How to resolve AdBlock issue? Supervisors direct staff to look at options for creating environmental crimes prosecutorial unit
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors this week directed county staff to look at ways to facilitate the formation of a special unit to prosecute environmental crimes related to illegal commercial marijuana grows.
The board on Tuesday heard District Attorney Don Anderson’s proposal to establish a marijuana/environmental law prosecution and recovery of eradication costs unit.
However, the supervisors were concerned about finding the $191,410 Anderson estimated he would need to cover a prosecutor, investigator and vehicle costs at this point in the budget year.
Anderson suggested the unit eventually would pay for itself, but it needed that money up front in order to get it established in the first year.
“My plan is to hit them in two different directions,” Anderson said of illegal growers.
He said he would pursue environmental crime fines of up to $25,000 per violation and civil suits – including liens and foreclosures – to force growers and land owners who are aware of the grows to pay for the costs of eradication, which he said can range between $50,000 and $100,000 on big operations.
County Administrative Officer Matt Perry said it was a big commitment, and he urged the board not to do anything until next year’s budget could be considered. Perry suggested that he could get together with Anderson and County Counsel Anita Grant to look at alternatives for getting the work done.
Grant added that the board also needed to factor in additional work that the Community Development Department would need to do in such cases.
Dennis Reynolds, a county deputy probation officer, accompanied Anderson to the meeting, and offered the board a presentation that showed slides of some of the environmental crimes he’s seen during large illegal marijuana grow eradications.
Those included water diversion; heavy fertilizer, pesticide and poison use; and indiscriminate killing of animals and birds.
Supervisor Denise Rushing, who has volunteered on cleanup efforts on grow sites in the national forest, noted, “You smell death everywhere.”
Reynolds said many outdoor enthusiasts are curtailing land use due to safety concerns associated with the grows, including armed growers. He called the water diversion and fertilizer use “appalling.”
Anderson said the sheriff’s office and other local law enforcement are doing a great job of stopping illegal marijuana when they can, but they don’t have the expertise to deal with environmental crimes, and neither does his staff as it is currently.
Without additional funding and staff, Anderson said he couldn’t start the new program.
Supervisor Anthony Farrington asked if cleanup would be covered by the costs recovered. Anderson said no, that the reimbursement would be for eradication, not repair.
Farrington asked how they could get to environmental restoration. “That’s something I can’t answer,” said Anderson.
Rushing said she wanted to see a business plan and metrics for performance so they could determine how successful the new unit is.
Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen said Anderson has brought the matter to meetings of the local allied law enforcement chiefs.
He said the $191,000 Anderson was seeking was not a small amount, and he also acknowledged the board is facing financial challenges.
Still, Rasmussen urged the board to find a funding source. “Marijuana cultivation with resulting environmental damage has long been a problem in Lake County,” but has increased significantly in recent years, he said.
Rasmussen said public lands protection is vital to the future of Lake County, adding that public lands are a reason many people come to visit and spend money.
In his 23 years in Lake County law enforcement Rasmussen said he has seen many grows degrading public lands, including water diversion, fertilizer use and stripping of forests.
Law enforcement has done a good job with eradications, but cleanup costs need to be addressed, and Rasmussen said prosecuting for environmental crimes will eventually have an impact.
Regardless of what people think about medical marijuana, Rasmussen said everyone needs to take a stand for the environment. He urged the board to support Anderson’s proposal, and to contact public land partners in an effort to find funding sources.
Board Chair Jeff Smith said he also received a letter from Clearlake Police Chief Craig Clausen in support of the plan.
Finley resident Phil Murphy said he had a number of major concerns about the proposal, among them, that he was not comfortable with making employees generate revenue in order to keep their jobs.
Murphy also disputed the idea that marijuana grows are increasing in Lake County, saying he has not seen as many big grows in his area. He also pointed out recent action by the states of Washington and Colorado to legalize recreational marijuana use, making those areas more desirable than California.
“The dynamics of this industry are changing,” Murphy said.
Supervisor Rob Brown said he’s been on overflights that have convinced him that marijuana grows – and the resulting environmental damage – have in fact increased.
Rushing asked Anderson what was stopping him from pursuing the unit formation right now. He said training, estimating that it would cost $5,000 to $10,000 to get a prosecutor up to speed.
