Monthly Archive for June, 2009
The file on this project is good. I think that they have met the threshold supporting the need for an EIR – under CEQA. Their attorney is the best.
Alan
Craig,
Thank you for this update. You clearly and succinctly explained this issue and in an objective justice system would prevail. We will see.
–Larry
FYI
Subject: Pelton House Winery Use Permit, Knights Valley, Sonoma County
On March 24, 2009 the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors adopted the Mitigated Negative Declaration (MDN), and formally approved the Pelton House winery development proposed by Jess Jackson and Barbara Banke in an Ag preserve in Knights Valley.
In response a Petition of Writ was filed on April 22, 2009 in Sonoma County Superior Court in order to petition the court to set aside the County’s adoption of the Mitigated Negative Declaration, and to rule in favor of the public trust by ordering that an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) be done for this project.
This legal action which is supported by local residents, business owners, ranchers, and growers provides a significant public benefit by protecting the environment, and by upholding the protections set forth in the Franz Valley Area Plan. The suit maintains that the County of Sonoma, as the lead agency in approving this discretionary decision, failed to uphold the law under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). At a minimum, the County and the applicant must demonstrate that this development will have no cumulative impacts and no negative effects on the environment and the biological resources of Knights Valley.
The approved project is now 3 times larger than originally proposed, and is essentially two developments with two separate buildings that could be used for public tastings and events, something a majority of the residents are in opposition to. This expanded project proposes to use water from a new well, while the surrounding properties’ ground water levels continue to be depleted. Residents have been forced to dig new and deeper wells to supply on-going farming and residential needs. Already Knights Valley property owners have been affected by this developer’s existing ground and surface water usage. The project is not a “restoration/reuse” of the property, but rather an entirely new and expanded use which, if built as approved, would be precedent-setting for Knights Valley. The project’s more intensive land use will impact this valley’s over-allocated water supply and thus, impact sensitive riparian communities. The applicant currently uses water from YellowJacket Creek for on-going activities on the property, and as documented has in the past turned off the flow causing fish kills in waterways used by Coho and steelhead.
By continuing our work together we will be successful in changing the outcome of projects like the Dutra Asphalt Plant and the Pelton House Winery.
Thank you for your interest and participation. Craig Enyart
The Senate bill is better than the House analogue in several respects, most importantly, in its funding for remediation, as well as for monitoring, public notification, source tracking and hopefully also (still under discussion) its tighter time frame for rapid testing of beachwater safety.
Jeff Donn, San Francisco Chronicle
June, 2009
Pollution experts on Tuesday pressed a congressional panel for stronger action to keep pharmaceuticals and other contaminants out of the water, saying they are hurting fish and may threaten human health.
Thomas P. Fote, a New Jersey conservationist who sits on the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, said the pollutants are damaging commercial fisheries. He told congressmen not to “study a problem to death and never do anything.”
Fote appeared in a lineup of witnesses Tuesday before the subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife of the House Natural Resources Committee.
The witnesses pointed to research showing damage to fish and other aquatic species from pharmaceuticals, pesticides and other industrial chemicals, especially those that alter growth-regulating endocrine systems. Some scientists worry about the potential of similar harm to humans.
“Hundreds of peer-reviewed publications … demonstrate that numerous ubiquitous chemicals in the environment can interfere with development via the endocrine system, but there appears to be no will or authority to remove those chemicals from the supply chain,” said zoologist Theo Colborn, a professor emeritus at the University of Florida, who founded the nonprofit Endocrine Disruption Exchange.
The witnesses appealed for Congress to promote consumer take-back programs for unused drugs, to encourage industry financing of disposal, and to do more to keep discards from waterways and landfills.
Continue reading ‘Pollution Experts: Save Fish from Drugs in Water’
USGS, Fish & Shellfish Immunology, 6/3/2009
Estrogen Linked to Lowered Immunity in Fish Exposure to estrogen reduces production of immune-related proteins in fish. This suggests that certain compounds, known as endocrine disruptors, may make fish more susceptible to disease.
The research may provide new clues for why intersex fish, fish kills and fish lesions often occur together in the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers. The tests were conducted in a lab by scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey.
The study, led by USGS genomics researcher Dr. Laura Robertson, revealed that largemouth bass injected with estrogen produced lowered levels of hepcidin, an important iron-regulating hormone in mammals that is also found in fish and amphibians. This is the first published study demonstrating control of hepcidin by estrogen in any animal.
