or even the promise of “favor”.

I do not know this, I suspect it. I believe that there are more problems than the public is being told, serious problems. I feel that, besides the migration of porting water through indigenous soils (they refer to them as bedrock, remember?) on the left groin, which manifests far up the downstream face, and has done so for many years, without a repair, there are also ports in the right indigenous soils.

These ports, I believe become active at high water, resulting in vortices of the surface when the water comes up to the level of the emergency spillway. I believe that there is also a port that starts at the entrance to the gate structure. These ports move water beneath the structures of the gate structure, and the ogee weir of the emergency spillway. This is a serous issue and will require a major and well-planned grouting program. If correct, this also proves the porosity of the indigenous soils that I had alluded to so long ago.

Many (guess who) have said that my concerns were not founded (then the failures happened one after another). Then they asked me to “prove it” I do not need to prove anything. Time has proven who was right, and who was wrong. I can only assert what is probable from the data that I have. There is much being masked and hidden. This makes it easy to defend, by using the data available, but detractors are at a loss for information. I will not go into a long discussion of photos, reports, etc. and their dissemination or lack of same. I think everyone understands exactly what has transpired.

I will say again, my reason for saying anything about Oroville is to force the irresponsible to be responsible. If the people of the region allow it to remain as it is, I cannot help. If these people, who lied to you are allowed to keep their jobs, they will lie again. This is not acceptable in men who are the stewards of a dam, particularly one such as Oroville.

I am a bit tired of the trolls, the false news stories, the “Data” that is clearly flawed and offered to misinform. Every time I see another article telling what a “good job” they are doing, I feel compelled to dispute it. I don’t care about the men who so failed to do their jobs, who wrote inspection reports from their truck, or office, as water gushed from the failed drainage system of a clearly failing spillway.

What I care about is honor and equity. I suppose lies are a simple reality of life. I, personally hate that, but it is still a reality. Some must be honorable. Some must admit errors, so that they may be made right. There is nothing wrong with a man making a mistake. That is acceptable. We all can help to pick up the pieces, learn, and move on, improved from the experience. When men “pretend” that they made no errors in the face of insurmountable evidence to the contrary, they must go. This is no place for such men. When men employ others to create false documentation to hide facts that must be assessed to make such improvement, they are committing an act of dishonor, which is contrary to responsible action and law.

If we allow this to be covered up, as so much else has been, we shall not improve as stewards of our infrastructure, nor as a nation. The failures of this dam must be laid out before the public to act as a learning tool so that this kind of threat never manifests again.

Scott Cahill

Construction Expert,Writer,Speech Writer,Public Speaker,Expert Witness,Sailor,Pilot,Political Blogger