Amador County – Developers of two projects with nearly 500 units in Plymouth released a Draft Environmental Impact Report last week, opening a comment period that closes at the year’s end.

Bob Reeder, president of Reeder Sutherland Incorporated, said the Draft EIR for his Shenandoah Ridge and Zinfandel residential development projects went to the state clearinghouse on Wednesday, November 10th, opening a public comment period.

A public hearing is not necessary and not required by law, Reeder said, but consultants thought it would be a good idea to give people the chance to make verbal comment at a meeting, for those who do not comment in writing. That public comment meeting is set for December 15th at Plymouth City Hall, during a Planning Commission meeting, which normally starts at 7 p.m.

The deadline for comments is Friday, December 31st. Reeder said the normally 30-day comment period was extended because of the holidays.

Over the last couple of years, Reeder Sutherland has made some minor changes to the project. Reeder said: “Once we identified wetlands, we reduced our impacts to almost nothing on wetlands.” They moved some roads and changed some lots to completely avoid wetlands.

Zinfandel has about 8 acres of wetlands, including 2 ponds. Shenandoah Ridge had less than 2 acres of wetlands.

Reeder said they “got the impact down to less than a tenth of an acre (of wetlands) at each project.” He said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sees avoidance as the best approach. Reeder estimated they avoided almost 98-99 percent of wetlands in the Zinfandel project, and 95 percent in Shenandoah Ridge.

Dwelling units in the projects are 137 for Shenandoah, and 365 for Zinfandel, where they moved things around, deleted some lots, added others, and moved roads. At Zinfandel, he said “about 6 more lots could go away upon expansion of the sewer reservoir,” making it about 359 equivalent dwelling units in Zinfandel, and 496 total units in both developments.

Reeder said the plan is to tie the projects into the city’s water and sewer system. A copy of the Draft Environmental Impact Report is available at Plymouth City Hall.

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Amador County - An environmental group earlier this year filed a notice that 124 different products contain lead and 49 companies were violating California toxicity notification law.

The Environmental Law Foundation served notices of violation of the “California Proposition 65 Toxics Right to Know law” alleging that lead was found in apple juices, grape juices, canned pears, peaches, and fruit cocktails.

Environmental Law Foundation notified 49 companies that they were in violation of Proposition 65 by not giving shoppers notice that their products contain lead. The companies that were notified June 9th of this year included 27 companies in California (including Raley’s, Safeway, CVS Market, and Wal-Mart).

The stores were to post notices or face a lawsuit from the Foundation. Raley’s in Jackson posted a “California Proposition 65 Warning,” which said “the apple and grape juices on these shelves contain lead, a chemical known to the state of California to cause birth defects and other reproductive harm.”

The Foundation letter said the companies “have violated and continue to violate provisions of the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986,” and quoted the law, which said: “No person in the course of doing business shall knowingly and intentionally expose any individual to a chemical known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity without first giving clear and reasonable warning to such individual.”

The Foundation tested products that children and expecting mothers normally eat. The notice listed the 124 products that the Foundation found contained more than 1/2 of a microgram of lead per serving. The website said: “It is now widely accepted that there is no safe level of lead for the human body, and that, even at low levels, lead can damage mental and physical development.”

The site said the lead could get into the products in various ways, including from plumbing, or tainted soils, but it was up to the companies to explain the causes.

The Foundation, and the website bebepure.com, listed the products found to contain lead, and a shorter list of those found to not contain more lead that Proposition 65 allows.

In an August article, “Loaded with lead: List of kid’s fruit juices and foods to avoid,” BebePure.com listed 25 apple juice brands, 26 grape juices, 23 packaged pears, 24 different brands of peaches, and 27 brands of fruit cocktail to be avoided. It also listed products that were not found to have lead, including 10 apple juices, one grape juice, two brands of packaged pears, five brands of peaches, and one brand of fruit cocktail.

The Foundation said shoppers should “make informed choices” and “demand information before you buy.” Shoppers should be urged to consult the lists on BebePure.com and envirolaw.org. (List follows on this website).

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From: BebePure.com: http://bebepure.com/loaded-with-lead-list-of-kids-fruit-juices-and-foods/ Loaded with Lead: List of Kid’s Fruit Juices and Foods to Avoid, published Aug. 26, 2010

Lead Found in Kid’s Fruit Juices and Foods

The Environmental Law Foundation filed Notices of Violation of California Proposition 65 Toxics Right to Know law, alleging the toxic chemical lead was found in a variety of children’s and baby foods.

