Newsletter #54 -Vote of Confidence – Board of Supervisors – April 19, 2016

On March 22 the Proclamation Declaration to a Safe, Clean, Healthy Environment was delivered to SLO County Board of Supervisors on behalf of over 89,000 signatories painfully concerned about their safety and health.  Board Response time due on or before April 19.

Follow-up request was made to the Board on April 4 and 12. Acknowledgement of our request was met with deafening silence. No Board members motioned to respond.  Common courtesy absent.

Natalie Beller and Natalie Risner met with Adam Hill to reiterate the dire water concerns and the Proposed Arroyo Grande Oil Field Aquifer Exemption.  And although Adam declined to make a motion to vote on the Proclamation he did send a letter to David Albright U.S. EPA Region 9 Manager of the Drinking Water Protection Section, WTR-9  on behalf of those in his district concerned with the ongoing drought and regulations that can ensure greater safety of drinking water. He concluded with a request for a public meeting in SLO so that his constituents could interact with the USEPA decision makers on the issue.

Mr. Hill’s efforts are noted and appreciated.

I met with Mr. Mecham to request he sponsor the Proclamation by simply calling for a motion to vote on it. He declined.

And just to be fair the EPA and DOGGR right now are having more problems than a blind juggler in a hail storm.  Feds: EPA Fails to Protect Water From Oilfield Contamination

And to be honest it is a mystery if our Board of Supervisors is just unaware that until THEY say our aquifer can be used as a toxic waste dumping ground by approving the conditional use permit whatever DOGGR or the EPA says is of NO consequence OR if our Board is just using the EPA’s exemption ruling as a way of promoting some private agenda we are not privy to. We really don’t know. We want to know. And feel very confident we have a right to know.

What is very obvious is that there is a fair amount of conflicting and confusing information surrounding intent and purposes on this issue. And in the interest of clarity and to give the Board an opportunity to clear the air and set the record straight we have put forth the Proclamation Declaration.

It is a very simple straight forward document that puts everything out on the table without any bells or whistles. It is everything each Board member promised to do when they took their oath of office.

The Board has a lot on its plate and so do each and every one of us. Life can get jammed and jumbled. So, it is not an unreasonable request to insist we just take a time-out to reconnect with our basic fundamental principles. It is not unreasonable to insist for our own peace of mind and well being that we all take a deep breathe, ground ourselves, and move on from there.

I have no doubt other communities across this State at some point in time have also experienced this very same dilemma. It is not unusual. And how we are choosing to resolve this common dilemma is with a Proclamation and Declaration of our basic principles.

Come to the April 19 Board of Supervisors meeting at 9 am and avail the Board the opportunity to clear the air and set the record straight by bearing witness to their response to the Proclamation Declaration for a Safe, Clean, Healthy Environment.

If, in the event, the Board declines to acknowledge the request, then we will take that to mean they regard the request to be of no importance or consequence and an unnecessary waste of their time.

For most that response would raise serious doubts about the ability of a Board to be able to effectively and efficiently do their job and serve as leaders of a community they have formally dismissed as an inconvenience and waste of their time. The vote would take 30 seconds. They have had a month to talk about it.  No further delays would be appropriate.

But we cannot be sure what the Board will do until we put the offer before them for the last time on April 19.

A packed chamber will be hard to ignore. So, please let that reassure you that your presence is always vitally important, always makes a difference and always counts.

Just show up, support the speakers, be a speaker, fill out a request to speak #24, tell the Board you are there to hear their vote on the Proclamation or whatever is on your mind.

Tuesday April 19, 2016

Time: 9 am

Place: Board of Supervisors

Chambers 1055 Monterey SLO

Agenda Item: #24 Public comment.  http://agenda.slocounty.ca.gov/agenda/sanluisobispo/Meeting.html?single=1&mid=58

Please share because you care.

San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors Proclamation and Declaration to a Safe, Clean, Healthy Environment.

This proclamation was presented to the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors on March 22, 2016 with a request to respond by April 19, 2016.

Because the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors is being inundated with highly sensitive, life altering, excruciatingly complex permit applications from some of the most powerful industries in the world, oil and gas, while at the same time trying to deal with the mounting  drought emergency, co-mingled with managing day to day routine business the residents of San Luis are understandably experiencing some of the same information overload and exhaustion as our Board is.

With so much on their plates it is understandable that the Board may have moments where they are hopelessly conflicted therefore we feel that this basic proclamation will help clear the air and give us all a moment to reconnect with our roots and basic tenets as a community.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS PROCLAMATION AND DECLARATION TO A SAFE, CLEAN, HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT

The people of San Luis Obispo County have a right to know if elected officials intend to uphold State and Federal unencumbered Constitutional Rights provided in the Clean Air, Clean Water, Safe Drinking Water and Resource Conservation and Recovery Acts and are entitled to the affirmation and declaration to regard any exemption, exception or immunities imposed by a third-party, to be an infringement upon your rights and in conflict with our sworn duty and responsibility to provide a safe, clean, healthy uncompromised living environment for all those living within our borders and boundaries.

Therefore, We, the undersigned, do hereby promise to refuse upon application any entity access and occupation of our resources that refuse, by way of exemptions, to provide all the proper and necessary documentation, authorization and certification by a certified independent third-party provider to be in strict unadulterated accordance with the Clean Air, Clean Water, Safe Drinking Water and Resource Conservation and Recovery Acts.

Further, We, the undersigned promise to protect and defend your rights without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that we will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which we have entered.

Be it resolved and ordered by the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors the Proclamation and Declaration to a Safe, Clean, Healthy Environment on this ____ day of April 2016.

