We have 2 Ohio Train Wrecks waiting to happen in San Luis Obispo, CA

We are sitting amid 2 disasters waiting to happen. The Arroyo Grande Oil Fields and Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. They are an Ohio train wreck in the making.

Elected officials doing their job keeping us safe is the single most obvious guarantee and way of preventing disasters. Safe means protected from or not exposed to danger or risk; not likely to be harmed. Clean air, water and soil is the recipe for a safe, happy, healthy living environment.

You can’t un-poison a well or bring someone back to life. No water for livestock, crops, drinking, no clean air to breathe no land to grow food, walk or play on is a death sentence. One toxic train wreck can compromise an entire community’s well being poisoning the water, air and soil. A death sentence.

Back in the day poisoning a water source was treated as a murderous act and a hanging offense. Water is life. No ifs, ands or buts. Anyone trying to ensure their own success by poisoning the water source was guaranteed to pay the ultimate price, which was supposed to be a deterrent, the death penalty. That was the Code of the West. Everyone knew the Code and the consequences for breaking the Code.

That didn’t prevent it entirely, but it did give the victims of an irreversible and irreparable act of violence some satisfaction and solace to know the murderers were going to pay for their crime and never be able to do harm again. The code has changed and so has the unprecedented rise in deadly acts of terrorism and violence. Today’s corporate entities like PG&E can be convicted of killing 84 people in a wildfire they caused, and the company will be fined millions of dollars, but no one will go to jail.

Today’s murderers are not only protected from consequences for poisoning air, water and soil, they are given priority favorite ‘nation’ status, guaranteeing they will survive and thrive unencumbered and in perpetuity at the expense of nature’s divine, innate, inherent right to be free from the ‘rights’ of mass murderers to indiscriminately kill at will. We are one with nature. What happens to nature happens to us.

The Ohio train wreck is just one of countless intentional money saving policies condoned by elected officials that prioritize profit over public safety. A fatal flaw in this “new’ code of conduct, is that when people’s lives and our quintessential lifelines, air, water, soil, are disrupted and destroyed it is of no consequence.

Industry is immune from criminal charges that would impose a life sentence of incarceration on a convicted felon to prevent a repeat of the crimes. But because industry is a fictitious person that cannot be apprehended or confined the only cure for acts of death and destruction inflicted by a for-profit business is, monetary. Criminal.

How much is a life worth? It is priceless. And our politicians know this and that should trigger abundant caution and microscopic surveillance of industrial operations to ensure the prevention of catastrophic accidents. This train wreck was totally preventable. Public safety and health Codes were indisputably abandoned by local, State and Federal officials to simply accommodate industries’ profit margin. Plain and simple. Criminal.

Who oversees enforcement of Health and Safety codes? The industry that is subject to it. It’s called self-regulation and it is a full-on certifiable disaster. As it now stands our elected officials opted to put the industry in charge of themselves. That was never a lawful option. Empowering self-regulation to known convicted criminals with a history of ‘accidents’, errors and intentional wrongdoing resulting in death is a criminal act of aiding and abetting. This Ohio train wreck is just the tip of the iceberg on how efficient and effective self-regulated policy works. It doesn’t. In every case where safety rules and regulations have been ignored, irreversible and irreparable harm has resulted.

Truth be told, regulated industry cannot be held responsible for doing what their supervisors (our elected officials) give them permission to do. It’s called a loophole and loopholes are flaws that need to be fixed before they are enforced. No motive or incentive to fix this crime. The ones benefiting are the ones in charge of fixing it.

Our elected officials are the key component that has enabled this travesty to become the debtonator of our existence. Out of total disregard for our well-being and in the interest of preserving and encouraging profits for their vested interest, safety issues for the common good are conveniently ignored out of existence. Vested interests are perpetrated under the color of office and implemented by abuse of power shrouded in a betrayal of a sacred trust. A betrayal of trust is the worst offense an elected official can commit and warrants the maximum punishment. Life in prison.

Filing criminal charges against elected officials for felony trespass on our right to unencumbered representation and felony manslaughter for willful and intentional neglect of their duties and responsibilities that resulted in death and irreversible harm, is our job and priority as law abiding citizens. There is no excuse for this wanton miscarriage of justice by our lawmakers. They know what they are doing. It is their job to know. And it is criminal behavior at its best.

