Caltrans May Face Charges in Damage to Rare Fish
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OJAI — State and federal wildlife investigators are preparing charges against Caltrans, alleging that a bridge-building job killed endangered fish and caused extensive damage to a critical trout stream in the Ventura County back country.
In what authorities say may be the worst case of endangered species destruction ever in Ventura County, work crews killed six fish, including steelhead trout, when a screen collapsed and smothered them during replacement of a bridge on California 33 last year.
Twenty-five other fish were affected and had to be rescued from the same pool on tiny Tule Creek, an important spawning ground for steelhead in the mountains 5 miles north of Ojai, investigators said.
Under the federal Endangered Species Act, any activity that harms imperiled wildlife or its habitat is punishable by up to $27,000 in fines and one year in jail.
A Caltrans representative acknowledged that mistakes occurred once a contractor began the $3-million job to replace a 70-year-old bridge in August.
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