 

AYES:

NOES:

ABSENT:

ABSTAINING:

The foregoing Proclamation Declaration is hereby ADOPTED:

Chairperson, Board of Supervisors

You can contact the Board and let them know you are keeping an eye on them and would like them to sign the Proclamation.  bbc yourself a copy.

bos finale proclamation

 

Frank Mecham<fmecham@co.slo.ca.us>

Bruce Gibson<bgibson@co.slo.ca.us>

Adam Hill<ahill@co.slo.ca.us>

Lynn Compton<lcompton@co.slo.ca.us>

Debbie Arnold<darnold@co.slo.ca.us>

 

 

Newsletter #53 Springing into Action

Learned something important at the Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, consent agendas are a rubber stamp item with no comments. They take about 1 minute each. Yikes.

I got there at 9:15, public comment was #15 and already in progress. Natalie B was the last speaker making a beautiful plea for the Love of Water on World Water Day.

 

I quickly filled out a form and handed it to the clerk, it was accepted and the Proclamation Declaration for a Clean, Safe, Healthy environment delivered on behalf of the over 89,000 petitioners, residents, Cal Poly and Cuesta students, farmers, businesses and 4 local municipalities calling for our Board to do their job and keep SLO Clean, Safe and Healthy is officially on the public record.

 

It is officially calling for a response on or before April 19, 2016. Now it begins.
Keeping SLO Clean-Safe and Healthy means refusing to approve any permits with EPA exemptions-from-all-Clean-Safe-and-Healthy-LAWS.

 

It just stands to reason.  If they are exempted they are not safe. If they are safe they would not need an exemption. Exempted means our rights to a Clean, Safe, Healthy environment has been excluded from EPA’s permitting process. And that may be good enough for the EPA but it is not good enough for us. And we must say so.
Doing their job means, on our behalf, the Board must refuse to allow any EPA exempted oil drilling operations to take place in our backyard. Simply put EPA standards do not meet our standards which are clearly defined in the Clean Air, Clean Water, Safe Drinking Water and Resource Conservation and Recovery Acts.

So, it is official. It is on the record. We requested a response on or before April 19, 2016.

Board of Supervisors does not meet on the 5th Tuesday.  So, anyone that can attend the B of S meeting the week of April 5, 12, and 19th @ 9 a.m. please do so. “Sign the proclamation, it’s the right thing to do.”

 

And if you can only make one meeting let it be the 19th. Because frankly, ignoring us, as they have done in the past, is no longer acceptable and we are there for their official answer. We are calling for them to make a motion to vote on the Proclamation then and there.

 

The Proclamation is simply a renewal of their vows, their oath of office, to uphold, protect and defend our rights and we have a right to know if they intend to honor that promise.

 

As a last resort you can email the Board. You can include articles, facts, documentation, data, studies that support your reasons for wanting the Board to refuse to accept the EPA’s exclusion of our rights in support of their exemption. An appeal to reason. An appeal to emotion. The Need to be safe is very emotional.

Emails are part of the public record and if need be can be subpoenaed by the court as evidence.  If we need to prove we did everything in our power to get the Board to respond to our needs and do their job the emails will do that as will public comment.

1.  Frank Mecham  fmecham@co.slo.ca.us

• Bruce Gibson    bgibson@co.slo.ca.us
• Adam Hill          ahill@co.slo.ca.us
• Lynn Compton  lcompton@co.slo.ca.us
• Debbie Arnold  darnold@co.slo.ca.us

• I hope it does not come to that but we really cannot take a chance or tolerate disrespectful, belligerent behavior from our elected officials who refuse to acknowledge and recognize our concerns and needs. We have waited three years and that is long enough.

  While our efforts are local and deals directly with our officials there is also much going on at the State level dealing directly with DOGGR and EPA.

Groups want freeze on oil waste dumping into water reserves

I know this whole process is very disrupting, inconvenient and unsettling but is nothing compared to what will happen if we don’t do it and do it now. Because frankly people if we don’t stand up for ourselves it is for darn sure nobody else will.

So buck up and let’s get this done.   We are under siege.  Freeport is the first to go. Then oil trains then Diablo and then we are home free. At least until the next round which will be a lot easier because we will have trail blazed how to establish a respectful and congenial working relationship with our elected officials.

Mothers for Peace on constant vigil asking for us to call Senator Monning’s office. It’s easy. And the interns at Monning’s office are very pleasant and polite. So please…………

Contact Senator Monning and register your opposition to California SB 968

(916) 651-4017   http://sd17.senate.ca.gov/send-e-mail

30 organizations oppose this bill because it mandates an analysis of purportedly negative – but not positive – impacts of shutting down the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant.

Read more:

https://mothersforpeace.org/data/2016/2016-03-23-thirty-organizations-oppose-diablo-canyon-bill-sb-968

 

https://mothersforpeace.org/data/2016/2016-03-23-letter-to-california-committee-on-energy-in-opposition-to-sb-968-1

 

THANK YOU!!!
_______________________________________________
Share this with everyone that has a vested interest in keeping SLO Safe.

In solidarity, peace and love
Always,

Jean’ne

jeannewater@gmail.com

SLO Clean Water.org

Instead of thinking outside the box, get rid of the box. 

 

​SLO CLEAN WATER.ORG

Facebook SLO Clean Water

​Protect Price Canyon​

 

Newsletter #52- This is what Solidarity looks like and it is Spectacular.

Thursday, February 5, 2016, 9:00 a.m.  San Luis Obsipo, California:  Kick off of the first in a series of earth changing events culminating in SLO county this year demonstrating the power of minds, hearts and souls coming together.

First time activist, seasoned die hearts, religious leaders, professional groups physicians, nurses, teachers, college, high school, middle school students, our forever friends and neighbors from Santa Barbara, Ventura, Monterey and long distance cohorts up and down the coast San Jose, San Francisco, San Diego and many points in between gathering to celebrate our solidarity.

A special shout out to EarthEthics and Center for Biological Diversity who pooled their resources and expertise and helped coordinate and orchestrate this D-Day Landing. And to the media crew that got the word out in editorials, letters to the editor, flyers, local talk shows and nightly news putting a beautiful, caring face and poignant words to this event.  Mighty Heidi needing no introduction.