I think a few court cases convicting elected officials on these grounds will soon clear up and cure the crime and corruption that has infiltrated our core values and principles. When there are obvious, imminent and swift consequences for wrongdoing guaranteeing they will pay for their crimes, things will change real fast.

We can change the world by changing how we do business with our elected officials in our own back yard.

The Arroyo Grande Oil Field is operating without local, State and Federal health and safety code permits in violation of the Underground Injection Control Class I permit to safely dump toxic forever chemicals into our backyard. Sentinel Peak Resources, LLC is dumping toxic, known to cause cancer chemicals, at will into our local underground aquifers, creeks and subterranean soil. We have no idea of what is being dumped or where because our elected officials, SLO County Board of Supervisors, have intentionally allowed the disposal of toxic waste into our underground aquifers without so much as a mother may I for the past 20 years.

A UIC permit is certification by a 3rd party that an operation is in compliance with the very strict and uncompromising standards of the safety and health code.

This certificate is our ONE and ONLY official trustworthy guarantee of our safety and well-being. Without it we are at the mercy of a corrupt, bought and paid for criminal syndicate. Is this an Ohio train Wreck mentality? Oh Yes.

What is the harm in requiring the operators to provide the mandatory UIC Class I waste disposal Permit? The harm is if Sentinel failed to pass the UIC test it would expose and prove beyond a reasonable doubt an organized, criminal partnership between the lead agency officials, BoS, and Sentinel with the intent to trick and deceive the public about the true condition of the toxic waste. That deceit puts every man, woman and child’s life in SLO county and beyond in danger.

And Diablo Canyon is the same issue, and the results will be the same. Give them an inch and they will take a foot. It is simple. The Deal was by 2024/2025 shut down – no ifs, ands or buts. PG&E has known since 2009 that this day was coming. No excuses. They cannot be trusted. They are convicted criminals. PG&E pleaded guilty to the deaths of 84 people in a wildfire they caused.

There is a good faith condition in every contract. PG&E has proven they cannot be trusted and has violated the good faith doctrine by asking for an extension because they had no intention of honoring the contract.

We are living on borrowed time as it is. Diablo sits within striking distance of the most active earthquake fault in the world. And all the experts have said shut it down as fast as you can without delay because there is no recovery protocol that will restore the environment back to a safe, harmless and livable site in our lifetime. Criminal.

The total and absolute careless, reckless disregard for our safety and well-being by entertaining an extension proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that elected officials duty bound to use abundant caution and care for our safety, consider and regard all human life as collateral damage in the ultimate pursuit and quest for profit for a chosen few at the expense of an entire community. Criminal.

Money cannot fix this. In every case money has not stopped the train wrecks and oil spills, air pollution, fires, that threaten all life on earth. It is time that we do something different to have a different result that will ensure it never happens again.

We have the legal, lawful right to make a criminal case against captured politicians that love themselves and their power and influence more than the community that elected them.

It’s about holding our elected officials first and foremost accountable for their actions and setting an example of the consequences for breach of trust and abuse of power. A Code of ethics that transcends man-made laws. Holding our elected officials accountable is our sworn sacred duty as human beings and now is the time. It is a Do or Die call to action.

Saving grace here in San Luis Obispo County is we have a changing of the guard with a newly elected Board of Supervisors. In the coming weeks I will be contacting the Board and requesting on behalf of all the citizens and residents of San Luis Obispo County that the Board immediately rescind the illegal and unlawful conditional use permit until and when the conditions precedent to approving the CUP are met. Until and when the UIC class 1 permit is signed, sealed and delivered to the Board the Board is criminally liable for allowing the illegal disposal of uncertified toxic chemicals into the unincorporated areas of San Luis Obispo County. Criminal.

If anyone would like to join me I will be glad to make the complaint available for you to sign and provide the contact info for your supervisor.

Together, as one, we will change how we do business with our elected officials and that changes everything for the better.

We have been couped

globalfrackdownallies] Chile: “announced a proposed new constitution written by a democratically elected convention, and it is likely the most legitimate constitution in the world, as it is written boldly in the context of the climate crisis. …. A stunning achievement.”

We are not the leader anymore. We have been coup-ed. Corporate owns America lock, stock and barrel and all the branches of our government, executive, legislative and judicial. It was a brilliant, clever, ingenious, insidious, devious coup. There were plenty of warnings of the impending coup that we systematically ignored and dismissed. Par for the course.

