Tom
Monday, 01 February 2010 17:00
Buena Vista Biomass Power Says Performance = Future
Amador County – About 100 people filled Evalyn Bishop Hall Thursday to discuss the Buena Vista Biomass Power plant, with its owners saying the plant’s performance will determine its future. Managing Partner Mark D. Thompson said if the plant does not perform as cleanly as it says, “we will be shut down.” He said they are not allowed to operate until they can prove they will do so cleanly, even though a “permit to construct” has been awarded. He said “if this plant doesn’t operate right, it will be closed within 180 days,” by the Environmental Protection Agency, Amador County Air District and the state. Interim Amador Air District director Mike Boitano hosted the presentation, with questions by the public and answers from the county, the project applicant and consultants. Support ranged from across the street, to across the county and across the border and around the state. Rhonda Morningstar Pope, chief of the Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians, whose tribal land is near the Coal Mine Road plant, said she supported the power plant’s reopening, and added that “if you want protection, that’s what your politicians are for.” Calaveras County Supervisor Steve Wilenski said he strongly supported the project but urged the county to hold them to the things they say they will do, which he said he “has come to trust.” Opponents also came from across the street, including Donna Ogilvie, who said “the problem I have with trust is based on the past operators of this plant.” She said she regularly had soot on her property, which she blamed on the power plant’s former operators. Opponent Jerry Cassesi, also a close neighbor, said: “you know where the dust came from but how do you prove where it came from? You can’t.” He said the Ione-area “might end up with a plant that sells its electricity to Sacramento County, and employs people form Calaveras and Tuolumne counties.” A local rancher said his cows have sinus problems and yet there will be tons of wood burned, while he must get a permit for a 4-foot burn pile. Consultant Ray Kapahi (Ka-Pie) said the facility will reduce what a burn pile puts out by 99.5 percent. The rancher then said, “air pollution doesn’t seem to be the top priority, so why are we starting with that?” Boitano said they are “not here to put any issue above another,” but to deal with air. Thompson said he understood about the trust issue, and was in the school of President Ronald Regan, acknowledging that “there are reasons to trust but verify.” Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Published in
News Archive
Tuesday, 02 February 2010 05:05
Sheldon Johnson - Registrar of Voters 2-2-10
Published in
News Interview Videos
Monday, 01 February 2010 17:00
Amador County News TSPN TV with Alex Lane 2-2-10
Published in
News Broadcast Videos
Monday, 01 February 2010 17:00
Buena Vista Biomass Power Says Performance = Future
Amador County – About 100 people filled Evalyn Bishop Hall Thursday to discuss the Buena Vista Biomass Power plant, with its owners saying the plant’s performance will determine its future. Managing Partner Mark D. Thompson said if the plant does not perform as cleanly as it says, “we will be shut down.” He said they are not allowed to operate until they can prove they will do so cleanly, even though a “permit to construct” has been awarded. He said “if this plant doesn’t operate right, it will be closed within 180 days,” by the Environmental Protection Agency, Amador County Air District and the state. Interim Amador Air District director Mike Boitano hosted the presentation, with questions by the public and answers from the county, the project applicant and consultants. Support ranged from across the street, to across the county and across the border and around the state. Rhonda Morningstar Pope, chief of the Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians, whose tribal land is near the Coal Mine Road plant, said she supported the power plant’s reopening, and added that “if you want protection, that’s what your politicians are for.” Calaveras County Supervisor Steve Wilenski said he strongly supported the project but urged the county to hold them to the things they say they will do, which he said he “has come to trust.” Opponents also came from across the street, including Donna Ogilvie, who said “the problem I have with trust is based on the past operators of this plant.” She said she regularly had soot on her property, which she blamed on the power plant’s former operators. Opponent Jerry Cassesi, also a close neighbor, said: “you know where the dust came from but how do you prove where it came from? You can’t.” He said the Ione-area “might end up with a plant that sells its electricity to Sacramento County, and employs people form Calaveras and Tuolumne counties.” A local rancher said his cows have sinus problems and yet there will be tons of wood burned, while he must get a permit for a 4-foot burn pile. Consultant Ray Kapahi (Ka-Pie) said the facility will reduce what a burn pile puts out by 99.5 percent. The rancher then said, “air pollution doesn’t seem to be the top priority, so why are we starting with that?” Boitano said they are “not here to put any issue above another,” but to deal with air. Thompson said he understood about the trust issue, and was in the school of President Ronald Regan, acknowledging that “there are reasons to trust but verify.” Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Published in
Local
Monday, 01 February 2010 17:00
Buena Vista Biomass Power Permit Lists 27 Conditions for Operation