And for all those thousands of petitioners and people who were present in spirit I have linked the 2 public comment sections below that brought your spirit to life. And I have to say I have attended a few of these public comment sessions in my day and this was one thoughtful, wise, vibrant, intelligent, outpouring at its best.  Deserving recognition and appreciation also is the SLO Planning commission, made up of volunteers from our community, who have conducted these hearings in a manner that reflects our sense of pride and commitment to respectful dialogue critical to the process. Thank you.

http://slocounty.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=5&clip_id=2243
http://slocounty.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=3&clip_id=2244

Next meeting to conclude public comment February 25th Board of Supervisors chambers 9:00 a.m.  There were over 400 requests to speak. Amazing.

 

No resting on our laurels. It is full steam ahead with the next order of the day COASTAL COMMISSION HEARING –  Wednesday February 10. And to accommodate the tremendous interest in this hearing there is a change of location. Please note:
REVISED MEETING NOTICE

Hearing location for Wednesday has been changed to

Morro Bay Community Center Auditorium

1001 Kennedy Way

Morro Bay, CA 93442      Directions
(415) 407-3211

(Phone in operation during meeting only)

Wednesday, February 10, 2016, 10:00 a.m.

Please note this changing of the guard at the CCC  is directly linked to the P66’s spur permit.  If the Board of Supervisors does the right thing and denies the spur then P 66 would appeal the Boards decision to the Coastal Commission for a final ruling.   The removal of Mr. Lester seriously compromises the integrity of the commission and its  ability to render a fair unbiased decision since the commission would then be comprised of a special interest group in favor of development of our coast line and not the preservation of it.

If you can’t make the meeting
Send an email letter today to the California Coastal Commission, Attention Chair Steve Kinsey, at this address: StatusOfExecutiveDirector@coastal.ca.gov  You can enclose an 8 x 10 glossy photo (or digital facsimile) of our spectacular Coastline.  They will get the picture – worth a 1,000 words.

And Just one more thing while you are sending off emails.

Send an email to Jennifer.Lucchesi@slc.ca.gov by February 9. Ask that a full environmental review be prepared for the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant AND that the April 5 meeting be held in San Luis Obispo.  Cut and paste letter below.  Will just take a minute and make a big difference.

 

Dear Supporters,

 

We have an opportunity for activism that could impact future generations.

 

Please send an email to the California State Lands Commission. This commission leases the land to PG&E for the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant.  The leases expire in 2018 and 2019, and California’s Lieutenant Governor, Gavin Newsom, has expressed interest in a review of the plant before granting the leases.

 

 

You can copy and paste this sample letter:

 

Dear Ms. Lucchesi,

 

Please require the State Lands Commission staff to prepare a full California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review for the land leases at the Diablo Canyon nuclear facility near San Luis Obispo before considering a renewal of the leases, due to expire in 2018 and 2019.

 

Furthermore, I request that the State Lands Commission public meeting scheduled for April 5 in San Francisco be moved to San Luis Obispo County.  The parties most affected by the operation of the plant should have easier access to this crucial meeting.

 

Thank you,

Your name

 

For more information on this subject, watch this short video of Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom comments: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKeXy0O_Sjg

 

Thank you for taking action!

Attachments area

Preview YouTube video Gavin Newsom on Diablo Canyon

Gavin Newsom on Diablo Canyon

 

We are off to a great start!

More soon. Keep Smiling 🙂

❤️

 

Newsletter #46 Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Talking points for the Freeport Hearing Oct 22, 2014

TALKING POINTS

Here is the email address if anyone is unable to attend. planning@co.slo.ca.us Email it no later than Tuesday.

In the subject box
ATTENTION: HEARING OCT 22 AGENDA ITEM #14 FREEPORT MCMORAN.

The issue is:

“Arroyo Grande Oil fields Continued hearing to consider a request by FREEPORT-MCMORAN OIL & GAS for a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) to amend the previous CUP to extend the amount of time allowed to drill previously approved Phase IV oil wells (D010386D). This request would extend the current limit for an additional 3 years to install these previous approved wells (approximately 31 wells not yet installed). The project is located at 1821 Price Canyon Road (San Luis Obispo) on the east and west sides of Price Canyon Road, approximately 2.7 miles north of the City of Pismo Beach, in the South County planning area (San Luis Bay Inland sub area South). The Environmental Coordinator found that the previously certified Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) is adequate for the purposes of compliance with CEQA . CONTINUED FROM 9/10/2015.”

The points we need to make is that in fact the 10-year-old FEIR is NOT ADEQUATE. Personal experiences are always good too. Covers all the bases.

Some talking points. 1) We have them dead to rights on a flawed FEIR 10 years ago. 2) There was not a  emergency drought mandate in effect 10 years ago 3) Earthquakes were not considered 4) subsidence not mentioned. 5) Injecting billions of gallons of toxic waste into a protected aquifer is an ongoing illegal and unlawful activity in violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act.

1) The United States EPA called DOGGR’s handling of the Underground Injection Program ‘Shocking.” Translation. There wasn’t one. No Underground Injection Control program in place at the time of the FEIR 10 years ago. It would appear this whole operation is in violation of the Safe Drinking Water and an illegal operation. Deny it.

Wells must meet standards and spec for re injection of waste water set by the yet to be implemented UIC program. DOGGR screwed up but that does not diminish the fact that it is still illegal and unlawful.

Underground Injection Control program was not addressed in the 2004 FEIR and predates the Energy Policy of 2005 which means the FEIR for PXP was in violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act in 2004 and still is. http://www.latimes.com/…/la-me-lawmakers-grill-oil-regulato… Deny it.

All the wells currently in production are doing so in violation of the law. What should really be happening here is a cease and desist order. An immediate moratorium on all illegal drilling operations at the AGOF.

