Throughout ten years of community service, the Mendocino Environmental Center (MEC) has been a consistently strong voice in upholding the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA). Many Mendocino residents may not be fully aware of the environmental litigation occurring in their neighborhoods and the role that the MEC is playing to protect water quality, air quality and wildlife habitat throughout the county. Below are some brief descriptions of the lawsuits which the MEC has been involved in, either as direct plaintiff or supportive party.
Total Maximum Daily Loads
In 1988, the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) received a mandate to identify rivers impaired by pollutants; such as sedimentation, high temperatures, and toxins., to prioritize those rivers, establish the total maximum daily load (TMDL) of pollutants for each river system, identify pollution sources and develop actions and TMDL reduction targets for each river.
By 1995, the EPA had not yet begun. The MEC, along with the Friends of the Garcia River, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations and others, sued the EPA. As a result, the EPA has now prioritized the north coast rivers and is identifying TMDL's for them. Their due date is 2007.
Sinker Logs
Any action altering a streambed - bridges, culverts, gravel mining, etc. - requires a "1600 Series," or "ministerial" permit, issued without environmental review upon payment of the fee. DFG issued unreviewed "1603" permits to salvage loggers who were pulling up old logs buried for decades in the stream beds of the Navarro, Albion, Big River, and Noyo Rivers.
The MEC, along with the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC), Coastwatch, and the Coho Salmon Defense Association (CSDA), sued DFG to redefine these permits as "discretionary" and apply CEQA.
The judge has granted a temporary restraining order on the practice of "sinker log" salvaging due to its impact on Salmon habitat. Settlement talks are underway; if unsuccessful there, the matter goes to court.
Agricultural Ponds
The construction of ponds holding more than 50 acre feet of water must comply with State Division of Dam Safety standards. Local government regulates ponds holding less than 50 acre feet. In Spring, 1997, the Board of Supervisors exempted ponds with a dam height of 15 feet or more and the storage of 15 acre feet of water or more from any regulation, with no regard for the cumulative impact of countywide pond development on fisheries and streambed habitat.
The Willits Environmental Center (WEC) and the MEC filed suit demanding compliance with CEQA and requiring environmental review of pond construction. Before settling, the County admitted their neglect of CEQA, repealed the ordinance and is working on another version which should comply with CEQA. They will hold public workshops and hearings in the near future. We need to establish a strong presence at those meetings. Please attend.
We feel that the County should look at the cumulative impact of pond construction upon the County's fisheries, and specifically, at each dam in the context of its watershed. Dams and ponds affect the life of any stream, be it blue line or ephemeral, by impacting the water flows and gravel "budgets," thereby affecting habitat.
Cold Creek Compost
In Spring, 1994, Martin Mileck began developing Charles Guntley's land in Potter Valley as a compost facility. He cut a road and clear-cut the top of a ridge with no permits and no EIR. The neighbors called the County, which dismissed their complaints.
Six months later, Mileck applied to the Planning Commission for a retroactive use permit to operate a Regional Solid Waste Facility, which can import waste from six or more counties. The Planning Commission denied the request, but in January, 1995, despite public concerns, the Board of Supervisors overturned that decision on a 3 - 2 vote and granted Mileck the permit.
Mileck's facility is one of the largest of its kind by federal and state standards. His plans called for storage of up to 50,000 tons of material; he later raised that to 63,000 tons, not including municipal sewage. He contracts to receive waste - including 20 -30 tons per day of Masonite ash (the solid particulate end product of burning petroleum waste products such as fuel oil #6 and recycled motor oil used in the Masonite factory) and unspecified tonnage of municipal sewage sludge (containing heavy metals, pathogens such as e. coli and salmonella, and low level radioactivity from hospital waste). He then sells his poison mixture as "compost".
In April, 1995, the MEC joined the Potter Valley neighbors, organized as "Preserve Country Neighborhoods," in a suit to require Mileck to provide an Environmental Impact Report under CEQA. In December, 1995, the judge ordered the EIR. Mileck has been operating on retroactive permits while delaying the EIR process. In January, 1997, the final EIR came out. A hearing on it comes up on April 3rd at the Planning Commission.
Imported Logs
One of the most serious challenges to forest health involves the introduction of tree pests from other countries. Past invasions of fungi and insects to the U.S. have damaged and even destroyed entire species of trees, causing billions of dollars worth of losses. If the pest is an insect, pressure for use of such insecticides as carbaryl or malathion, often in populated ports or sensitive environments, often overrides human health and environmental concerns.
In spite of these risks, the 1996 federal regulations governing the import of logs, green lumber, chips and shipping materials failed to address forest protection. In 1997 Californians for Alternatives to Toxics (CATs) and the MEC filed suit which, forced the USDA to rewrite the Environmental Ipact Report. Comments to a Supplemental EIS were due early this year.
This issue is especially important to Californians because raw logs from New Zealand are entering the state through Humboldt Bay and green rough cut lumber from native forests in central Mexico is trucked to Oregon on Interstate 5. Most of the USDA-required anti-pest actions take place in the U.S. where one false move could cause a pest invasion. The suit demands that all wood be treated to eliminate pests "before it reaches our shores."
(For more information, call Patty Clary at CATs: (707) 822-8497)
"Faultline" or "Mid Mountain" THP
Dismissing a large volume of public comment in opposition, CDF officially rubber-stamped the "Faultline Investments" THP on the last day of 1997. The THP proposes to cut 55 acres at the peak, east and west faces of Mid-Mountain Ridge in Potter Valley. "Faultline," a cut-and-run investment firm with an address in Reno, proposes "even-aged management" - i.e., clearcutting - of this sparse remnant of mature habitat. Irresponsible logging, vast human-caused fires and failure of regeneration have caused permanent transformation of many areas of Potter Valley and other inland areas from coniferous forestlands to brush, chapparal and grassland.
The MEC joined Friends of Burright Creek in a lawsuit opposing the cut. Among other issues, the lawsuit raises the Endangered Species Act, Northern Spotted Owl, and cumulative impacts on biological habitat issues. The THP lies within one-half mile of a section of the Mendocino National Forest designated Critical Habitat for the Northern Spotted Owl.
Where It Counts
Environmental law is enforced, by and large, by citizen's groups who are willing to sue both private corporations and public agencies to provide adequate environmental impact review, to follow through on mandated research, or to consider the cumulative effects of certain activities upon the entire health of an ecosystem or set of ecosystems. To effectively change the orientation of our society towards considered and wise ecological interactions which will impact generations of human and nonhuman life, we have to take the dialogue to a legal level time and time again. We at the MEC encourage everyone to support the neighborhood groups and grassroots organizations that continually put their name and money on the line to carry the message of environmental responsibility to the Courts.
Copyright Mendocino Environmental Center 1998
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