Part of the controversial Electron Dam must be removed from the Puyallup River following a district court ruling in Seattle on Friday. Electron Hydro and its COO pleaded guilty in February 2023 to a gross misdemeanor violation of operating an unlawful hydraulic project. The Puyallup Tribe sued Electron Hydro, the company that operated the dam, after it polluted the river with rubber sports turf material, claiming it repeatedly violated the Endangered Species Act. Electron Hydro eventually constructed a "temporary" rock dam, which the court ruled harmed steelhead trout, Chinook salmon and bull trout. The court ruling means water will be able to flow naturally for the first time in almost 100 years, the attorneys of the tribe said in a press release. “From the time the rock dam was proposed in 2020, the Tribe and its biologists made it clear that the structure would harm fish and prevent successful upstream migration for salmon to spawn,” said the Puyallup Tribal Council after the ruling. READ MORE: https://www.king5.com/article/tech/science/environment/electron-dam-remove-temporary-structure-puyallup-river/281-b44d0b09-d649-4e5a-8416-45a59b744a27