The 2004 FEIR predates the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and violates all the laws on Clean Air, Clean Water, Safe Drinking Water Act, Resources Conservation and Recovery Act, The National Environmental Policy Act and the Community Right to Know Act that were exempted by the unlawful “Halliburton Loophole”. So NO the old FEIR is not adequate. Yes it should be denied.

http://www.desmogblog.com/…/not-hundreds-thousands-oil-indu…

http://www.latimes.com/…/la-me-lawmakers-grill-oil-regulato…

http://www.latimes.com/…/la-me-oil-report-health-20151009-s…

Oil Regulators Permitted Underground Injection Wells Before Assessing Water Pollution Threats

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/…/oil-waste-10-08-2015.h…

2) Earthquakes are a big deal and not addressed in the original EIR. Here are a couple of articles that could help educate the commissioners and Board members.

http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/fs-096-03/

https://www.newscientist.com/…/dn28200-how-earthquakes-can…/

The California Council on Science and Technology’s EIR mandated by SB4 reported that the technology needed to accurately track, monitor, measure, subsurface activity to include earthquakes and re injected toxic waste water is at least 3 years down the road. Anything submitted about underground activity at this point in time is only a guessamation and does not qualify as accurate valid scientific data.

DOGGR relies entirely on data and reports on well and field operations from the operators. Self-regulating is how DOGGR works. For DOGGR to rely on information from an industry that has a history of violations, inadequate data and reporting procedures in no way satisfies DOGGR’s criteria to “prevent pollution, protect the environment and ensure public safety.”

DOGGR is understaffed and underfunded solely at the discretion of Governor Brown and he has made sure they cannot adequately perform their duties and prevent pollution and protect the environment. He just appointed an oiloyalists as the new executive director of DOGGR.
3) EIR report requires findings on subsistence. PXP’s FEIR does not address that issue. However, San Luis Obispo has a history of subsidence. Article below of 1987 case of subsidence in SLO.

http://grist.org/…/what-will-happen-to-a-sinking-californi…/

4) New DOGGR rules regulating and upgrading cement casings specs and waste disposal of toxic walnut shells and filters also absent from the outdated and outmoded EIR. Cement casings fail on average of 50% within the first year. New specs need to be enforced.

And just in case anyone is wondering who invented fracking, it was Halliburton as a way of getting rid of nuclear waste. So let us be clear here that when we are talking about re injecting toxic waste, enhanced and unconventional well stimulation that uses high-pressure steam injection of toxic waste underground we are talking fracking. http://www.wakingtimes.com/…/fracking-used-to-inject-nucle…/

And, this way of hiding toxic waste and avoiding scrutiny has worked for them for over 50 years. Time we wise up. It wasn’t safe then, it isn’t safe now and it will never be safe no matter how many exemptions they get.

5) California emergency drought mandates 25% cutback on non-essential water use. NASA reports California has 5 months of stored water left, that includes groundwater. San Luis Obispo County is under D4 restrictions. It is the highest Federal rating. We are hurting.

Freeport McMoRan’s non-essential water use will increase by 300% or over 1.5 billion gallons a year which also means an increase in their toxic waste disposal production which is going directly into a protected aquifer that is totally vulnerable to earthquakes and subsistence and any disturbance of the sub surface terrain could send billions of gallons of toxic waste water to undisclosed, unpredictable locations in an instant. Order the fields shut down.

The right to first refusal is still in our hands. We can refuse to allow the fossil fuel industry to force their exemptions and will on us by refusing to let them harvest our resources and use our precious water.

We have a different set of values and what is important to us is not important to them. So, No we will not waive our rights to clean air and water so they can dominate and capture our natural resources purely for their own personal enrichment.

NO is the new yes. At least 16 other countries, 3 other states, 5 counties and 13 municipalities in California have just said NO to fracking and won their freedom from all the deadly entrapment’s that are the Hallmark of the fossil fuel industry. YES.

This is the first in a series of hearings before the planning commission makes their final recommendation to deny or approve the whole, sorted, stinky, ugly, smelly, putrefied expansion to the Board of Supervisors.

Email response today. Please do it today or you will forget.

Always,
Jean’ne.

 

Lawmakers grill state oil regulators on oversight failures

latimes.com|By Los Angeles Times

Newsletter #44 -If anyone is keeping score chalk this one up in the plus column

Re: County Board of Supervisor’s vote to partner up Santa Barbara and Ventura county to do a feasibility study on Community Choice Energy the vote was 3-2 in favor of the study.

Hill – Gibson – Mecham -Yes

Compton- Arnold – No

“Four years ago a handful of community minded leaders came together to educate our political leaders about Community Choice Energy. Today, the County Board passed a resolution to Explore this powerful tool. Thank you everyone that has offered a kind word or encouragement and came out to support this vision. It has helped sustain the hope that made today’s vote possible. We are creating a beautiful future for SLO County.” Scott Mann.

To SLO Clean Energy that has kept this issue alive and well for 4 long years thank you, thank you, thank you.  Power of loving, caring people rules!!!!!    Let them know.

 

And it seems there are 3 Board of Supervisors that fall into that category this time around and deserve a hearty thank you too. Credit where credit is due.  Let them know we really appreciate it when they do the right thing and we are keeping score. 🙂

 

Supervisor Frank Mecham (District 1)
fmecham@co.slo.ca.us

Supervisor Bruce Gibson (District 2)
bgibson@co.slo.ca.us

Supervisor Adam Hill (District 3)
ahill@co.slo.ca.us

Supervisor Lynn Compton (District 4)
lcompton@co.slo.ca.us

Supervisor Debbie Arnold (District 5)
darnold@co.slo.ca.us

 

Next up is the Planning Department’s hearing on Oct 22nd to extend an expired 10-year-old conditional use permit on 31 outdated, outmoded, oil wells at the Arroyo Grande Oil Fields.

 

Our letters and input made a difference and the planning department is taking another look at the issues we raised.  We are going to make it very easy for them to do the right thing.

It’s simple. This is all about keeping our water, air and living environment safe.   So, until and when the applicant, Freeport McMoRan, can produce all the proper and necessary certified documentation signed, sealed and delivered to the Planning Dept. with an official stamp from the agency in charge of issuing certification that officially recognizes the Freeport project meets all the health and safety standards set by the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, The Safe Drinking Water Act and the California Constitution Article 10 section 2, the project is denied.  It’s just that simple.