The specific food categories included apple juice, grape juice, packaged pears and peaches (including baby food), and fruit cocktail. Scientists agree that there is no safe level of exposure to lead. According to Dr. Callahan, “Lead exposure among children is a particular concern because their developing bodies absorb lead at a higher rate and because children are particularly sensitive to lead’s toxic effects, including decreased I.Q.”

Lead has been and continues to be released into the environment from decades of lead-based pesticide application, use of leaded gasoline and lead paint, and burning of coal in power plants. The lead in the environment then can make its way into the food supply. But not every category or even foods within categories contains lead.

People who only buy organic foods need to worry about this, the Foundation said.

The Foundation found lead at levels that violate Proposition 65 (i.e., above the maximum allowable dose level of 0.5 ug/day) for a single serving in some organic products. While an “organic” label conveys a great deal of confidence about certain growing, harvesting and packaging practices, it is not a “lead-free” guarantee.

 

Here is a comprehensive list of children’s and baby foods with and without lead:

 

Apple Juice with Lead – For the following products, one or more samples exceeded the Prop 65 limit of 0.5 micrograms of lead per serving:

 

1. Beech Nut 100% Apple Juice

2. Earth’s Best Organics Apple Juice

3. First Street 100% Apple Cider from concentrate

4. First Street Apple Juice from concentrate 100% juice

5. Full Circle Organic Apple Juice

6. Gerber 100% Juice Apple Juice

7. Great Value 100% No Sugar Added Apple Juice

8. Hansen’s Natural Apple Juice

9. Kroger 100% Juice Apple Juice

10. Langers Apple Juice 100% Juice

11. Minute Maid Juice Apple – 100% Apple Juice

12. Motts 100% Apple Juice

13. Organics Organic Unfiltered Apple Juice Not From Concentrate

14. Old Orchard 100% Apple Juice

15. Parade 100% Juice Apple

16. Raley’s Premium 100% Apple Juice not from Concentrate

17. Safeway 100% Juice Apple Cider

18. Safeway 100% Juice Apple Juice

19. Stater Bros. 100% Juice Apple Juice

20. Sunny Select 100% Apple Juice

21. Trader Joe’s Certified Organic Apple Juice, pasteurized

22. Tree Top 100% Juice Apple Cider

23. Walgreens Apple Juice from concentrate 100% juice

24. Walnut Grove Market 100% Apple Juice

 

Apple Juice without Lead – For the following products, NO samples exceeded the Prop 65 limit of 0.5 micrograms of lead per serving:

 

1. Great Value 100% Apple Juice not from concentrate

2. Harvest Day 100% Apple Juice from Concentrate

3. Kirkland Fresh Pressed Apple Juice Pasteurized

4. Martinelli’s Gold Medal Apple Juice 100% pure from US grown fresh apples

5. R.W. Knudsen Organic Apple Juice unfiltered

6. Raley’s Everyday 100% Apple Juice

7. Sunny Select 100% Unfiltered Apple Juice

8. Trader Joe’s Fresh Pressed Apple Juice all natural pasteurized, 100% juice

9. Tree Top 100% Apple Juice

10. Tree Top Three Apple Blend 100% Fresh Pressed Juice

 

Grape Juice with Lead – For the following products, one or more samples exceeded the Prop 65 limit of 0.5 micrograms of lead per serving:

 

1. 365 Everyday Value Organic 100% Juice Concord Grapes

2. First Street Grape Juice from concentrate 100% juice

3. Gerber 100% Juice – White Grape Juice

4. Great Value 100% Grape Juice

5. Kedem Concord Grape Juice 100% pure grape juice

6. Kroger Grape Juice 100% Juice

7. Langers Grape Juice (Concord)

8. Langers Red Grape Juice

9. Organics Organic Grape Juice from concentrate

10. R.W. Knudsen Just Concord Grape Juice

11. R.W. Knudsen Organic Just Concord

12. Raley’s 100% Grape Juice

13. Safeway 100% Juice Grape Juice

14. Safeway Organic Grape Juice

15. Santa Cruz Organic Concord Grape Juice

16. Stater Bros. 100% Juice Grape Juice

17. Stater Bros. 100% Juice White Grape Juice

18. Sunny Select 100% Grape Juice

19. Trader Joe’s Concord Grape Juice made from fresh pressed organic concord grapes

20. Tree Top 100% Juice, Grape

21. Valu Time Grape Drink from Concentrate

22. Walgreens Grape Juice from concentrate 100% juice

23. Walnut Acres Organic Concord Grape

24. Walnut Grove Market Grape Juice

25. Welch’s 100% Grape Juice (from Welch’s Concord Grapes)

26. Welch’s 100% Red Grape Juice from Concentrate

 