Amador County – Amador County Air District hosted a public meeting Thursday to discuss a permit to construct an operation at the Buena Vista Biomass Power plant on Coal Mine Road. Air District Consultant Ray Kapahi (Ka-Pie) detailed some of the 27 conditions of the permit, with applicable law that governs the conditions. Among those, it said “air contaminants or other materials shall not be discharged from any source whatsoever in such quantities which can cause injury, detriment, nuisance or annoyance to any considerable number of persons, or to the public.” Kapahi (Ka-Pie) said “if anyone complains of odors, the Air District is obligated to go out and investigate.” They may write it up as a violation, but investigators must smell the odor in the area. He said there will be allowed no more than 1 percent plastic contamination of the woody byproducts burned in the power plant’s incinerator, but they “must determine how that is monitored.” Mark D. Thompson, plant project managing partner, said it would not burn painted wood, and to alleviate dust, the 3-inch maximum fuel chunks will be delivered in trucks and dumped into bins using a foam, like that from fire extinguishers, to cut down dust. He said the woody fuel will not be grinded at the facility. Kapahi (Ka-Pie) said the contents and conditions of the air permit are all “enforceable,” meaning that if the permit is violated, the company can be in legal violation, and face stiff fines. Kapahi (Ka-Pie) said if people “see huge clouds of dust, it’s obviously in violation.” He said in the combustion power industry, “less that ½ of 1 percent of companies violate, because the fines are so large.” Thompson said he has looked at a power plant his company co-owns and operates in Northern California, near Reno. The 36 megawatt plant is twice the size of the Cogen Plant, at 18 megawatts. He said at the Buena Vista Plant, “on a normal day, nothing is going to come out of our stack,” because they will regulate emissions. A computer monitor will show – like a bank statement – what comes from the plant’s combustion. Thompson said “of the 36 biomass plants out there, we will be the most efficient, because we will be coming online today – not in 1983 or 1999.” He said “technology is always advancing and we are required to keep up with it.” All records at the plant will be maintained on-site for 5 years, and made available to district staff for inspection. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Published in
Local
Monday, 01 February 2010 17:00
Lawsuit Seeks to Stop Sierra Pacific Clear-Cutting Plan
Amador County – An environmental watchdog group is suing in seven Northern California counties to stop a plan by Sierra Pacific Industries to clear-cut 5,000 acres of forest. The Center for Biological Diversity is accusing the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection of illegally approving 15 timber harvest plans without properly analyzing the impact of their carbon emissions. The lawsuit only deals with the areas of the proposed projects that involve clear-cutting. “Properly analyzing, and ultimately reducing, the carbon emissions from forestry are essential if California’s efforts at addressing greenhouse emissions are going to be effective,” said Brian Nowicki, California climate policy director at the Center for Biological Diversity, in a release. “By continuing to rubberstamp Sierra Pacific Industries’ clear cutting plans, the Department of Forestry is chopping a gigantic hole in the credibility of California’s climate policy,” he said. Center officials are hoping to repeat the success of a lawsuit brought forth last August that successfully derailed a Sierra Pacific plan to log more than 1,600 acres. But the release said several dozen similar plans are awaiting approval. Officials at the California Department of Forestry have denied the allegations of the lawsuits. Department of Forestry spokesman Daniel Bertant said officials met all state requirements. Another official said all the requirements of the Forest Practice Act and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) were met by CalFire and the landowners involved. The Department of Forestry is responsible for approving all logging plans on private land in California and must ensure that each proposed plan complies with CEQA. The Center maintains that clear-cutting, which is also damaging to wildlife and water quality, generates the most greenhouse gases of any logging method. The lawsuits were filed last week in the superior courts of Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Modoc, Shasta, Tehama and Trinity counties. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Published in
Local
Monday, 01 February 2010 17:00
Supes Look at Air Medical Reimbursement Bill
Amador County – The Amador County Board of Supervisors will discuss and possibly take action today on a bill which would augment medical reimbursements for air medical transportation services throughout the state. Assembly Bill 1153, as proposed by California State Assemblymember Jim Beall, “would provide enhanced Medi-cal reimbursement for air medical transportation/air ambulance services using an increase in fines levied at the county level and remitted to the state.” The item was introduced to the agenda by District 2 Supervisor Richard Forster, county delegate to the Regional Council of Rural Counties, an organization which supports the measure. He says the measure will tack a $3 fee to traffic offenses to go into Med-Cal payments for air service organizations like CALSTAR. “Medical is what’s not being covered the way it should be anymore by the federal government,” says Forster. “Hospitals are in bad shape because of that, but medical air ambulance services were also being paid by the hospitals and that’s no longer happening,” he added. The bill would require “each county board of supervisors to establish in the county treasury an emergency air medical transportation act fund into which the penalty collected pursuant to this bill would be deposited.” The bill states that, “by requiring counties to create emergency air medical transportation act funds and then depositing the levy imposed by this bill into those funds, this bill would create a state-mandated local program.” Forster said the board will likely seek more information on the reimbursement scheme proposed in the bill before deciding whether to issue a statement of support. He said some board members stated previously that they did not like the new fees attached on top of the existing traffic violation fees. Discussion on this topic will continue today. Also on today’s agenda, the board will discuss and possibly take action relative to the county’s recent federal appropriations requests. These are intersection improvements at Prospect Drive and Highway 88, a solar project for the new Amador County Transit Center and general improvements for American’s with Disability Act access. The board will also hear from the Amador Council of Tourism regarding funding sources to complete the California State Fair booth for 2010. The board may also approve the donation of space at the County Administration Building to assist residents in filling out their census forms. Finally, the board will look at a Fire Protection Reimbursement Agreement with the California Department of Forestry and CalFire. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Published in
Local