Official is a driver’s license, passport, birth certificate, death certificate, health certificate, liquor license, notice to appear, we all  know what official looks like.  Have seen nothing that looks even remotely official as to meeting safety and health standards.  It’s just that simple. Officially certified as safe.

Permission to extract limited scarce water from the local protected aquifer and dispose of the toxic, hazardous, known to cause cancer, by-product into the ground is denied.  It’s just that simple.

Did you know our Board of Supervisors, planning Dept  approved SLO County as an official toxic waste disposal site?   Me either.  I don’t think we are. So,  until  those documents  can be produce  permit to dump toxic waste  into our back yard is denied.   It’s just that simple.

And just for the record this community reserves the right to refuse to do business with any entity that refuses to meet all the State and Federal Health and Safety standards set by law in the Clean Air, Water and the Safe Drinking Water Acts and California State Constitution Article 10 section 2.  It’s just that simple.

Another local group of residents that are adjacent to and have been and are being directly impacted by the activities at the Freeport facility are organizing and speaking out. We are joining together and speaking as one. We all want safe.

And finally,

I had occasion to attend a Stop the Frack Attack workshop and rally in Denver Colorado over the week-end. We stopped off at the Halliburton headquarters to deliver a message.  The message is:  We are done with you Halliburton. You stink. We don’t want your smelly, stinky, ugly, dirty, noisy, sickening, toxic, dangerous oil drilling rigs in our back yard any more. We want something better. We deserve something better. We have something better. It’s clean and safe.  Hello Sun and  Wind.  Good-bye dead and putrefied.  It’s over Halliburton. You are a waste of space.  No more for you.

I can’t tell you how good that felt.

Will get talking points off to you all in the next couple of days.

upward on onward.

Always,

Jean’ne

Newsletter # 43 Breaking News -News for all Seasons and Shame on them News

​Breaking news

SHELL PULLS OUT OF THE ARCTIC.   Thank you Greenpeace and Kyaktivists!!!! This 12 hours after the super lunar event. Hummmm.  Good things are coming, coming, coming. This is a lesson in, never give up and it ain’t over until we say it’s over.
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/sep/28/shell-ceases-alaska-arctic-drilling-exploratory-well-oil-gas-disappoints​

And on the Home front.

 

We got oil trains barreling down our throat.  Fossil fuels courting our supervisors with the benefits of turning our backyard into a toxic waste dumping ground and Diablo making waves about expanding their operation into a desal plant.

This community is juggling a lot of issues and doing a super job of staying on top of things with the help and dedication of people and groups keeping focused on the prize.

One such group keeping a watch on the future with solutions right now is SLO Clean Energy and they have been working day and night behind the scenes to make it easy for us to do just one thing at a time that will make a difference.

This is one of those times.  Getting an alternative to fossil fuels with a Clean Energy alternative is going to take a lot of wind out of fossil fuel’s can’t-live-without-them rhetoric.

So lets do this and keep the ball rolling.

HERE’S THE PLAN.  CONTACT THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS TODAY. EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW IS BELOW.  DROP DEAD DATE OCT 6. THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS WILL YA OR NAY THE FUNDING. THE ISSUE IS ON THE AGENDA. TODAY IS A GOOD DAY TO GET THIS OFF OUR PLATES AND MAKE ROOM FOR THE NEXT THING. We can’t afford not to do this.

 

We need your help. San Luis Obispo County is missing a huge opportunity.

Please email your Supervisor now.

The deadline for SLO County to declare if we want to participate in a feasibility study with Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties passed on September 1. And there was no reply from our Board of Supervisors.

Fortunately, it’s not too late, and the County can still be a part of the cost-sharing feasibility study (if they act before October 15th).

Why? The first step to explore Community Choice Energy (also, Community Choice Aggregation) is to conduct a feasibility study. It’s possible to share the cost with neighboring counties and cities so that everyone benefits. The County of Santa Barbara voted to spend $400,000, and the City of Santa Barbara added $50,000, to conduct the study. The County of Ventura also voted to join them with $50,000.

The county and the cities within San Luis Obispo are invited participate in the technical study to find out if Community Choice Energy is feasible and will work for our residents and businesses. If SLO County joins this cost-sharing feasibility study, we can save money and start the exploration.

So, where is SLO County? As of today, there’s been no response to the invitation that Santa Barbara sent out in June. We alerted the Board of Supervisors at the July 14th meeting during public comment. The supervisors directed staff to look into this and come back to the Board.

As of today, we’ve haven’t heard anything and we passed the deadline to respond if we are interested. If SLO County wants to participate, it has to act quickly.

Please help us! Email your Supervisor right now:

Supervisor Frank Mecham (District 1)
fmecham@co.slo.ca.us

Supervisor Bruce Gibson (District 2)
bgibson@co.slo.ca.us

Supervisor Adam Hill (District 3)
ahill@co.slo.ca.us

Supervisor Lynn Compton (District 4)
lcompton@co.slo.ca.us

Supervisor Debbie Arnold (District 5)
darnold@co.slo.ca.us

Or, send a message to all the Supervisors:
http://www.slocounty.ca.gov/bos/BOSContactUs.htm

What should you write?

You can ask them to explore Community Choice Energy now. You can ask them why they’re waiting so long. You can ask them why they’re not interested in giving you a choice.

To paraphrase one of our supporters: The longer you wait to make a decision, the more money I’m paying on my electricity bill.

Is it worth it to you to have a choice?

You’re welcome to use the following…it can be this simple:

Quick Form Letter

Dear Supervisor:

Please explore Community Choice Energy. Please act now to join the cost-sharing feasibility study opportunity with the counties of Santa Barbara and Ventura.