Grape Juice without Lead- For the following products, NO samples exceeded the Prop 65 limit of 0.5 micrograms of lead per serving:

1. Old Orchard Healthy Balance Grape

 

Packaged Pears with Lead – For the following products, one or more samples exceeded the Prop 65 limit of 0.5 micrograms of lead per serving:

1. Best Yet Bartlett Pear Halves in Heavy Syrup

2. Del Monte Diced Pears in Light Syrup

3. Del Monte Pear Halves in Heavy Syrup

4. Del Monte Pear Halves, Bartlett Pears in 100% real fruit juice from concentrate

5. Dole Pear Halves in Juice

6. First Street Diced Pears

7. First Street Sliced Bartlett

8. Full Circle Organic Bartlett Pear Slices

9. Gerber 3rd Foods Pears [Baby Food]

10. Great Value Bartlett Pear Halves in 100% Juice

11. Great Value Bartlett Sliced Pears in Heavy Syrup

12. Market Pantry Diced Pears in Light syrup

13. Maxx Value Pear Pieces in Light Syrup

14. Polar Pear Halves in light syrup

15. S&W Natural Style Pear Slices in Juice

16. S&W Sun Pears Premium

17. Safeway Lite Bartlett Pear Halves in Pear Juice

18. Safeway Pear Halves in Light Juice

19. Sunny Select Pear Halves in Pear Juice

20. Trader Joe’s Pear Halves in white grape juice

21. Truitt Brothers Pacific North West Bartlett Pear Halves, in pear juice from concentrate

22. Valu Time Irregular Bartlett Pear Slices

23. Walnut Grove Market Natural Pear Halves in Heavy Syrup

Packaged Pears without Lead – For the following products, NO samples exceeded the Prop 65 limit of 0.5 micrograms of lead per serving:

1. Eating Right Kids Diced Pears Fruit Cups

2. Stater Bros. Diced Pears Snack Bowl

 

Packaged Peaches with Lead – For the following products, one or more samples exceeded the Prop 65 limit of 0.5 micrograms of lead per serving:

1. Best Yet Yellow Cling Peach Halves in Heavy Syrup

2. Del Monte Freestone Peach Slices in 100 % Juice

3. Del Monte Sliced Yellow Cling Peaches in 100 % Juice

4 Del Monte Sliced Yellow Cling Peaches in heavy syrup

5. Dole Diced Peaches, Yellow Cling in light syrup

6. First Street Yellow Cling Peaches in heavy syrup

7. Gerber 3rd Foods Peaches [Baby Food]

8. Golden Star Peach Halves in Heavy Syrup

9. Great Value Yellow Cling Sliced Peaches

10. Libby’s Yellow Cling Peach Slices No Sugar Added (Sweetened with Splenda)

11. Market Pantry Diced Peaches in light syrup

12. Polar Peach Slices

13. Raley’s Sliced Yellow Cling Peaches in Heavy Syrup

14. S&W Natural Style Yellow Cling Peach Slices in Lightly Sweetened Juice

15. S&W Premium Peach Halves Yellow Cling Peaches in light syrup

16. Safeway Diced Peaches in Light Syrup

17. Safeway Yellow Cling Peach Slices in Pear Juice

18. Simple Value Yellow Cling Peaches in light syrup

19. Stater Bros. Yellow Cling Peach Halves

20. Stater Bros. Yellow Cling Sliced Peaches in heavy syrup

21. Sunny Select Yellow Cling Sliced Peaches in Pear Juice

22. Trader Joe’s Yellow Cling Peach Halves in while grape juice

23. Valu Time Yellow Cling Peach Slices

24. Walnut Grove Market Natural Peaches Sliced Yellow Cling in Light Syrup

 

Packaged Peaches without Lead – For the following products, NO samples exceeded the Prop 65 limit of 0.5 micrograms of lead per serving:

1. Dole Diced Peaches, Cling in Light Syrup

2. Dole Diced Peaches, Freestone in Light Syrup

3. Dole Sliced Peaches

4. Eating Right Kids Diced Peaches in Extra Light Syrup

5. Stater Bros. Diced Peaches Snack Bowl

 