Since we allowed our precious freedom and rights to be abducted by a heartless, amoral, entity e.g. Exxon et al, Monsanto, Big Ag, Big Pharma, Industrial Complex, Gun lobby, Big media, Big god it now has everything it needs and wants to rule with absolute power and control. It is both fictitious which means you can’t file criminal charges against it for poisoning Mother Earth and killing every living thing in its wake because it is not a physical being even though it can live forever, in perpetuity.

And it is a real person with Constitutional rights to earn more money than god, money talks, for raping and pillaging our water, oceans, air, soil, trees, mountains, raw earth minerals because that would infringe  on its right to earn a living. Legalize murder.  It is both dead and alive and immortal all at the same time. Supercon-atural  What a feat. What a coup. So we are now the United States of America, INC.

Chile, Iceland, Costa Rica, New Zealand, India, even China is kicking our butts.   Corporate Oil, Pharma, Ag, military industrial complex, Gun lobby, Media don’t have an honest bone in its body, oh right, it doesn’t have a body so honesty is not an issue. We could be world leaders in making this a safer, healthier, cleaner world if we just teamed up with the right partner. Nature is the answer to all our problems and INC can’t kill Her fast enough.

Our leaders are making all the wrong choices for all the wrong reasons and that is going to get us deader, faster.  We, USA,INC., are using and promoting killer chemicals and industries that at least 10 other countries have officially banned because of their known, proven deadly toxicity to all living things. WE, USA,INC., are expert at killing things and have not figured out a single way to bring something back to life.  Hoisted by our own petard and the coup d’etat of the great transfer of power. Ironic isn’t it? ‘ A democratically elected convention’ formed by real people in Chile, is going to lead the way by teaming up with the most powerful force on earth that has nothing but unconditional love for Peace and Harmony as Her top Priority.  Nature will have the last say. [globalfrackdownallies] Chile: “announced a proposed new constitution written by a democratically elected convention, and it is likely the most legitimate constitution in the world, as it is written boldly in the context of the climate crisis. …. A stunning achievement.”

This week, Chile announced a proposed new constitution written by a
democratically elected convention, and it is likely the most legitimate
constitution in the world, as it is written boldly in the context of the
climate crisis. A [thread] on its inspiring climate provisions.

Please note, this thread is among the most complete translations of the
climate provisions into English yet, so* please share widely so people
know how serious this really is.*

Right wing forces are trying to undermine and delegitimize an admirable,
equitable democratic process, implying their preference for a dictator's
decree over the will of Chilean people. On Sep 4th, Chile will vote on this
Constitutional proposal, with fierce right wing opposition.

Intl solidarity is urgently needed to fend off these attacks on Chile’s
popular sovereignty.

Early sections of the constitution inscribe environmental protection,
environmental education, and the right to clean air and a healthy
environment as basic human rights. Nature is given an inherent right to
exist and other rights cannot impede that. ...

Chapter 3 covers nature and environment. It’s tremendous. It outlines
state responsibility to protect nature’s rights and guiding principles inc.
environmental justice and international solidarity. The state is mandated
to work to prevent, mitigate, & adapt to the climate crisis!

Ch. 3 has four sections. The first covers broadly defined natural commons,
which are guaranteed for present and future generations and include water,
air, the atmosphere, and underground. Ecosystem integrity is protected,
including watersheds, glaciers, permafrost, oceans, etc.

The second covers water. Chile is the only country on earth with a fully
privatized water market and it has Latin America's highest water prices.
The constitution would make water a human right equitably distributed by a
Nat'l Water Agency and a participatory governance system.

Sec. 3 establishes “absolute and exclusive domain” over all minerals &
fossil fuels. Any mining is made to consider their finite non-renewable
nature and enviro/social concerns. Glaciers, parklands, & big water bodies
are excluded from mining. Companies are made liable for harms.

The last section of Chapter 3 is especially creative. It establishes and
outlines an autonomous body to protect the legal rights of nature, building
on an Indigenous-led tradition that has been tested at smaller scales in
the US, Ecuador, and India.

The proposed Chilean constitution enshrines Indigenous sovereignty
(Article 5), official Indigenous languages (12), self-determination (34),
and representation (162). These are central pillars of its environmental
legitimacy. ...

In other sections, financial activities are made to consider the
environment. The Central Bank, state financial activities, and any creation
or change of territories to consider environmental protection as a core
part of the process. ...

The Chilean people have risen up and rejected a constitution written by
fascist generals and US ideologues. They've proposed an alternative (linked
in Spanish) that could well be the most reasonable constitution in the
world. A stunning achievement.