[your name]
[your city or community]

 

Feel free to add more, such as any of the five benefits of a local clean energy program:

• Choice & Competition
• Long Term Electrical Rate Stability
• Local Control & Accountability
• Local Jobs and a Strong Economy
• Clean Energy & Local Self-Reliance

Our neighbors to the north — Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties — will be completing their joint technical feasibility study by the end of this year. As Santa Barbara and Ventura counties have committed to this feasibility study opportunity, San Luis Obipo is currently the only Central Coast county not taking any action to explore Community Choice Energy.

The longer we wait, the more we miss out on cost savings, greenhouse gas reduction, and reinvesting in our local economy. Sonoma Clean Power saved their residents and businesses $13.6 million after their first year of operation.

We need to have the ability to make a choice if we want to create a better future.

If you want to do more, please support us by making a generous tax-benefited donation. SLO Clean Energy is a fund of the San Luis Obispo Community Foundation.

Thank you for all your support!

SLO Clean Energy Leadership Team
leadershipteam@slocleanenergy.org

​And lastly, ​

 

​SHAME SHAME ON MIA ELECTED OFFICIALS.

Recent events have brought to the forefront the utter disdain and disrespect of some elected officials for the people of this community that were promised and led to believe that the oath of office to serve, honor and respect was a code of honor.  Local officials should have the courage to comment on Phillips 66 rail project. Phillips 66 is just one example.  Many other documented cases of an abuse of power too numerous to mention in this newsletter. The message sums up a festering discontent.

It seems prudent to remind the elected that nowhere in their job description, duties and responsibilities is there an opt out clause. Ignoring us is not an option.  Putting us on the back burner is not an option. Rather listening and responding to the constituency in a timely manner is the top priority.

And lest a sledge hammer reminder is necessary, Phillips 66 and Freeport McMoran are NOT constituents. They did not elect you, they did not cast one single vote on your behalf because they can’t. Only real people can register to vote and that is who elected you and that is who you proclaimed your loyalty.

Patience is wearing very thin with berating silence and confidence in your ability to do your job is at an all time low. Silence is consent. It is also a breach of your oath of office and promise to serve the people who elected you.  Some examples of what we are talking about.  https://sierraclub.org/santa-lucia/blog/2015/08/cracks-cone-silence

If the job is more than you bargained for and we can all appreciate the fact that it is not easy, then please have the common decency to step aside and let us get on with our lives. There is just too much at stake right now for indecisiveness and disloyalty.

Elected officials are key to the success, prosperity, safety, health and well being of the community. We are also a very well informed, active, hands on community and we expect nothing less of our elected officials.

On that note, let’s get this fresh new cycle of good things coming our way, on its way.

Always,

Jean’ne

Jeanne Blackwell

SLO Clean Water. org

jeannewater@gmail.com

 

p.s. please forgive the annoying yellow highlights. I don’t know how to get rid of them. They are a spell check thing.   thank you.

Newsletter #40 SORRY

I have been preaching for the last 3 years about keeping  it simple. About making it easy for everyone to do the right thing. Then I got an email last night from someone who asked a very simple question. Who is DOGGR and what is the meeting about.  WOW. Zing! Back to reality. Thank you Susan!!! And I mean that with all my heart.

That last  call to action was how simple got lost in the translation.  I got sucked up into the very quagmire I was so desperately trying to avoid for all these years and didn’t even realize it. So here is me trying to get back to keeping it simple for real.

Here is the simple version of what is going on with the DOGGR meeting on Monday.

First, what is DOGGR.

DOGGR. Department of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources. Division of the State Department of Conservation. oversees the drilling, operation, maintenance, and plugging and abandonment of oil, natural gas, and geothermal wells. The regulatory program emphasizes the wise development of oil, natural gas, and geothermal resources in the state through sound engineering practices that protect the environment, prevent pollution, and ensure public safety.  Conclusion.  They have admittedly failed miserably on all three counts.

What is the meeting about on Monday?

Simple.

Telling DOGGR why we love living in San Luis Obispo. We love the fresh air, the water, the vista, the views, open spaces,  the lifestyle, the castle, the zebras, the basking sea lions, the frolicking whales, bike and people friendly, small town ambiance with all the amenities and it is just far enough off the beaten track to keep it a destination spot where visitors come from around the world to  spend over a billion dollars a year to enjoy what we have 24/7.  A world renowned wine and agriculture business that brings in nearly another billion dollars a year.

Students come from all over the world to get a world class education and the bonus is the weather, the water, the vistas, the views, the people and is ranked 8th safest College campus in California and 54th in the nation out of over 1,127 colleges.

Safe is a very important factor and SLO county works at providing that sense of well being for all that live, work and visit here. It’s not perfect but its not Detroit either.

What we have didn’t happen by accident or luck evidenced by over 1,000 non-profits organizations  and community residents ready, willing and able to take our governing boards and powers that be to task when anything from pooping pigeons on the pier, to nuclear power plants threatens our little jewel in the rough. Not one environmental group or non-profit is in favor of giving Freeport an exemption to dump toxic waste in our backyard.

Why are we telling DOGGR all this?

Because DOGGR wants to change all this.  DOGGR wants us to waive our rights  to a clean, healthy, safe,  thriving, prosperous, living environment for ourselves and future generations to make room for a noisy, ugly, stinky, smelly, dirty, dangerous, hazardous, chemical laden, highly industrialized, overly zealous profit motivated oil drilling operation.

Is that simply enough?

DOGGR has to ask us if this is o.k. because our rights are clearly, concisely written into the the Law of the Land in the CLEAN AIR ACT, THE CLEAN WATER ACT, THE SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT, THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT, THE RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND RECOVERY ACT, (cradle to grave hazardous waste management program) and COMMUNITY RIGHT TO KNOW ACT.

The problem?  The oil industry wants a piece of our action without having to abide with any of the laws, rules and regulations that come with living here. They are seeking permission from DOGGR to violate our rights by making it legal to ignore them. Called an exemption.

​The meeting on Monday is about DOGGR giving Freeport McMoRan the right to turn this area into a waste land and telling us to just learn to live with it.