Anderson, addressing Murphy’s statement about having an employee tasked with cost recovery as part of their job, said if the unit is not making money, either the program is not working or the person is not good at their job and shouldn’t have it.
“This needs to be part of the budget process, ultimately,” said Rushing.
She proposed having a group of staff including Anderson, Grant, Perry and Community Development Director Rick Coel put together a plan with proposed funding sources, organizational structure and performance measurements to address environmental cleanups. She also suggested finding money for training in the near term.
The board voted 5-0 to support that proposal.
Smith said the unit is a great idea, and if the county had the money he would support Anderson’s original proposal outright.
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Supervisors deny appeal of 30-year extension on Bottle Rock Power plant use permit
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday denied a community group’s appeal of a 30-year time extension for a geothermal operation’s use permit on Cobb Mountain.
In a 4-1 vote, the board denied Friends of Cobb Mountain’s appeal of the Lake County Planning Commission’s unanimous Feb. 28 vote to extend the use permit for Bottle Rock Power.
Supervisor Denise Rushing, the lone dissenter in Tuesday’s vote, had urged the board to conduct more study of the project, considering the issues residents of the area have had with the operation since the 55 megawatt power plant came back online in 2007 after a 17-year closure.
Friends of Cobb Mountain filed the appeal on two key points: that the commission filed to follow the California Environmental Quality Act or to adequately consider how the steamfield’s eventual decommissioning would be financed.
Community Development Director Rick Coel, in his overview of the appeal presented to the board, had suggested denial, maintaining that the use permit covered a “status quo” situation with no change to operations going forward.
He said Bottle Rock Power was not suggesting any operational expansion.
However, for Cobb residents and homeowners living near where the plant is located, operations as they currently are have not been properly handled and, as a result, have been an ongoing source of complaints.
Friends of Cobb Mountain Chair Hamilton Hess and another group member, David Coleman, asked the board to grant the appeal, detailing their concerns.
“Our study of these issues has not been superficial,” said Hess.
Coleman, whose family has owned property on Cobb Mountain for generations, said for him the issues began in 2008 when a neighbor complained about the plant.
He cited unpermitted grading and road building that he said has been ongoing since 2007. Coleman advocated for an environmental analysis of the property before allowing the use permit to be extended.
Supervisor Rob Brown, referring to the roads that Coleman said have been built, said he had walked the site in 2008 and recalled that they had been old fire trails.
Rushing asked for more information about Friends of Cobb Mountain’s allegations that CEQA had been violated in allowing the use permit extension.
Marsha Burch, an attorney with the Davis-based law office of Donald Mooney, the group’s attorney, referred to a five-page letter Mooney had emailed the Board of Supervisors on Monday about the permit.
Mooney’s letter noted that the planning commission based its approval of extending the conditional use permit on a determination that the extension request was “categorically exempt” from environmental review under CEQA.
He argued in his letter that the existing use categorical exemption does not apply, and that even if it did, there appear to be two exceptions to its use: cumulative impacts will result over time from successive projects by Bottle Rock Power in the Cobb Mountain area and, due to unusual circumstances, a reasonable possibility exists that renewal of the use permit will result in significant environmental impacts.
Burch said the categorical exemption “is a step that terminates environmental review, so it should be used very sparingly.”
While an environmental impact review previously completed for a Bottle Rock expansion project may adequately address the impacts of extending the use permit, because the environmental review has been terminated, there has been no discussion of whether the impacts have, in fact, been addressed, said Burch.
“This project has a lot of unusual circumstances,” said Burch, who noted a history of permit violations.
Mooney’s letter to the board also noted that the purchase agreement for the plant between Bottle Rock Power and the California Department of Water Resources, which had operated it from 1983 to 1990, required Bottle Rock to maintain a $10 million environmental insurance policy and a $5 million bond for closure and decommissioning of the plant.
That requirement was approved by the California Energy Commission’s May 2001 order approving the plant’s transfer of ownership. However, despite that obligation, Mooney said that last August Bottle Rock and the Department of Water Resources amended the purchase agreement to remove those obligations, with Bottle Rock subsequently canceling the $5 million bond.