Fruit Cocktail with Lead – For the following products, one or more samples exceeded the Prop 65 limit of 0.5 micrograms of lead per serving:

 

1. Best Yet Chunky Mixed Fruit in Pear Juice

2. Chef’s Review Fruit Cocktail

3. Del Monte 100% Juice Fruit Cocktail

4. Del Monte Chunky Mixed Fruit in 100 % Juice (peach, pear, grape, etc.)

5. Del Monte Fruit Cocktail in Heavy Syrup (peach, pear, grapes)

6. Del Monte Fruit Cocktail No Sugar Added

7. Del Monte Lite Fruit Cocktail in Extra Light Syrup

8. Dole Mixed Fruit in Light Syrup

9. Eating Right Fruit Cocktail packed in Sucralose

10. Eating Right No Sugar Fruit Cocktail

11. First Street Fruit Cocktail in heavy syrup

12. Golden Star Mixed Fruit in Light Syrup (peach, pineapple, pears)

13. Great Value No Sugar Added Fruit Cocktail

14. Kroger Fruit Cocktail in Heavy Syrup

15. Kroger Lite Fruit Cocktail in Pear Juice

16. Kroger Value Fruit Mix (Peaches, pears, grapes)

17. Market Pantry Mixed Fruit in light syrup

18. Maxx Value Fruit Mix in Light Syrup (peach, pear, grape)

19. Mrs. Brown’s Fruit Cocktail in Heavy Syrup (peaches, pears, grapes)

20. Polar Mixed Fruit

21. Raley’s Fruit Cocktail in Heavy Syrup

22. S&W Natural Style Fruit Cocktail in Lightly Sweetened Juice

23. Safeway Fruit Cocktail in Heavy Syrup

24. Safeway Light Sugar Fruit Cocktail

25. Safeway Lite Fruit Cocktail in Pear Juice

26. Stater Bros. Fruit Cocktail in Heavy Syrup

27. Sunny Select Fruit Cocktail in Juice

 

Fruit Cocktail without Lead – For the following products, NO samples exceeded the Prop 65 limit of 0.5 micrograms of lead per serving:

 

1. Del Monte Mixed Fruit

 

What we must not forget is the following:

2. There is no safe level of lead, especially for children.

3. Lead causes problems throughout the body, especially for children.

4. The effects can be subtle but permanent, long after childhood.

5. Lead exposures and effects are cumulative, over time and from multiple sources

6. Three sources of lead continue to contaminate the environment and food supply: decades of pesticide application, leaded gasoline, and airborne lead from coal-fired power plants

Source: BebePure.com

Amador County - Jeff Holman Auto Center in Martell recently donated a vehicle to help with transportation for clients of Operation Care, a local non-profit organization providing support services for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

Over the past year, Operation Care staff and volunteers provided transportation 570 times for individuals to get to safe shelter, appointments, court, or other locations. The organization has a policy of reimbursement for mileage costs, however, a significant increase in residents at the safe house coupled with a reduction in bus service resulted in costs significantly exceeding budget.

According to a news release, Holman and staff fixed up a car free of charge after purchasing a vehicle at auction.

“He had taken a vehicle that he had, and his service department tuned it up, changed all the hoses, fixed anything that was in need of repair, installed four new tires, paid the DMV transfer fees and just handed her the keys,” said Clara Osborne, recently appointed Executive Director of Operation Care. “This wonderful donation will allow us to use the funds from Soroptimist to extend the transportation program considerably. The money that would have gone to the cost of a vehicle can now be used for fuel, insurance, repairs, and maintenance. We are so very grateful to Jeff Holman and his staff for their generosity.”

After handing over the keys, Holman said, “I wanted to do something to help. It is not about me, it is what needs to be done.”

For more information call 209-223-2897 or visit www.operationcare.org.

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Sacramento - Caltrans announced on Wednesday the completion – 100 days ahead of schedule – of a $5.4 million highway safety improvement project on State Route 49 in El Dorado County. The project was financed entirely by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

“My administration will continue to work around the clock to push Recovery Act funding into our economy as quickly as possible to help create jobs and put California on the road to economic recovery,” said Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The project realigned a rural section of SR-49 between Dolomite Drive and China Hill Road in El Dorado County, smoothing out curves on the roadway to make it safer for motorists. New paved highway shoulders were also built further improving safety.