That’s as simple as I can make and as close to the truth as told by New York, Maryland, Vermont, at least 16 other countries, 13 municipalities and 5 counties in California that all agreed and said,  enhanced oil drilling is a stinky, smelly, hazardous, ugly, dirty, dangerous, environmentally worthless operation and NO. NO we will not waive our rights. NO we will not grant you any immunities or exemptions. Just NO.

Monday you are going to hear a lot of fancy double speak from an industry that prides itself on being expert at using logical fallacies and leave you feeling dumbfounded, bewildered and scared to death you are going to be responsible for turning our community into a third world nation and driving to a job that doesn’t exist in a car that doesn’t run.  Industry is going to argue it is safe but that doesn’t make it true.

The truth is there is mounds and reams of scientific evidence provided by renowned scientist, health organizations, labor unions, ordinary everyday people and a world community that have inoculated themselves with the truth that supports and backs up the fact that a clean, safe and healthy environment is safer and healthier than an environment with exemptions and immunities from clean, safe and healthy.   The truth is the safest place for oil is in the ground.  Oil is not providing us with one beneficial enhancement or improving on what we already have.

And one last simple fact is there is no way on gods green earth that you can safely inject billions of gallons of toxic waste water into an abyss of geological fault zones with cracks and crevices, fractures and lesions and expect it to stay put or track its whereabouts. Scientist have said it will be at least three years before there is any technology that will even come close to measuring and tracking what is going on sub surface. Once it is in the ground it is anybodies guess where it will end up.

Will going to the meeting and speaking our piece make a difference?  Yes it will.  Just how much of a difference remains to be seen.

Thank you and The End.

 

 

MAP

ALWAYS,

Newsletter #32 Where is all the water going that we are conserving?

Quick update on the Rally in Santa Barbara yesterday.  Activist “owned Santa Barbara today.” http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-santa-barbara-county-oil-spill-20150524-story.html

Next,Just heard this on Pandora (actually my son heard it and passed it on).

City of San Luis is putting on a Water Forum at the Ludwig Center Thursday May 28 5pm-8pm Discussion  Water: Fact or Fiction @ 6:30.  There wasn’t a speaker agenda so don’t really know who is talking about what. I will have a couple of questions though. Maybe you do too.Where is all the water going that we are conserving? 20% cutback in home usage could add up to millions of gallons. Will that buy us some time? NASA reported we only have 10 months of stored water left.  20% saved could buy us a couple of months of water. And how exactly are we going to collect on all this saved water?

I would hate to think that I am saving this water for a rainy day and it ends up going to someone who didn’t save a drop. I am thinking new construction and worst yet our precious saved water is going to a non essential, secondary, industrial production like oil drilling that is asking for a 3 fold increase in its water usage.  And that leads to the bigger question what about the county and all the water in the unincorporated areas? I’ll get to that in a moment.

The other question is about the fines for wasting water $500? Who collects those fines and where does the money go?  General Fund? Water fund? Utility company? Maybe these questions will be answered. I hope so. Here’s the link for more info.

http://www.slocity.org/Home/Components/Calendar/Event/857/1488

And remember Denton,Texas where Fracking first began and they just passed an ordinance to ban it?

Local ban nullified by state; fracking resumes in Denton

“As for the grass-roots fight in Denton against fracking, Frack Free Denton President Adam Briggle said that will continue.

We cannot say how this story will unfold, but we do know this dark chapter shall not be the last one written,” he said.”

Believe it or not this ruling is very helpful in the construct of our next move here in SLO county. But I am truly sorry to hear about Denton. We might send them some words of encouragement and support. We are all in this together so here’s a  Frack Free Denton link to let them know we care and are pulling for them.

Think our next move is a countywide moratorium on non essential water use for oil extraction. Non essential water use is defined as: water uses that are not essential nor required for the protection of public, health, safety, and welfare. Under this definition, irrigation of landscape areas, including parks, athletic fields, and golf courses, washing cars, washing down sidewalks, filling swimming pools, fountains are non essential use and restricted or moratoriums issued.

Some of these protocols have already been implemented in cities and counties across the State.  But there is one very blaring, critical omission on this list of non essential water use. Water used to extract oil.

Since there is no mention of water used to extract oil and in particular oil extraction that is exempt from the Clean Water and Safe Drinking Water Acts, we need to add that to the list of non essential water use and implement a moratorium on it.

Currently Freeport at the Arroyo Grande Oil Fields is extracting 384,600,000 gallons of fresh water that is used to extract a hazardous and toxic product, oil and the water used is then reclassified as a hazardous waste because it came in contact with benzene, radioactive isotopes, hydrogen sulfide, etc and poses a real threat to the safety, health and well being of all water. The threat is, this hazardous waste is re injected back into the ground where it can infect the essential ground water. And once the water is infected life gets very very difficult and not fun real fast.

The Board of Supervisors is the lead agency and has the final say on this issue of essential and non essential water use in the unincorporated areas of this county.  The final say –  a moratorium issued on non essential water use to extract oil within San Luis Obispo County.There is just so much water to go around, this is an emergency situation and it needs an emergency response.  A moratorium that plugs up a loophole and secures our water for essential use is an appropriate first response to an emergency.   And, it is not a ban on fracking or oil drilling. It is a moratorium on non essential water use. And, it is following the Gov.’s order to cutback and conserve water and to treat every drop like it was our last.

If you agree this is what needs to happen here sign the petition share it like crazy with friends, enemies, strangers and then wait to get the all-hands-on-deck call to the Board of Supervisors meeting to delivery it.Click here to add your name:

EMERGENCY MORATORIUM on non-essential stored water use for oil extraction

I will have the petition to sign at the premier showing of Split Estate  this Tuesday May 26, 7-9 pm at the Steynberg Gallery and also at the Community Water Forum on Thursday 5-8pm at the Ludwig center.

And last but not least Federal ruling calls future of Diablo Canyon reactors into questionFriends of the Earth: Decision is beginning of the end for troubled nuclear plant.

Hearing faints sounds from the fat lady in the wings tuning up.