Hugs and Kisses update.

Jean’ne’s Hugs and Kisses Campaign

We are at $2,220 and 22 days to go.  This is so freaking exciting.  If all the parties of interest, everyone that uses water, could share this I think that would put us in the pink and make us court worthy. To all those who have donated you are doing us so proud. Thank you!!!!

Meeting with attorneys. Getting a legal team together.  It is happening. Did a tweet to a couple of celebs to get their support Mark Ruffalo, Ellen, DiCapro, Josh Fox and Robert Redford.  Also contacted Erin Brockovich.   Tweeting is a lot easier than trying to find their physical contact info that’s for sure. If you want to play this twitterpated game,  oh yea,  Tweet the link Jean’ne’s Hugs and Kisses campaign https://www.facebook.com/donate/254879975276877/1474794539292612/  and invite them to join in. (can you hash tag that?).  I think everyone on that list knows and loves SLO too so letting them know about our fundraiser to keep SLO safe and getting elected officials to do their job might be appreciated.  Maybe someone will even do a matching funds. xoxo to all ❤❤❤

 

If FB is not your thing you can send a donation to our beloved fiscal sponsor Ecologistics @
633 Ramona Ave., Space 103, Los Osos, CA 93402.  Make sure and mention it is for Hugs and Kisses or just put some xoxo on your donation.

 

So Pruitt’s out and Wheeler’s In.  A coal lobbyist heading up the EPA.  wow. We aren’t even pretending anymore that this whole appointee thing can be the ultimate abuse of power and corrupt to the core.

  • Can you imagine the conniption fits that would be going on if real environmentalist like Annie Leonard from Greenpeace or Michael Brune from Sierra Club or Environmental Attorney Don Hornstein or Bill McKibben got nominated?  The thought is just too delicious. Needed something to get my head out of the omg doldrums.  And since we thought of it it is possible!It really feels so very very good to be sharing this moment with everyone. It feels good because you just know in your heart it is the right thing to do and it is going to make a difference.  It has been a heck of a journey.  We are going to take this to a point where elected officials can not summarily and routinely dismiss and ignore our basic fundamental concerns without some consequences.  That’s the hope so hold that thought. Magic is in the air. xoxo

  

Jean’ne’s Hugs and Kisses Campaign

 

NEWSLETTER ADDENDUM – SHOW TIME

Devil is in the Details – Monday March 13 Oil Train HEARING
information from

Charles (Surfrider), Ethan (Stand), Mary  (ECOSLO), Valerie (Ctr Bio Diversity), Andrew (Sierra Club)

Ph 805.459.6698

A week from yesterday, March 13,  Monday The SLO County Supervisors will begin hearings on the Phillips 66 crude oil train terminal project.  Also, at high noon in the County Plaza across from the hearings (1000 block of Monterrey St) we will have a huge “SLO Clean Energy Crossroads Rally” to not only encourage denial of the Phillips 66 project but to also assert our support for clean energy alternatives to dirty fossil and nuclear fuels.  We have cancelled our plans to have a permitted march due to logistical and cost requirements imposed by SLO City (freedom of assembly is not free in SLO).  The Rally will be permitted.

 
We want more speakers at the hearing  You will also have the option of choosing a one minute, two minute, or three minute speaking length–with one minute speakers going first, two minute speakers going second, and three minute speakers going last.  You can track the progress of speaker numbers on line at the Board of Supervisors webpage if you so desire.  It only takes a minute to state your name, where you live and tell your Supervisor you want them to deny the project because (fill in here your top concern).  We especially need people living in Lynn Compton’s or Debbie Arnold’s Districts to give them this message.  
 
The 12 noon rally will feature keynote speakers SLO Mayor Heidi Harmon and our Congressman Salud Carbajal, along with local activists working with issues of offshore oil and gas development, community based clean energy, expanded oil drilling and contaminated groundwater, and the Phillips 66 project.  And most important, this is a time to stand in solidarity for our support of the transition to a new clean energy economy and a healing of the atmosphere, starting right here, right now. 
 
We need volunteers to help with set-up/takedown of the rally, staffing information tables, providing traffic control if needed, and to participate in the San Jose oil train street theater (no experience necessary), clean up during and after rally, etc.
 
