Alarmingly, pollution in California’s San Joaquin Valley means millions do not have the same cheap access to clean drinking water as most Americans (i.e. their faucets at home) placing a big financial burden on people who also happen to be some of the poorest in the state. The New York Times‘s Patricia Leight Brown gives a rundown of what that looks like for these individuals, including one woman in Seville, where the average annual income is $14,000, who fills five gallon jugs daily in addition to her standard water bill.
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Small, impoverished towns are sometimes left for years with tainted drinking water while they wade through a cryptic state process for public funding to fix the problem.
Two frustrated lawmakers this week will start a streamlining effort that probably will result in several new bills next year. The lawmakers are Assemlymembers Henry T. Perea, D- Fresno, and Luis Alejo, D-Watsonville.
“We’re getting pretty fed up,” said Perea, who has worked for funding in such Tulare County towns as Seville, Monson, Cutler and Orosi. “We might want to consolidate this process under different agencies.”
A state appellate court ruling regarding the monitoring of dairies and groundwater should not have much of an impact on dairies, said a Western United Dairyman’s executive director.
On Tuesday, the Third District Court of Appeal sent back to the district court the ruling over monitoring of dairies and groundwater for clarification of procedural errors said Michael Marsh with WUD, a voluntary organization which represents the dairy industry.
Marsh said the ruling is not nearly as significant as purported by Community Water Center and Asociacion de Gente Unida por el Agua.
A Sacramento appeals court this week rejected part of the state’s rules for protecting underground water from tons of dairy cow waste suspected of fouling some drinking water in the San Joaquin Valley.
Activists who filed the lawsuit years ago say the victory will help set up a better system to protect rural residents from the waste of 1.6 million cows in the Valley — the largest dairy region in the nation.
“Water quality regulators claim that better-than-nothing is good enough,” said Laurel Firestone, attorney for the Community Water Center, representing community activists. “The court sent a message that this is no longer business as usual.”…
The Third District Court of Appeals ruling has to do with manure and urine from cows on San Joaquin Valley dairy farms and making sure that waste doesn’t get into drinking water.
“For the first time it’s going to mean that regulators need to really identify what the impact to groundwater quality is going to be of the activities they’re permitting.”
Laurel Firestone is an attorney with the Community Water Center. The lawsuit is intended to set up a better system for protecting people who live near dairy farms.“This is a huge victory for us.”“It’s not a large victory so much as it’s documenting a procedural problem.”That’s J.P. Cativiela with Dairy Cares, a statewide coalition of dairies. He says California’s dairy industry will still be operating under the same rules…
Ken and Marguerite Mellon of Springville are no strangers to recycling.
“We probably go through five gallons, just the two of us, probably five gallons a week. And then we buy the small bottles,” Marguerite said.
The reason is their water is dirty.
“About every three months we get a notice, either with our bill or separately, telling us that there are unacceptable levels of nitrates and unacceptable levels of uranium,” Marguerite said.
“They said children for sure, pregnant women for sure. That’s good enough for me that I’m not drinking it either,” Ken said…
In a precedential ruling, Sacramento‟s Third District Court of Appeal overturned on Tuesday a controversial Order that implemented regulations for 1,600 Central Valley dairies, because it failed to either stop practices that
have polluted the region‟s groundwater for decades, or monitor continuing pollution sources from the dairies. While the Regional Water Board and dairy operators lauded the 2007 Order for its „unprecedented‟ environmental controls, the Appellate Court ruled that actually the Order failed to adequately protect groundwater at every step of its analysis.
In October 2012 a broad coalition of advocacy groups submitted a letter to the San Joaquin Valley Regional Planning Agencies’ Directors’ Committee and Regional Policy Council supporting the implementation of the Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act (SB 375). In opening a dialogue with regional representatives charged with developing climate change policy, the coalition articulated the co-benefits of SB 375’s Sustainable Communities Strategies for economic development, transportation, housing, conservation, health and equity. The letter offers practical and pragmatic suggestions toward an emerging vision of the valley…
After six years of preparation, California is poised to become the first state to combat global warming by capping greenhouse gas emissions and making major polluters pay to release more of these gases into the atmosphere.
It’s part of a landmark law approved in 2006 that seeks to cut the state’s production of carbon dioxide, methane and related gases to 1990 levels — about 17% lower than current amounts — by 2020.
Starting next week, big polluters will be required to buy pollution credits if they plan to emit greenhouse gases above their allotted levels…
The Central California Environmental Justice Network (CCEJN) will hold its 2012 biannual conference this month. This year’s theme is “Roots of Resistance: Building Environmental Justice for Healthy Communities.” The conference will take place on Nov. 10 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Big Red Church (2131 N. Van Ness Ave.).
The CCEJN’s keynote speaker is Dr. Manuel Pastor…