Besides being an important iron-regulating hormone, researchers also suspect that hepcidin may act as an antimicrobial peptide in mammals, fish and frogs. Antimicrobial peptides are the first line of defense against disease-causing bacteria and some fungi and viruses in vertebrate animals.
“Our research suggests that estrogen-mimicking compounds may make fish more susceptible to disease by blocking production of hepcidin and other immune-related proteins that help protect fish against disease-causing bacteria,” said Robertson.
Continue reading ‘One Step Closer to Understanding Fish Health in Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers’
June 2009
The state Senate voted 23-10 Monday to approve legislation by North Coast Sen. Patricia Wiggins, D-Eureka, that aims to enhance efforts to save the state’s imperiled salmon and steelhead populations.
There is however another opportunity in the Senate in S. 878 (and as the bill proceeds in the House) to pass a stronger bill. Markup is not yet scheduled in the Senate, but may be as early as Thursday, the 11th. We will need your help in the Senate where there is support for stronger legislation.
Here’s what S. 878 does:
Reauthorizes the BEACH Act of 2000 for 5 years; Doubles the amount of funding available to states, to $60 million, so that a greater number of beaches can be monitored and more frequent monitoring can be conducted; Allows funds to be used for pollution source detection and cleanup to prevent future incidences of closings and advisories; Requires EPA to approve and states to use rapid test methods for monitoring beachwater pollution; Speeds up requirements to notify beachgoers immediately after contamination is found; Requires public health authorities to notify environmental agencies when contamination is found at the beach; and Requires compliance reviews to ensure that state and local programs receiving federal funds are meeting the minimum requirements of the BEACH Act. If you need additional information please contact Nancy Stoner at Nstoner@nrdc.org. Stay tuned for further developments on how you can help in the Senate!
Hi Everyone – Just wanted to let you know that by a straight party line vote (12 Democrats to 7 Republicans) the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed the Clean Water Restoration Act on to the full Senate. Senator Barbara Boxer deserves full credit and a ton of congratulations for getting this passed. Even so, this was a compromise bill in the end and while many unwelcome amendments were defeated, the language we wanted was watered down a little (but not so much as to make it useless) and some amendments added that provided some exemptions to agriculture and wastewater treatment plants.
Nonetheless, a great victory. Now on to the full Senate and the House.
yours,
Arthur Feinstein
415-680-0643
4th Annual Spring-run Chinook Symposium
July 23-24 on the Salmon River
Following the annual Salmon River dives, SRF and Salmon River Restoration Council will host the 4th Annual Spring-run Chinook Symposium featuring rafting tours of Creek Mouth Enhancement Projects on the Mid Klamath tributaries, field trips to fish passage projects on the Salmon River; hands-on restoration workshop about invasive species control and panel discussions on the Klamath Dam removal process. Please check out the agenda and registration form at www.calsalmon.org
Clean Water Network Alert
GOOD News from Capitol Hill!
Thanks to the hard work of Clean Water Network members and partners, the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) passed an amended version of the Clean Water Restoration Act, which will restore important environmental protections to all of our nation’s waters!
Today, in a packed hearing room, the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) passed an amended version of S. 787, the Clean Water Restoration Act, by a vote of 12-7. The EPW Committee also passed two other key Clean Water Network priority bills S. 878, Clean Coastal Environment and Public Health Act of 2009 (formerly known as the beach protection act) and S. 937, the Sewage Overflow Community Right-to-Know Act.
The Committee had yet to take up another key CWN bill, S. 933, Contaminated Sediment Remediation Reauthorization Act (Great Lakes Legacy Act), when we left to send out this alert. We will send another update on S. 933 in a subsequent email.
All three bills will now move to the Senate floor for a vote. The version of the Clean Water Restoration Act that passed today was a compromise offered by EPW Chairman Boxer (CA) together with Senators’ Bauchus (MT) and Klobuchar (MN). The substitute bill contained many of the important provisions in the original bill introduced by Senator Feingold (WI), including striking the word navigable and substituting that with “Waters of the United States.” It also included exemptions for prior converted cropland and waste treatment systems including treatment ponds or lagoons. A number of amendments to weaken the bill were introduced this morning and were all soundly defeated.
Both S. 878, the Clean Coastal Environment and Public Health Act and
S. 937, the Sewage Overflow Community Right-to-Know Act, passed with nominal opposition.
While today is a big step forward for the entire clean water community, there is still much work to be done to make these bills reality. Stay tuned for more updates and details on the bills and how you can help. Thanks again for everything you do to protect our nation’s waters.
Natalie Roy
Executive Director
Clean Water Network