 
 
Below are outreach and posting resources you can use to disseminate word of March 13 to your contacts.  PLEASE HELP US
Charles (Surfrider), Ethan (Stand), Mary  (ECOSLO), Valerie (Ctr Bio Diversity), Andrew (Sierra Club)
Lot on our plates. Thank you to all who took the time to To help Hua, please visit our fundraiser here.and to sign and share the Petition. We are making a difference.

Signers are from one end of the State to the other.  Keep it up. Our voice gets louder and louder with every signature.
Tomorrow
 
WEDNESDAY Global DAY WITHOUT A WOMAN MARCH
10-2 Start @ Meadow Park
March downtown to Mission

International Women’s Day (IWD), originally called International Working Women’s Day, is celebrated on March 8 every year.[2] It commemorates the struggle for women’s rights.

The earliest Women’s Day observance was held on February 28, 1909, in New York and organized by the Socialist Party of America.[3] A Women’s Day demonstration on March 8, 1917 in Petrograd sparked the Russian Revolution.[4]


Whoaa.
So, if you can’t make the march make your absence felt by not spending any money (except perhaps @ local woman owned business)   And if you must work wear RED in solidarity with women everywhere.

jeannewater@gmail.com

It only seems impossible until its done. Nelson Mandela.
“Respect is love in action.”
— Bangambiki Habyarimana
 
 

SLOCW newsletter #62 -What the World Needs Now is Love Sweet Love

7

 

Happy Valentines All you Lovers

Been kind of holding off waiting for all the dust to settle before updating on where everything stands.  Well, forget that. It looks like this dust storm is here to stay for awhile and the new normal is learning how to brace ourselves for constant incoming gusts and blasts of bits and pieces of everything that isn’t nailed down and some of that too.
I think it is fair to say we have all been experiencing some degree of shell shock from all the incoming events over the last several months. And also fair to say that there is every indication we are alive and well and better than ever, Women’s march, BOS meeting standing room only Chumash Marine sanctuary.   We are in a new thriving on surviving mode.

That said here’s what we know

Our Board of Supervisors on Jan 10 decided to side on the side of partisan politics and elected a freshman new comer, Mr. Peschong District 1 to the office of Chair to the Board of Supervisors.   If there was any doubt about how this Board intended to conduct the business of the county this vote made it crystal clear. It will be strictly along party lines. The first official act by the Board seemed more akin to a hostile take over than a meeting of the hearts and minds of the community at large. There are a lot of ways to look at this. For me it just looks like Peschong, Compton and Arnold are being held hostage more so than Hill and Gibson and have a little Stockholm Syndrome thing going on.
Our basic fundamental Constitutional right to a safe, clean environment free from the fear and constant threats of accidents, spills, explosions, contamination and unmitigable risks to our air, water and soil might be in conflict with some Board members whose sense of party loyalty out weighs their sense of loyalty to a democratic republic.
A trumped up Board of Supervisors will grease the wheels for Phillips 66, court the oil baron’s new mistress, Sentinel and part the waves for offshore drilling.   Their menu will turn this community into a pate de fois gras for their captors with us as the goose being forced fed things that are going to kill us.

We are not going to let that happen.

First what about the Oil trains issue ?

This from Eric Greening:

“A few days ago, I reported that a consent item on next Tuesday’s Supervisors calendar schedules the Phillips 66 appeal hearing for the entire week (if needed) of March 13th to 17thNow there is correspondence from Jocelyn Thompson of Alston and Bird, representing the applicants, requesting a delay from this plan.  Their first choice is that the hearing not be scheduled until the Phillips 66 litigation seeking a remand to the Planning Commission is ruled on.  Failing that, they ask that the appeal hearing be no sooner than mid-April. 

This request raises an interesting test for the newest supervisor.  When campaigning, John Peschong freely disclosed his considerable conflict of interest with Phillips 66 and promised to recuse himself from the appeal hearing.  It would seem that, in keeping with that promise, he should also recuse from acting on the consent item that deals with the applicant’s request relative to the setting of that hearing.  I (Eric Greening) intend to raise that issue during public comment on the Consent Agenda, and we’ll see how he responds.  If he does recuse, there is, of course, the possibility of a 2-2 split on the Board on the scheduling of this hearing.  If he doesn’t, there is a question of the legitimacy of the vote, especially if it is a split vote with Peschong’s vote decisive.  So it is setting up to be a very interesting morning!!! “

Eric

Phillips 66 lawsuit

I think we have a right to know if Peschong is going to recuse himself and if it is a 2-2 vote who cast the deciding vote?  What is the protocol? If there isn’t one we need to come up with a solution before it becomes an issue. If there is one we need to know what it is.
We need to know now. Questions can be asked in any public comment session and ask the Chair to respond in kind. Just ask.  Are you going to recuse yourself on the Phillips 66 appeal?  Keep asking till you get an answer. One person can ask the same question for 3 minutes. Or ask the question and wait 3 minutes for an answer. 10 or 100 people can ask it.  We are entitled to an answer.