Making memories on this Memorial Day 2015.

Best Always,

Newsletter #26 Hot Time in the OLE Town Tonite

Public Invited wholeheartedly!!!!

January 23 – Friday – Mothers for Peace hosting Diablo issue meeting of the minds and heart Library 6pm-9pm.

Sorry this got out a little late. But here’s a recap.  It was so alive with energy. Film of the 1986 sit-in at Diablo, Gov Brown promising to keep nuclear out, a wall of Poly professors against Diablo 3 or 4 of which were there last nite with what looked like the original poster. Wow.

My darn camera was not working. I hope someone posts the pics.

Activists from the original sit-in more alive, vibrant and beautiful today than they were 30 years ago. Real people, real music, real talk, smiles,  and the most beautiful sight, not a suit in the crowd.

A couple of  characters standing in the back of the room, arms crossed, scows on their face, perfectly groomed, crisp shirts, creased pants, looked like they just came from a weekend of pampered pleasures and looked strangely out of place. This was a crowd of veteran grassroot activists delighting in each others company and sharing a moment with everyone in the room.  The creased pants did not stick around.

Oh my. This just does a heart good. A community rising. We are going to bear witness to the righting of a wrong.  So proud to be part of this community.

January 28 – Wednesday- Sierra Club meeting of the minds  Steynberg Local Environmental Groups Planning for 2015 7pm. More good energy.

Oil train meeting  Library community room  Feb 4 –  7pm. Forest Ethics & Sierra Club hosting.

Feburary 7 Bus to Oakland – http://slocleanwateraction.org/2015/01/10/bussing-it-to-oakland-and-marching-for-real-climate-leadership/

The county planning dept where many of these issues seem to originate is very busy, prompting last minute changes, delays and rescheduling. Staff is very busy. Just keeping up with reports, data, meeting and scheduling, public comments and alerting the public of these meetings is a full time job.

We rely on local activists, volunteers and community groups staying on top of this very active and involved community. We trust and so appreciate their boundless energy and dedication. There are many issues facing our community that will impact each and everyone one of us for many years to come.

Diablo, Santa Margarita quarry, Nipomo Spur, housing issues, coastal issues, inland issues, Community Choice Aggragate, open space, closed space, door knobs, sorry that was something from Fawlty Towers, and of course my favorite, banning extreme unconventional, enhanced oil drilling that will compound beyond our worst nightmare  the ever pressing issue of water and lack thereof.

We all do what we can when we can because we care.  Every effort makes a difference. It all counts. If you are not into Board of Supervisor or city council meetings, planning dept, water resource boards, or other fun things but want to do something that will make a difference, I have just the job for you.

Coming up on Feb 7 we are filling a bus and heading to Oakland. http://slocleanwateraction.org/2015/01/10/bussing-it-to-oakland-and-marching-for-real-climate-leadership/ This bus will represent San Luis Obispo County. If you would like to be one of the representatives for SLO county, population 276,443 and could spare one Saturday letting Governor Brown know we are alive and well and are looking forward to his proudest moment as leader and Governor of California by announcing he will sign an executive order to prohibit, ban, bar, any Clean Air, Clean Water, Safe Drinking Water, Superfund, Community-Right-to-Know, National Environmental Policy, Resource Conservation and Recovery, exempted oil drilling operation from setting up shop in California, then hop on this bus.

Our State and all its resources are too valuable and precious to turn over to an industry that has no sense of beauty or appreciation for the finer things in life.  Jump on board. http://slocleanwateraction.org/2015/01/10/bussing-it-to-oakland-and-marching-for-real-climate-leadership/   Sign up. The  agenda is there too.

There will be a meet and greet with other communities and activists throughout California sharing their ideas, campaigns, successes and strategies. A real melding pot.

We will return home and within a week, lord willing, we will all get together and collect our thoughts and launch the campaign for a countywide initiative that will be on the ballot this year. No ifs, ands or buts. This is it. This year is all about what we can do.

There are 30 seats left.   By the end of the week I will need to send in the final payment for the bus.  So, if you have never done anything like this before, want to do something but don’t know what or how you can help keep our home sweet home, safe and sound, this is your chance. There is a first time for everything.  We are not opposed to the idea that money talks. So if you are not able to come you can donate a seat or seats and that  works too. Thanks.
Local actions in Cambria, Arroyo Grande, Paso, San Luis and all points in between seem ultimately to come down to the politics of governing. And governing is all about a safe, healthy, inherently prosperous living environment.

We are entering a very very unique time in our history and it is very very exciting.

The future is grounded in Ecological economics.  A growing transdisciplinary field that aims to improve and expand economic theory to integrate the earth’s natural systems, human values and human health and well-being. We are operating in an ecological deficient, wasting limited resources at an unsustainable rate.  Natural resources, air, water, land is the foundation on which wealth is built. Contaminated water, suffocating air, dead and unproductive land equates to economic collapse. We are making sure that does not happen on our watch.

Bulgarian leadership, dead set against a ban 3 years ago, just signed onto a fracking ban. Public pressure did it. It  works.

Mora County, New Mexico, first county in the country to do a countrywide ban is getting sued by the oil companies. No surprise. And it is a good thing. This will go to the State Supreme Court, like Colorado’s ban and the people’s right to a clean and healthy environment will prevail and set precedent and then we win for future generations.

New York already did it. The tide has turned.  And if we are really lucky it will go to the U.S. Supreme court and all this nonsense about corporations are people will come to head the same time as the amendment to overturn Citizen’s United comes to a vote in Congress. Then we have a legacy we can be proud to past onto our kids.

None of this is an accident. We are making it happen. It will take every single one of us doing something, somehow and that’s how we win. Did I mention there is a bus going to Oakland on Feb. 7th?  Sign up here.   http://slocleanwateraction.org/2015/01/10/bussing-it-to-oakland-and-marching-for-real-climate-leadership/

$30 will get you a piece of history with your name on it.

 

​Alright folks that’s it for now. Let’s do this.