That leaves two bonds in place should the plant close – one for $100,000 required by the Department of Conservation and one for more than $700,000 that is required under the county’s current use permit. Mooney’s letter said a 2007 estimate for plugging and abandoning the wells was at $4.9 million.
During public comment Cobb residents Robert Stark asked how the county could say that there would be no changes at the plant under the extended use permit. Brown said Stark was confusing terminology about “no change” with “no change in use,” which Stark replied was just a matter of semantics.
Randall Fung, who has been an outspoken critic of the plan, its operations and impacts on him and his neighbors, also raised concerns, among them the potential cost to decommission the power plant.
Rushing said it’s clear the geothermal industry means something to Lake County, with its jobs and revenue. She said the plant’s neighbors have dealt with heavy industry use for some time.
For those reasons, Rushing said it was important for the board to make sure it’s handling the permit appropriately.
If there was any question at all about the permit and the plant, Rushing said an initial study should be done, which she felt would be better for everyone.
Burch said that for every decision like the one the board was considering, “There is a cumulative impact associated with it.”
Those impacts may be negligible or they may be huge, she said.
“This extension has cumulative impacts,” Burch said. “The question is, have they been analyzed?”
Kristen Castaños, Bottle Rock Power’s attorney, told the board that there wasn’t anything terribly complicated about the proposed use permit extension, noting that it fits squarely within the definition of the CEQA exemption.
Castaños added that CEQA is not intended to be a paper exercise. She said evidence from a previously prepared EIR demonstrated there were no cumulative impacts for expansion or ongoing operations, and maintained that opponents of the project have offered no evidence to counter that information in the EIR.
Coleman argued that the use permit should be amended, noting that there were three amendments in the 1980s and then none since 1986.
At the end of a nearly two-hour hearing the board voted 4-1 to deny the appeal. As is procedure in appeal cases, County Counsel Anita Grant will produce findings of fact to bring back to the board for a final vote in the weeks ahead.
As to what the Friends of Cobb Mountain may do next, “We haven’t made any decisions on that yet,” Hess told Lake County News on Tuesday afternoon.
He said the group’s board has to meet and discuss the matter, but he couldn’t say when that would happen.
Friends of Cobb Mountain sued the county two years ago after the Board of Supervisors denied its appeal of the Lake County Planning Commission's December 2010 certification Bottle Rock Power’s EIR, which the group had alleged also violated CEQA.
Last May, the county and Friends of Cobb Mountain reached a settlement agreement in which the group dropped the lawsuit in exchange for Bottle Rock releasing information on its bonding requirements and leases, as well as botanical surveys, giving the group funds for groundwater testing and environmental monitoring, offering reimbursement for times when residents may need to relocate, mechanisms to address traffic problems, with the county to hire a resource planner/geothermal coordinator and reestablish its geothermal advisory committee.
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Animal Care and Control plans April adoption event
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Lake County Animal Care and Control will host another of its regular adoption events later this month.
Director Bill Davidson said the event will take place from Saturday, April 20, through Friday, April 26, at the shelter, 4949 Helbush in Lakeport.
In February 2012 the Board of Supervisors approved an amnesty program that allows Animal Care and Control to hold up to four such events a year in which the county adoption fees are waived.
Adoption events previously took place in May and October of last year.
Davidson said people will save $30 on dogs and $20 on cats during the adoption event, thanks to the new rules approved by the Board of Supervisors.
Adoption fees during April 20-26 will be as follows, according to Davidson:
- Cats: Females, $86; males, $76.
- Dogs: Females, $131 to $146, depending on size, which affects spaying costs; and $121 for males.
He said all dog adoptions include a wellness exam, rabies, DHLPP, microchip, altering, heartworm test and dog license.
All cat adoptions include wellness exam, rabies, FVRCP, microchip and altering, Davidson said.
The animals are spayed or neutered at the shelter’s veterinary clinic, which opened in March 2012.
The medical clinic and lower of adoption rates have helped increase adoption rates by 25 percent, Davidson said.
Lake County Animal Care and Control is located at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport, next to the Hill Road Correctional Facility.
Visit the shelter online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control.htm .
To fill out an adoption application online visit http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Dog___Cat_Adoption_Application.htm .
