I must preface my remarks briefly with two items that found their
way into our local news in order for my readers to more fully
understand the concepts I have written about. First, the Hanford
Nuclear repository on the Columbia River has consistently been a
topic of debate and concern because of possible leakages of
radioactive wastes and the risks to groundwater and the Columbia
River. The governor recently addressed these concerns, and the
debate is ongoing. Second, in March of 2013, a report was
publicized regarding the Cascadian Subduction Zone by the Oregon
Seismic Safety Policy Advisory Commission. The report, in brief,
mentioned a "chilling forecast about NW quake." The zone in all
probability is part of the Pacific Rim of Fire. This discovery's
possible impacts on the Columbia Basin and its environs are up for
debate. I decided that this was a good time to approach an
independent publisher about my book, The Floodgates, which is a
story of natural disaster and its social impact. I completed this
project sometime prior to 9/11, but because of that tragedy and its
aftermath, I decided that it was an inappropriate time to pursue a
market for my book. In 2003, I returned to the book and went
through the copyrighting process, which was completed in December
of that year. I wrote The Floodgates to tell two stories: my own
and the Pacific Northwest's. Personal narrative and geography have
always been inseparable, as anyone from the Northwest knows. I tell
this story through the fictional, albeit realistic, tragedy of a
dam breaking. As a young child, I was fascinated with dams-the
wonders of the Northwest. The cover picture of this book, which
shows the Grand Coulee Dam circa 1951, is testimony to that. I
gained much insight about my topic through laboring on her in late
1970. I ended up with a healthy dose of respect for the concrete
behemoth as well as the stories of the people around it. With the
advent of the Mt. St. Helens eruption on May 18, 1980, I returned
my thoughts to the Grand Coulee, wondering what its fate would be
in the event of disaster. The thought experiment brought me to the
altered social and environmental landscape. In hindsight, we live
increasingly in a technological world, one using instant messaging
and cyberspace and with an ephemeral quality. With that in mind, I
could not conclude my manuscript without introducing Chris, nerdy,
aloof, and a consummate hacker, who manages, like a Don Quixote, to
tip the windmills of the BPA grids.
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