“State Route 49 is a convenient connector between U.S. Highway 50 and Amador County. This project improves safety for everyone traveling on this important Gold Country highway,” said Caltrans Director Cindy McKim.

“Thanks to the Recovery Act funding, Veerkamp was able to retain 15 employees who in all probability, would have not worked at all last year. Veerkamp also added five new employees to accelerate the construction schedule,” said Doug Veerkamp, President, Veerkamp General Engineering, Inc. of Placerville, the project’s contractor.

Under Governor Schwarzenegger’s leadership, California has obligated nearly $2.6 billion in Recovery Act funding to 991 highway, local street, and job training transportation projects statewide. For more information on the Recovery Act visit: http://recovery.ca.gov/.

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Amador County – The Amador County Sheriff’s Office recently announced the release of the new Amador County 2010 Road Atlas. This road atlas was developed by Amador County Information Technology’s GIS Division as part of a larger Emergency Responder Guide project and was paid for with Homeland Security grant funding.

But getting an accurate, up to date road map of the county is difficult at best. “Since we were developing accurate maps for our first responders, we decided that the citizens of the county should also benefit from this project,” said Sheriff Martin Ryan.

Now that the county has good GIS information and is continually developing their capabilities, the new road atlas will be easy to update as changes occur.

To view or download the Amador County 2010 Road Atlas, visit the Amador County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services web page at www.co.amador.ca.us and click on the link located on the left of the page.

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Amador County – Argonaut High School football team advanced with a 41-16 win over Hilmar last Friday.

Argonaut led 21-16 and got three touchdown runs by Austin Cramer in the fourth quarter. Cramer scored on runs of 5, 10 and 30 yards, one coming after a pooch kick by Russ Ellyson that was recovered by Argonaut.

Ellyson also led off the second half with a kickoff that nearly stopped at the 1-yard line. A Hilmar player fielded it and was dropped inside the 10-yard line.

Argonaut also got a 49-yard touchdown run by Kyle Richardi in the first quarter, and Hunter Affonso scored twice in the second quarter, on runs of 1 and 13 yards.

Argonaut plays again at 7 p.m. this Friday, at Colfax, which advanced with a 48-33 win over Orestimba.

Calaveras also advanced, with a 28-7 win over Dixon. Amador and Summerville both lost in lopsided games. The Buffs fell to Escalon, and the Bears lost to Central Catholic.

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Amador County – The Ione City Council today (November 16th) could discuss the next steps in its wastewater treatment plant.

The Regional Water Quality Control Board in a letter November 4th called for a “Wastewater Master Plan” that will prevent “seepage discharges to surface water,” and said the city’s “Report of a Waste Discharge” at the facility remained incomplete, stemming from a 2003 Cease & Desist order at the wastewater treatment plant.

City Manager Kim Kerr said they “don’t necessarily agree,” and city staff is “looking at not building Pond 8 at all.” She said that proposal has not yet been considered by the Ione City Council, but that could be part of discussion tonight.

Kerr said one solution to problems with proposed Pond 8 would be to reduce the size of the project from 800,000 gallons a day to 500,000 gallons a day. That “would reduce the need for Pond 8, so potentially Pond 8 would be eliminated,” she said.

Kerr said the seepage remained an issue of contention. The water has been tested and it was “inconclusive as to whether it comes from a treatment plant or not.” She said city staff will propose an “isotope test” to “see if it is effluent or if it is ground water.”

She said “that will answer the question whether we have a seepage problem or not.” Any studies so far have been inconclusive, because they are not showing that it’s treated effluent from the wastewater treatment plant. She said people are making assumptions, but the city also can’t be 100 percent sure it’s not seepage from the plant.

She said if the city “did nothing on our project, we would still have to deal with the seepage issue.”

The state believes it is seeping effluent, based on visits to the site in 2003 and 2005, when visual dampness was seen at the creek bank, and it was called a seepage of treated effluent. Kerr said since then, after repair, it has not been seen to be damp.

Kerr said studies done on samples from that damp area have proven to be inconclusive to the city, though the Regional Board refers to it as seepage.

Kerr said they need the isotope study to give the state a conclusive answer to the seepage question. The isotope study should be done in about 4-6 weeks, in the time it takes to get the samples take and tested and right the report.

She said if the seepage were proven, the city would have to get a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit, which would increase requirements, such as monitoring, and it “opens the city to Clean Water Act violations.”

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