An array of leaders–consisting of water agency officers, state and federal administrators, and political figures gathered at the California State Univesity, Fresno Satellite Student Union to address hundreds of farmers and residents on Saturday, August 3rd. The event, Delta Water Summit, showcased three panels that served to present the efforts for the newly proposed Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) and answer questions from the public about the current water concerns that residents in the San Joaquin Valley share…
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Last night, El Pueblo of Kettleman City was joined by Greenaction, CCEJN, CRPE, the Fresno Brown Berets and the Mexican American Political Association/MAPA in a successful press conference and “truth squad” action that ended up essentially taking over the government agency “open house” on the proposed dump expansion.
Following the well-attended press conference, we entered the “open house” to see dozens of state agency representatives nervously awaiting our arrival….they had “information” tables with “information” displays and “fact” sheets that were often inaccurate, misleading and omitting key information. Particularly outrageous was that none of their dozens of handouts had one word about all the violations that Chem Waste has been busted for…
Earlier this month, the state moved forward on a plan that would allow a toxic waste landfill in Kings County to expand.
Waste Management Inc. runs the landfill. It is currently 16 acres and is near capacity. The company wants to add an additional eight acres to their site.
Not everyone is happy. For several years, many have complained about the landfill creating a toxic environment. Many blame the landfill for several birth defects in Kettleman City…
Kettleman City residents will be joined by community and environmental justice organizations at a press conference on Wednesday, July 31, 2013 at 5 pm to blast the state Department of Toxic Substances (DTSC) and the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District for their draft decisions to approve the proposed expansion of the violation-plagued Chemical Waste Management Kettleman Hills hazardous waste landfill…
The state Department of Toxic Substances Control wants your input on a proposal that could keep toxic waste coming to a landfill near Kettleman City for at least 30 more years.
Earlier this month, the agency gave conditional approval for Chemical Waste Management Inc., the landfill operator, to add capacity to hold an additional 5.2 million metric tons of hazardous waste. The existing landfill is 99 percent full.
But the final decision won’t happen until a series of public meetings are held in Kettleman City.
There are significant competing interests involved in the project that divide residents of Kings County.
After threatening to cut off funding to California earlier this spring because the state had been so slow to improve its drinking water, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved the state’s revised spending plan.
“I think as a result of this process, Californians can be more assured that their infrastructure needs are being met,” said EPA regional administrator Jared Blumenfeld.
In April, the EPA issued a noncompliance warning to the California Department of Public Health, amid complaints that funds were not being distributed promptly or efficiently. Californians in many communities have suffered from a lack of potable water while the state left $455 million in federal funds unspent and failed to pursue an additional $260 million in loan repayments, EPA officials found.
Meanwhile, many residents in low-income communities were forced to buy bottled water or drive many miles to get safe tap water…
My Sunday story covered the money aspects of expanding the hazardous waste site near Kettleman City. But there is a lower-profile issue that shows how contentious this expansion has become.
Activists, who have long battled the nearby Waste Management Inc. landfill, say they didn’t like the Kings County-appointed committee that recommended many of the financial benefits on tap for Kettleman…
The state’s top toxics regulator just pulled a fast one on a farming community suffering birth defects and infant deaths.
The Department of Toxic Substances Control signaled it would grant a serial toxic polluter – Chemical Waste Management – a permit to expand its operations greatly at the controversial Kettleman City hazardous waste dump.
DTSC Director Debbie Raphael simultaneously announced the “bold goal” of halving the amount of hazardous waste going to California landfills by 2025 (“A bold goal to cut toxic waste in California”; Editorials, July 8). But this is a red herring, a hypocritical proclamation meant to distract from the fact that – once again – theDepartment of Toxic Substances Control is carrying water for polluters and ignoring the toxic harm to Californians…
At the doorstep to the largest hazardous waste landfill in the West, Kettleman City has some of California’s biggest pollution burdens, the state Environmental Protection Agency says.
Yet a different state agency is poised to allow expansion of the hazardous waste landfill 3.5 miles west of town — a move local activists say they will fight to the end.
The residents belonging to People for Clean Air and Water say they believe they’ve found support in the EPA’s new health-screening tool, which ranks pollution burden statewide. Kettleman City is among the worst 10%…
Contaminated drinking water is a threat to the Central Valley and Kern County. Now, even more so as a new study links Nitrate contamination to several birth defects.
Water is a basic human need, but if you’re pregnant this new study shows drinking water with high levels of Nitrates could harm you and your unborn child.
“I cannot recall any times where a doctor told them don’t drink the tap water.”
But, a study out of Texas A&M suggests pregnant women shouldn’t drink tap water. The study showed pregnant women in Texas and Iowa who drank tap water with more than five milligrams of Nitrates daily, were twice as likely to give birth to a child with Spina Bifida, cleft palate or missing limbs.
Valerie Gorospe with The Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment says polluted drinking water is a growing problem in Delano. When folks can’t afford bottled water, they rely on the tap…