A Washington state utility company has agreed to pay $900,000 for damages to natural resources at Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area/NPS file

A Washington state utility company has agreed to pay $900,000 for natural resource and archaeological damage it caused at Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area while moving a power pole.

The damage was done back in 2017 when Avista Corp. crews entered the NRA, without National Park Service permission, to move a power pole, according to court documents (attached).

The Justice Department said the field work damaged "numerous archaeological features and artifacts" as well as "approximately 70 big sagebrush shrubs, approximately 29 ponderosa pine trees, and many native grasses, forbs, and herbaceous species."

The filings note that Avista Corp's last special use permit for work involving the power pole in the NRA expired at the end of September 1999.

When company crews showed up in the NRA in March 2017 "[t]o stabilize, move, and replace the power pole, Defendant and/or its contractor used several motor vehicles off-road in park areas not designated for off-road use. To stabilize, move, and replace the power pole, Defendant and/or its contractor cut down trees, mechanically damaged trees and shrubs, and removed, trimmed, and displaced other native vegetation in the park."

According to the filings, the power pole originally had been sited "on the edge of previously documented archaeological features and artifacts," and that the crew in March 2017 moved it further into that area and damaged archaeological resources. Avista did not notify the Park Service of the work until April 2017, the filings note.

Avista officials signed off on the settlement in July 2014, with the Justice Department signing in October.