Tuesday, 09 January 2007 02:19

Buena Vista Rancheria Sewer Plant Permit Consideration On Hold

slide3In case you have been wondering what is happening with Buena Vista Rancheria’s request to the Federal Government to build and operate a sewer plant- the answer, according to John Tinger with the EPA is that the permit, and the project, are on hold. According to Tinger “As the Tribe has agreed to do additional work on the Tribal Environmental Impact Report, the NPDES permit application is on hold until the TEIR has been completed.” Tinger states that his department anticipates that there will be another public notice on the NPDES permit to allow for comment on any additional information collected during the TEIR process, as that information relates to the NPDES permit.

slide4 On March 21, 2006 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region IX (USEPA) held a Public Hearing regarding the proposal for the waste disposal system for the Buena Vista Band of Me-Wuk’s Flying Cloud Casino.  The hearing was held here locally because of an outcry from local citizens asking that the US EPA’s proposal to issue a new National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit to the Buena Vista Rancheria, Flying Cloud Casino for the wastewater processing at the proposed casino be held here in the county.

During the previous comment period, the EPA received several requests to hold a public hearing from members of our local community.   Pursuant to the rules and regulations governing the permit process the EPA then considered the requests and decided to hold the public hearing here in Ione due to the significant level of public interest in this action. There is currently no word regarding if an additional hearing will be held here locally. The Buena Vista Band is in the process of drafting a new tribal Environmental Impact Report after their original report was deemed inadequate by local and state officials.