Or email Mr. Preschong and your district rep and ask them what the protocol is for breaking a tie if the chair has recused himself.  And what if he doesn’t recuse himself . What then? Request your email be entered into the public record and then ask them in public comment how many emails the Board received on the issue.

Call the Board and leave a comment or a question at 805-781-5450 or 1-800-834-4636 weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Listed below are the email addresses for the Supervisors. Mailing address is 1055 Monterey St. Room D430, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401. Do something today. Call, email, public comment. Something.

http://www.slocounty.ca.gov/bos/BOSContactUs.htm

Bird dog them until they answer.  Notify

and keep the press abreast of what is in the works so they can follow it and report it. They love numbers. 600 people have emailed, phoned and asked the BOS about Peschong and the Phillips 66 issue.  You get the idea.  We need an accounting of every contact, phone, email, public comment made for the record to show we are trying to get an answer to very important questions and what the results are. Make posters Peschong Recuse yourself and rally during the BOS meeting.
 No response speaks volumes. Everything we say and do must become part of the public record. We are making a case for ourselves. Everything they say and don’t do can and will be held against them in a court of law.  Being a citizen is not a spectator sport. We are players and game on.

SAVE THE DATE
P66 HEARINGS to begin on MARCH 13th

SLO County has announced that the Board of Supervisors will begin their public hearings of the Phillips 66 appeal of the Planning Commission’s recommended denial of the crude oil train terminal project March 13 at 9:00 AM –and continue for the next four days if needed. We will be there.

Go to Mesa Refinery Watch Group  for more info

What’s up with the Arroyo Grande Aquifer exemption?

DOGGR has defaulted on another deadline. Feb. 15, 2017 was the deadline for bringing all the 105,000 (total wells currently in operation) wells in California into compliance with the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act .

The state of California was relegated primary responsibility for implementing the Class II oil and gas underground injection control CFR sec 144 (UIC) program of the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) in 1983. That program has never been implemented.  As a part of its oversight role, EPA audited the California Department of Conservation, Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources’ (DOGGR) Class II UIC primacy program 28 years later in 2011 and identified substantial implementation deficiencies.

Translation. No UIC program in place and supervision, monitoring, reporting, data on injection wells and site operations was self regulated by operators.  Translation: Illegal, unlawful injection of toxic waste into the subterranean soil, toxic releases into the air has been going on for 33 years.

The condition precedent to getting a 2 year extension which in realty is really a 33 year extension on the reviewing and exemption and implementation process the state agreed to complete that review and file for the necessary exemptions with the EPA by the drop dead date of February 15, 2017 or the wells would be shut down. Well, the State has already said they are defaulting. Time to take a stand. The wells must be shut down now. What is the purpose of a deadline if it is never enforced?

And just to make an already intolerable situation unbearable Trumpland Uber Alles is in the process of dismantling the EPA.

This is crazy talk. We need the EPA and anyone that doesn’t understand that or maybe he does and that is why he is dismantling it. Yup crazy. We do not have to live with crazy.

So what to do when everything is up in the air?  33 years is a ridiculously long time to wait for implementation of health and safety standards imperative to our health and well being.

And now that there is no EPA to implement exemptions I think it is safe to say there are no exemptions to implement. But all that is going to be in the next newsletter. Along with a petition to the State Attorney General, Chief Law Enforcment Officer, calling for a shut down of the wells that have escaped certification and licensing by DOGGR and the EPA for 33 years because we can’t live with all the uncertainty and risks to our safety and health.

The Attorney General has independent authority, acting directly in the name of the People, “to take action to protect the natural resources of the State of California from pollution, impairment, or destruction.”

We are asking the Attorney General to enforce the Feb. 15 deadline and shut down all the wells and well sites as promised.

We will circulate a petition for 2 weeks, get a million signatures and then hand deliver them to our new Attorney General. Road trip.

We need some fire power and think the AG is just the person to deliver it.