For more information call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.
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Supervisors to hear geothermal permit extension appeal, proposal to hire environmental law prosecution staff
LAKEPORT, Calif. – This week the Board of Supervisors will hear a community group’s appeal of a permit time extension for a geothermal steamfield and consider the district attorney’s proposal to hire additional staff to prosecute environmental crimes in connection with illegal marijuana grows.
The meeting will take place beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, April 2, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport. It will be broadcast live on TV8.
At 9:15 a.m. the board will hold a public hearing to consider the Friends of Cobb Mountain’s appeal of the Lake County Planning Commission’s decision to give a 30-year time extension to Bottle Rock Power LLC for its steamfield operations on Cobb Mountain.
Following the commission’s unanimous decision to extend the permit at its Feb. 28 meeting, Friends of Cobb Mountain filed the appeal, citing two key reasons: that the commission failed to meet the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act for renewing the use permit, and that the commission failed to adequately address the question of payment for the steamfield’s final decommissioning, according to the staff report for the meeting.
Also on Tuesday, at 11:15 a.m. District Attorney Don Anderson will go to the board with a proposal to establish a marijuana/environmental law prosecution and recovery of eradication costs unit.
Anderson’s report to the board explains that illegal commercial marijuana grows have led, in some cases, to environmental destruction from use of chemicals, pesticides and fertilizers, as well as illegal dumping, air quality violations, illegal grading and structures, vandalism, and poaching and poisoning of wildlife.
“In most cases, these environmental crimes are not being investigated by law enforcement or prosecuted by this office,” Anderson wrote. “Environmental law is a very specialized area of the law. It requires an expertise that our local law enforcement officers and attorneys do not have. Law enforcement and this office do not have the resources or manpower to devote to active prosecution of environmental law.”
He said enforcing marijuana cultivation laws also has become very expensive for the county. Some expenses are covered by grants, but most enforcement costs still come from the general fund. A full-day marijuana raid can cost between $50,000 and $100,000 in wages, overtime, helicopters, equipment and pay for other county employees who assist, he said.
In order to effectively enforce environmental laws associated with marijuana cultivation and to recover eradication costs, Anderson is proposing to hire one full-time deputy district attorney, at a cost of $483,159; one investigator, $83,251; and spend $25,000 for a vehicle, equipment and training. The total cost to set up the unit would be $191,410.
All costs recovered from marijuana eradication of illegal commercial operations will go back to the law enforcement agencies that incur the costs, Anderson said. Reimbursements will be sought either through criminal cases or separate civil lawsuits.
“Without these two additional employees the District Attorney’s Office does not have the resources, manpower or expertise to start such enforcement and prosecution,” Anderson wrote.
Other timed items on Tuesday include presentations of proclamations at 9:10 a.m. designating April as Alcohol Awareness Month and Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
In an untimed item, the board will consider a proposed agreement with Ruzicka Associates for final design of an 8-inch water main for the South Main Street/Soda Bay Road Widening Project.
The full agenda follows. Some items are out of order due to an addendum being issued after the agenda was published.
TIMED ITEMS
9 a.m. A-1 to A-4: Approval of consent agenda, which includes items that are expected to be routine and noncontroversial, and will be acted upon by the board at one time without discussion; presentation of animals available for adoption at Lake County Animal Care and Control; consideration of items not appearing on the posted agenda, and contract change orders for current construction projects.
9:10 a.m., A-5: (a) Presentation of proclamation designating April 2013 as Alcohol Awareness Month; and (b) Presentation of proclamation designating April 2013 as Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
9:15 a.m., A-6: Public hearing, consideration of appeal to the Board of Supervisors of the Planning Commission’s decision to approve the use permit time extension of use permit (UP 85-27) for a 30-year time extension allowing continued operations of an existing steamfield.
10:45 a.m., A-7: Consideration of request for board direction regarding the retention of a consultant to assist with emergency medical services planning.
11:15 a.m., A-8: Consideration of request for board direction regarding the establishment of a marijuana/environmental law prosecution and recovery of eradication costs unit.
NONTIMED ITEMS
A-9: Supervisors’ weekly calendar, travel and reports.
A-10: Consideration of proposed agreement with Ruzicka Associates for final design of 8-inch water main for South Main Street/Soda Bay Road Widening Project.
