CoastWatcher

Eco-Legislator Pedro Nava Is On the Case!

You may never had heard of Greka Oil & Gas Company.  You may never have heard of their oil drilling activities in the Santa Maria area of Santa Barbara County, California.  You wouldn’t be alone.

But little Greka Oil has a horrendous history of oil spills and has wracked up millions in civil and criminal fines, penalties and restoration orders since 2002, and certainly has given a black eye (excuse the pun) to more law abiding oil companies attempting to operate within the confines of environmental protection laws.

California State Assembly member Pedro Nava (D-Santa Barbara) has documented the entire mess on his website, and the totals are shocking:  Since 2002 Greka has apparently spilled more than 500,000 gallons of oil into creeks and property around Santa Maria.

Ed Note: As John Earl, Editor of the Orange County Voice, shows below, the for profit corporation Poseidon Resources Inc. hasn’t been honest regarding the cost or the environmental impacts of their proposed desalination project in Huntington Beach, Orange County, California. The very same can be said for Poseidon’s project in the City of Carlsbad, which was approved by the California Coastal Commission in November 2007 without any information, data or documentation regarding the eventual cost of the privately owned water, or the marine environmental or climate change impacts associated with the vague proposal. We only know that these will be the largest desal plants ever to be constructed in North America, with no precedent or guarantee they’ll work or ever produce affordable fresh water. It remains a mystery why so many SoCal public officials think Poseidon is such a great deal. These public servants favor massive, environmentally destructive, privately owned desal plants along the coast rather than simple, inexpensive water conservation measures for the obvious reason that the “Poseidon Dream” offers the possibility of continued rampant coastal development and suburban sprawl.

Poseidon’s Delay: Coastal Commission waits 2 years for desal answers

May 6, 2008 by ocvoice
By John Earl
OC Voice Editor

An environmental scientist for the California Coastal Commission says that the cost of water to be produced by a desalination plant approved by the city of Huntington Beach has been greatly underestimated by the developer and that proposed mitigation measures for its impact on ocean marine life are inadequate. Read the rest of this entry »

Barry Parr at Coastsider puts the wood to some of the  various spin, lies, excuses, misinformation and lobbying being rolled out by the City of Half Moon Bay in support of  AB 1991, their free fire environmental destruction legislation that would allow 129 houses on coastal wetlands.  Check it out here.

As the Half Moon Bay Review is reporting, the California State Assembly Local Government voted 5-2 today to allow AB1991 to live another day, and environmental stalking horse will now move to the Assembly Appropriations Committee where hopefully it will receive a more thorough vetting

Worth noting is that even those Assembly members who supported the bill today voiced concerns about the nature and future success of this type of land use subversive legislation.

As quoted in the HMB Review, Committee Chair Anna Caballero of Salinas said, “I support it here in the committee as a way to move it forward but I don’t know if I can support it on the floor.” She urged bill sponsor Gene Mullin to seek some compromise between the city and environmental leaders who oppose a bill they say runs roughshod over state protections.

For more information and an internet video tape of the meeting, go to the HMB Review or Coastsider websites.

Tomorrow the California State Assembly Committee on Local Government will entertain a proposal (AB1991) to allow a developer to build 129 houses on wetlands on two parcels of land known as “Beachwood” and “Glencree.” The legislation is needed because the proposal is illegal under California planning and environmental laws. AB1991 would exempt the development from the type of review required of all other coastal developers in California and would establish precedent for avoiding coastal resource planning and protection laws.

The project has a long and tortured history, including both good and bad legal decisions, that have alternately found wetlands and legal development rights. All the best information regarding the project can be found at Coastsider.com

If you value the existence of wetlands and other environmental resources in your town and along the California coast, please take a moment to send a note to the Committee asking that all developers be required to comply with basic environmental and plannings in California… or else a Beachwood boondoggle may be headed to your town….

To send the letter, go here.

While the proposed toll road through San Onofre State Park may look like a dead man walking, don’t be deceived.  The road’s sponsor, TCA, has asked the United States Secretary of Commerce to veto California’s denial and allow the road anyway.  You continuing support is necessary in order to show the federal government that California will not bow to destruction of our state park system for a quick buck.