And we can get a tailgate party going at the same time. Call the Attorney General. (213) 897-2000

Call and say we want the wells shut down as promised. Tell him we live in an area where an unlicensed operator is injecting

1.5million gallons a day of toxic wastewater into the unincorporated areas that share their water with vineyards and family residences.  How can we feel safe or be safe when there are no safety standards in place?

Really need the operators to stop doing what they are doing until they get certified and licensed.  Tell him how you feel.  If you are really scared that our water could be compromised with this illegal, unlawful activity going on in our backyard, tell him.

This illegal operations @ the Prince Canyon Arroyo Grande Oil Fields has been going on for over 10 years and they are asking to increase their activity by 300% and continue to operate without any certification or licensing.  Never designated a toxic waste disposal site.  Tell him we were counting on the EPA and DOGGR to keep their word and shut down wells and sties they cannot certify as safe.

We know DOGGR and the EPA have been sabotaged by political forces making their job all but impossible.   But we really cannot bear the burden of the uncertainty of the safety of the water we drink the air we breathe or the food we eat . So please on our behalf shut the wells down. Thank you.

Here is a good wrap up

California Regulators Allow Oil Companies to Continue Injecting Wastewater Into More Than 1,600 Wells in Protected Aquifers.

Whose a Trump-et on the BOS?

Do just ONE thing every day. Something. Anything. A call. An email. A rally. A march. Share the plan to call, email, rally, march with just one person every day.

And now the best for last

SNEAK PREVIEW OF “WHERE THERE ONCE WAS WATER”  link to purchase tickets.

WHERE THERE ONCE WAS WATER: A California Story
California Water: where are we, where are we headed, and how can we craft an equitable water future for all life? Join the conversation with local photographer and filmmaker Brittany App, when she shares a 15-minute sneak-preview of this feature-length film, currently in production. SLO Film Festival entry.

Wednesday, March 15 – 7:00pm
Octagon Barn, 4400 Octagon Way (off S. Higuera) SLO
$25 general / $15 Students & Film Society

Yea Brittany.

LOVE YOU ALL THIS MUCH XOXO

me-morro-rock

Jean’ne

jeannewater@gmail.com

SLO Clean Water.org
SLO Clean Water on FaceBook

It only seems impossible until its done. Nelson Mandela.

“Respect is love in action.”

— Bangambiki Habyarimana

Newsletter #49- Planning meeting results – Next steps

Nov. 12 planning hearing on the issue of granting a permit to drill 31 new wells at the Arroyo Grande Oil Field on expired regulations and codes was approved unanimously by the planning commission under rather unusual and irregular circumstances.

Unusual because the public comment on that agenda item was opened and closed an hour and half into a 5 hour presentation rather than at the end. Very strange call by the Chair, Mr. Topping.   Here is video of the meeting. http://slocounty.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=5&clip_id=2186

And then the 5 factors needed to prove the “impermeability of an aquifer” housing billions of gallons of toxic waste was devoid of the one factor that could prove its permeability. The earthquake factor. Strange.

But, never mind. These are 5 people who are volunteering their time and have limited resources expertise and authority and who did the best they could with what they had to work with.  We thank them for their time and we are going to take it from here.  Here is the video of the meeting.

http://slocounty.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=5&clip_id=2186

An appeal to their decision was filed by the Center for Biological Diversity on Monday.  This is normal administrative procedure however not our only option.

The planning commission, water board, Board of Supervisors, DOGGR, EPA, Gov. Brown have all had ample time and opportunity to do the right thing to insure our safety, health and well being and have refused to do so.

So in the coming weeks after the Thanksgiving holiday it’s a whole new ball game.

​We are going to do it right.​

Did you see what Portland did about the oil trains? http://www.resilience.org/stories/2015-11-18/portland-passes-groundbreaking-fossil-fuel-resolution-t   

All it takes is a community that knows what they want and makes it happen. It’s simple.

​And after years of dealing with Freeport’s shenanigans in LA local residents have had enough. Environmental advocates sue L.A., accusing it of ‘rubber stamping’ oil drilling plans http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-lawsuit-oil-drilling-20151106-story.html 

Freeport has a history and a reputation for getting what they want.

We are prepared willing and more than able to make some history of our own.

Moratoriums, resolutions, ordinances and lawsuits are all on the table. The writing is on the wall.  Enough is enough. Game on.

Will be talking with you all after the Thanksgiving break about the next giant leap forward for the good people of San Luis Obispo.