A-11: Consideration of proposed letter of opposition to State Assembly Member Perea regarding AB 145 (Perea), a proposal to move the State’s Drinking Water Program from the California Department of Public Health to the State Water Resources Control Board.
A-13: Consideration of proposed letter of support for SB 740 (Padilla), proposing modifications to the California Advanced Service Fund to support broadband infrastructure in the most remote areas of the state.
CLOSED SESSION
A-12: 1.Conference with labor negotiator: (a) county negotiators: A. Grant, L. Guintivano, M. Perry, and A. Flora; and (b) Employee Organization: Deputy District Attorney's Association, Lake County Deputy Sheriff's Association, Lake County Correctional Officers Association, Lake County Employees Association and Lake County Safety Employees Association.
A-12: 2. Conference with legal counsel: Decision to initiate litigation pursuant to Gov. Code Sec 54956.9(d)(4): Michael Fowler and Emily Ford v. County of Lake, et al., Case No. CV412464.
CONSENT AGENDA
C-1: Approve minutes of the Board of Supervisors meeting held on March 26, 2013.
C-2: (a) Adopt proclamation designating April 2013 as Alcohol Awareness Month; and (c) adopt proclamation designating April 2013 as Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
C-3: (a) Adopt footwear policy for Community Development Department inspection staff and amend Exhibit A of Uniform and Clothing Purchase Policy; and (b) approve reimbursement of $329.14 for purchase of footwear in March 2013 in anticipation of policy adoption.
C-4: Adopt resolution approving the Medi-Cal Administrative Activities (MAA) Provider Participation Agreement between the county of Lake and the California Department of Health Services for fiscal years 2013/2014 through 2015/2016 and authorizing the director of Health Services to sign.
C-5: Adopt resolution approving the application of the Lake County Arts Council for the California Arts Council Grant and authorizing the execution of the grant contract.
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040213 Board of Supervisors - Friends of Cobb Mountain appeal
040213 Board of Supervisors - Marijuana prosecution and recovery unit proposal
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April marks Sexual Assault Awareness Month; community asked to help stop the violence
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Lake Family Resource Center is recognizing April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
Each year, in California and nationally, April is designated as Sexual Assault Awareness Month, which is introduced into the community to educate individuals about sexual assault and help prevent sexual violence.
Lake Family Resource Center’s Rape Crisis Center offers free services including a 24/7 Community Crisis Line (1-888-485-7733) answered by trained sexual assault advocates.
The Rape Crisis Center also provides individual counseling, support, safety plans, education, hospital accompaniment and law enforcement advocacy for all victims of sexual assault.
Sexual assault can impact anyone, regardless of age, ethnicity, or economic status. In eight out of 10 rape cases, the victim knows the perpetrator.
According to Gina Pilat, sexual assault advocate, statistics indicate that one in four females and one in six males will be sexually assaulted by the age of 18.
Many long-lasting physical symptoms and illness have been associated with sexual victimization including chronic pelvic pain; premenstrual syndrome; gastrointestinal disorders; and a variety of chronic pain disorders including headache, back pain and facial pain.
Spreading sexual assault awareness can help to prevent a future attack, hold offenders accountable, save lives, and prevent re-victimization of the victim.
Sexual assault is never the fault of the person who is assaulted.
April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month in Lake County will be proclaimed at 9:10 a.m. Tuesday, April 2, in the Board of Supervisors’ chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.
Lake Family Resource Center would like to invite the public to attend and pledge to take action in our communities and stop sexual assault and other forms of abuse before they start.
The center also invites the community to participate in Denim Day on Wednesday, April 24. You can help us by “breaking the dress code, breaking the silence,” by wearing jeans on Denim Day. For more information on Denim Day please contact Gina Pilat at 707-279-0563, Extension 203.
Lake Family Resource Center provides a multitude of services to build family stability and strength.
The agency supports Lake County residents in achieving stable, self-sufficient, and healthy families and communities.
Call us today at 707-279-0563 to find out more about what is offered or if you would like to donate or help the Rape Crisis Center in any way.
Sheri Young is manager of the Lake Family Resource Center’s Freedom House domestic violence shelter.
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