Plans were developed immediately to cleanse the water supply and restore potable water aimed at reopening the park as soon as possible. Using three portable water treatment plants from Fort Lewis, Washington, the water system was flushed, sterilized, and refilled with potable water, thus allowing the park to be reopened to the public on August l. A temporary water treatment plant was then purchased by the National Park Service to furnish a potable water supply until a new permanent water system utilizing water from Annie Spring could be installed that fall. [85]
The water contamination crisis resulted in well-publicized allegations in many of the nation’s leading newspapers concerning the events that led to closure of the park. [86] Charges of a coverup by government officials led the Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs to hold a hearing in the Medford City Hall on September 6. In a prepared statement at the commencement of the hearing Senator Mark O. Hatfield summarized the allegations which he wished to pursue in the subsequent testimony:
Serious allegations have been raised concerning the events which led to the decision to chose the Park. These allegations have cast a shadow over the performance of the various officials and enterprises which have important responsibilities to the public who seek to enjoy these monuments of nature which we have preserved for this and future generations. Public confidence in the integrity of this Government’s custodianship of our national parks and monuments is at stake. I think that allegations have been raised that a coverup was engineered by the park, concessionaire and the National Park Service, that pressure was brought on officials in Washington and on officials in public health agencies to ignore the serious threat to the public, and that the concessioner’ s employees who handled food at the park were made to work while sick, further endangering the public.
Those testifying at the hearing included Superintendent Sims, Klamath Falls Group General Superintendent Ernest J. Borgman, Ralph O. Peyton, president of Crater Lake Lodge, Inc., and a number of park and Klamath Falls Group personnel. [87]
Based on the evidence gathered at the hearing Senator Hatfield issued a report on the closure of the park in January 1976. He found no coverup but otherwise observed that “in general there seemed to be a lack of management and administration training and a clear comprehension of responsibilities and authority within the National Park Service.” Accordingly, he recommended:
That the National Park Service formulate and implement management guidelines for its employees and that more extensive training be undertaken so that employees who take water samples, do so correctly; superintendents know the scope of their authorities and responsibilities and are willing to implement them; that officials with oversight responsibilities such as interpretation of test results know how to interpret those results and are willing to act on the interpretation.
Hatfield also found that the park was understaffed and thus made recommendations to correct that deficiency. He observed:
Of considerable concern was the hack of adequate staffing at the National Park. The entire episode might have been avoided had the park not been understaffed and a permanent employee with the specific responsibility been present rather than having water quality as an additional responsibility of an electrician or painter. The ultimate responsibility for this understaffing rests not with the National Park Service, but rather with the Office of Management and Budget and the Congress. The impact of the understaffing is that the professionalism and public responsibilities of the Park Service are being sacrificed. They are being sacrificed because the duties must be undertaken by seasonal or temporary personnel or be undertaken by permanent staff with other full time responsibilities, or not be undertaken at all.
At Crater Lake, for example, there are only 16 permanent employees out of the authorized level of 24. One of the absent staff is a plumber who would have had the full time responsibilities for checking the sewage and water systems and testing the water. Had Crater Lake been adequately staffed, this episode would not have occurred. . . .
Other recommendations by Hatfield related to oversight of concessionaire activities, the attitudes of the Youth Conservation Corps and the U.S. Public Health Service, and the relationships between the National Park Service and county, state, and national health service agencies. Because the park concessionaire stated “that he had a possessory interest in his facilities and required anyone who wished to inspect his facilities to obtain his permission,” Hatfield urged that concessions policy be examined “with a view towards increasing supervision and control of concession activities.” Since the Youth Conservation Corps delayed reporting that many of its personnel were sick (apparently YCC workers were the first to become ill but this was not reported for nearly two weeks) and the U.S. Public Health Service forestalled closure of the park for at least a week pending further studies, Hatfield recommended that in the future