This is our home.

From one very grateful heart to another…….

A_GRATEFUL_HEART

 

 

 

 

 

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.

Photo10051151

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 #42 – Good Day in the Neighborhood

Aquifer Exemption Hearing.

About 40 people at the Rally.

freeport-pic-3-jpg 12002761_10153538758669845_4444712686132262879_n 12038387_10154184064333098_4154233043254278860_n

About 100 at the hearing. Press coverage.

oil-underground-JPG

Heidi spokesperson always good.

 

Comments inside just amazing. Covered the whole spectrum of concerns. Homeowners with horror stories and concern for their water. Facts and stats from Maya and Ash from the Center for Biological Diversity let DOGGR know exemptions don’t make it safe or legal. Sierra Club about the earthquake factor no one else seems to be addressing and just blows holes in the “it is safe” rhetoric. Andrew from Clean Water Action getting DOGGR to extend comment time. Our neighbors to the south, Becca and Janet troupe from Santa Barbara showed up for support. Thank you, thank you.

Supervisor Hill there letting DOGGR know the Board of Supervisors does not appreciate the lack of communications and information. Way to go Adam.

No one was buying DOGGR and Freeport’s take on the situation.

There was a stenographer there recording every word we said for the record. I didn’t know they still did stenography.

I think the rubber stamping of this project just got waylaid. Not going to be as easy as they thought. There were points made that need addressing and can’t be ignored.

Here are some news clips. http://www.ksby.com/…/public-meeting-on-proposed-arroyo-gra…

http://www.keyt.com/news/big-turnout-for-oil-field-aquifer-exemption-hearing/35407102

Grover Beach City Council packed the house too protesting the Oil Train spur. We are on this SLO!

If you didn’t get a chance to submit comments  on exemption still time.  Email:  comments@conservation.ca.gov  ATTN: San Luis Obispo HEARING 09-21-2015

Two things I noticed you might comment on. 1) The earthquake issue. What is faster than a speeding bullet? Can level tall buildings in a single bound? An earthquake. We know there are 3 faults on the  ARRoyo Grande property. We don’t need any seismic testing to prove this fact. One fault line is all it takes to compromise their ‘safe, impermeable bowl shaped aquifer theory”

We also know for a fact that there is no instrumentation and technology now that can accurately measure what is going on  sub surface to detect, track, record, nooks and crannies, fissures, lesions, holes, weaknesses that could occur and compromise the integrity of the aquifer and in particular when there is any kind of earth movement which can happen any time.

California  Council on Science and Technology testified that that technology is at least 3 years down the road. In the meantime there is over a 1.5 billion gallons of toxic waste gurgling underground just waiting to make a break at the first chance it gets. And where it goes no body knows. A 2.0 earthquake could do it. High Pressure steam injection could do it.

And, one more thing. What is the complaint process if this ‘can’t fail’ ‘fail safe’ plan fails? There is no formal, official, legally binding complaint process for the citizenry to file when an  accident, spill, noxious smells, dumping, explosion, noise, funny tasting water, blinding lights, whatever happens. NONE.

There never has been any clearly defined official, must-respond-and-investigate complaint mechanism in place for the oil drilling process.  Without it, ever complaint filed is immediately tossed into the find-the-regulation-and-agency-responsible, file.

No body knows who is in charge of complaints not even the agencies in charge  and there are over 3,000 of them for water issues alone in California.  To compound the PROBLEM, determining if it is a local, state or Federal issue can lead to years of searching and filing complaints that lead nowhere. Case in point. West Adams in LA has been 10 years playing this game trying to get someone, anyone to address water, air and soil contamination of their neighborhood by drilling rigs in their backyard.

We need to know, we have a right to know, how to file an formal, official complaint and a set time for the response and resolution. Otherwise the only solution is the individual takes a shot in the dark agency or company to court and that is cost prohibitive and can also take years.

So we need a mechanism built into the regulatory agency in charge of approving and permitting oil drilling operations that has a clear, concise, formal, official complaint form readily and easily accessible to every person.

Solution: Must insist this complaint process is in place and functional before they approve anything.

Next event, October. 22, Planning commission continuance meeting on extending 31 wells  conditional use permit for 3 years.   Can send emails to planning commission if you can’t make the meeting for public comment.  It made a difference last time.

We are winning.  We showed up and that is what it takes. And with a little help from our friends will put us over the top!!!