The TCA has asked the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to override the California Coastal Commission’s NO vote regarding the Foothill-South Toll Road.  In a shocking testament to TCA’s consistent and repeated failure to address the public’s concerns regarding this toll road, they have urged the Department of Commerce to deny the public an opportunity to participate in a hearing on the appeal.

It is easy to get involved.  Send a letter here

North County Times
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Last modified Thursday, March 13, 2008 1:26 AM PDT

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/03/13/news/top_stories/1_30_413_12_08.txt
Bill would curb Coastal Commission

By: DAVE DOWNEY - Staff Writer
Agency defends initiating its own appeals of local zoning decisions

One of the sweeping powers of the California Coastal Commission’s authority to regulate development along the state’s 1,100-mile coastline could be swept away under a controversial measure now before the Legislature.

Sponsored by state Sen. Denise Ducheny, the legislation would strip the commission of its ability to self-initiate appeals of local-government development decisions, restricting it to hearing appeals filed by other people, groups and agencies. Read the rest of this entry »

Ed. Note:  According to the San Diego Union Tribune, the OC Toll Road builders (”TCA”) will appeal to the Bush Administration’s Secretary of Commerce in a last ditch effort to resurrect their South Foothill Toll Road 241 project, even though chances of success are nil.  Even if Bush bows to the TCA and it’s Republican foot soldiers, state and federal environmental laws and additional permits needed from the California Coastal Commission ultimately doom the effort.  TCA is a dead man walking and watching them continue to squirm and flop and waste public taxpayer dollars on their impossible dream is no longer any fun….

Agency will fight commission ruling
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20080208-9999-1m8toll.html
By Terry Rodgers
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
February 8, 2008
Checkmate? Game over?

Many folks believe the proposed Foothill-South freeway project became roadkill Wednesday after the state Coastal Commission rejected it.

But the Irvine-based Transportation Corridor Agencies, which is proposing the toll road that would slice through a habitat reserve and San Onofre State Beach, is determined to resuscitate it.

The toll road agency’s chief counsel, chief executive officer and board chairman decided yesterday to appeal the commission’s ruling to the U.S. secretary of commerce. The paperwork is expected to be filed today. Read the rest of this entry »

Ed. Note:  On Wednesday approximately 4,000 people attended the California Coastal Commission meeting in Del Mar, San Diego County, to support the Commission’s decision to reject a proposal to build a 16-mile long toll road highway through San Onofre State Beach and miles of open space located in the pristine watersheds behind it.  By an 8-2 vote the Coastal Commission rejected the plan and found that it would drive nearly a dozen endangered species of plants and animals toward extinction, and destroy untold habitat, a prized campground, an ancient sacred Native American village site and the world famous surfing resources of Trestles Beach.  It was the most people, by far, ever to attend a meeting of California’s coastal protection panel, and the Commissioner’s responded in ways that have made the public proud. Scientist and Commissioner Sara Wan, for example, was able to expertly analyze the faulty, misleading and fraudulent junk science invented by toll road authorities (”TCA”) in support of their project.  Wan’s analysis was so devastating that it revealed that what TCA really sought to do was drive endangered species extinct, and not protect or save them in any way. 

For a photo gallery of the proceedings, go to http://photos.signonsandiego.com/gallery1.5/toll_road_hearing

For a New York Times story on the events, go to http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/08/us/08beach.html?scp=1&sq=toll+road&st=nyt
Park Toll Road Plan Rejected in California

Road seen as a threat to wildlife, camping and surfing.
By WILL CARLESS
Published: February 8, 2008
DEL MAR, Calif. — After a marathon public hearing in which hundreds of people spoke, the California Coastal Commission voted late Wednesday to deny approval for a toll road through a popular beach state park.

The 8-to-2 vote against the road, which would bisect California’s fifth-most-visited state park, San Onofre State Beach in north San Diego County, was seen as a significant victory for the region’s environmental movement and a major setback to a 20-year-effort to ease traffic congestion in the increasing sprawl of southern Orange County.

The eight commissioners agreed with the agency’s staff, which had found that the road, to cost an estimated $875 million, would threaten wildlife habitats, camping areas and a cherished surfing beach, Trestles.

“This project drives a stake through the heart of the Coastal Act,” said Commissioner Sara Wan, adding, “This looks like something from the 1950s, not something from the 21st century, when we know how endangered our planet is.”
Read the rest of this entry »