A beautiful shot from Dan Danbom taken yesterday in Pacific Grove. Gorgeous Dan!
Category: Environment
Draft EIR on Well Stimulation (Fracking)
On January 14th, the Department of Conservation, through its Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources, published a Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) titled “Analysis of Oil and Gas Well Stimulation Treatments in California.”
Senate Bill 4 requires the Division to prepare an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in order to provide the public with detailed information regarding any potential environmental impacts associated with well stimulation treatments in California.
The public review period for this Draft EIR begins on January 14, 2015 and will end on March 16, 2015. Written comments on the Draft EIR may be submitted and must be received on or before March 16, 2015. During the comment period, the Department and the Division will conduct six public comment meetings throughout the State to receive verbal and written comments on the Draft EIR.
To access the Draft EIR and detailed information on how to provide comments, please see the following link to the Department of Conservation’s webpage:
http://www.conservation.ca.gov
Also:
On behalf of the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA), please see the following information:
Pursuant to Senate Bill 4, the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) commissioned the California Council on Science and Technology (CCST) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) to conduct an independent scientific assessment of well stimulation, including hydraulic fracturing, in California.
On January 14, 2015, CCST released Volume I of the assessment to the public.
Volume I, which is titled “An Independent Scientific Assessment of Well Stimulation Technologies in California: Well Stimulation Technologies and their Past, Present, and Potential Future Use in California”, provides the factual basis describing what well stimulation treatments are, how they are conducted in general and practiced in California, and where they have been and are being used for oil and gas production in the state. The full independent scientific assessment will be issued in three volumes. Volumes II and III will be released in July 2015.
To view or download the report, please visit the CCST website at: http://www.ccst.us/projects/hydraulic_fracturing_public/SB4.php
3-month precipitation and drought conditions
Issued by NOAA today, Nov. 20:
If this prediction is accurate, it is good news for California. Along those lines, I received .30″ for this last storm, and ready for the next! Just finished charging up my batteries, firewood is loaded into my inside wood box, chili is heating in the crock pot. Yes, I am ready. There is a possibility of thunderstorms this afternoon. Could be fun.
Oh, and yes, there were a series of earthquakes last night around 11 pm, centered just south of San Juan Bautista. The largest measured 4.2.
A tree grows in Big Sur
Yesterday, I received this short article and photo from Howard Jones, and I liked it so much, I asked if I could reprint it here. I loved that it tells a story that is so indicative of Big Sur.
“The Winter after the 2008 Basin Complex Fires in Big Sur was wet, with any number of mudslides…falling branches, crashing trees, etc. Yet, it was no where near as catastrophic as we were prepared for…thank goodness . One of my favorite stories during that time was of a smallish Sycamore tree that had slid down a slope in a mudslide. Instead of discarding it, the men working that day moved the displaced tree to one of the larger dirt “pull-offs” along HWY 1 and set it up to bury its roots and rejoice in its new, and much safer, home. At the time, it was about 6-8 feet tall…
I had mentioned this story to my mother a few weeks back and today I was able to actually allow her to meet ‘face-to-face’ with ‘the tree that grows in Big Sur.’
I get a very special feeling whenever I drive by that tree and that spot. The Love & Renewal Energies cause my smile muscles to explode and a wave of
Cosmic…”ALL IS WELL!!!” washes over me.
As you can see, that little tree is alive, well and quite a healthy young adult!’
take care, Howard”
howard jones photography
By the way, he has some wonderful photographs of our coast and has had exhibitions from Ventana to Carmel.
Fracking Regs
The California Department of Conservation (DOC) has sent out public notice regarding revisions to the proposed regulations for the use of well stimulation in oil and gas production. This public notice begins a 15-day public comment period which will end at 5pm on October 24, 2014. The regulations, which are to go into effect on July 1, 2015, are designed to protect health, safety and the environment, and supplement existing strong well construction standards. They address a comprehensive list of issues, including testing, monitoring, public notice, and permitting. To ensure the major requirements of SB 4 are addressed in the interim, DOC has had emergency regulations in place since January 1, 2014.
To read the proposed regulations or to learn how to make a comment on the proposed regulations that will go into the official rulemaking record, please visit http://www.conservation.ca.gov/Index/Pages/Index.aspx or http://www.conservation.ca.gov/dog/Pages/Index.aspx.
Hunters Moon Eclipse
It is the second, and final lunar eclipse of 2014. This Hunters Moon (the full moon after the Harvest Moon) will also be a Blood Moon, due to the eclipse.
Getty Images, 2007
Here are the times for the Pacific Coast
Partial Eclipse Begins 2:14 a.m.
Totality Begins 3:25 a.m.
Greatest Eclipse 3:55 a.m.
Totality Ends 4:24 a.m.
Partial Eclipse Ends 5:34 a.m.
So look up, tonight/tomorrow morning early!
Fracking in Monterey County
Everyone should know about this meeting.
Begin forwarded message:
From: “Tia Lebherz, Food & Water Watch”
Date: September 17, 2014 11:55:58 AM PDT
To: whittington@bigsur88.net
Subject: Don’t frack Monterey County!
Reply-To: “Tia Lebherz, Food & Water Watch”
This fall, the Board of Supervisors will be considering a moratorium on fracking in Monterey County. It’s going to be a real fight, and we’re kicking it off with an educational forum to help get the word out about this serious threat to the county. Can you join us in Salinas this Saturday, September 20 at 1:00 p.m.?
What: Educational forum – hear from local speakers about how fracking would impact Monterey County
When: Saturday, September 20 at 1:00 p.m.
Where: Hartnell College – Steinbeck Hall, 411 Central Ave., Salinas, CA
RSVP at act.foodandwaterwatch.org
Fracking is an extreme form of energy extraction the involves blasting millions of gallons of water, mixed with toxic chemicals and sand, at high pressure deep underground to retrieve oil and natural gas. Fracking is water intensive, opens the door for potential water contamination, has been linked to birth defects, can cause earthquakes and puts our farmland at risk.
As oil and gas companies search for more fossil fuels to extract, fracking operations continue to expand across the state. There is no place for fracking in Monterey, and we’re building a movement to stop fracking from harming our farm-rich, tourism-attracting, beautiful county.
RSVP to join us for this important event.
I hope to see you there,
Tia Lebherz
California Organizer
Food & Water Watch
tlebherz(at)fwwatch(dot)org
P.S. Free childcare will be provided at this event!
FOOD & WATER WATCH • 1616 P STREET NW, SUITE 300
WASHINGTON, DC 20036 • TEL: (202) 683-2500
DNA Confirmation on Mountain Lion
Media Contacts:
Patrick Foy, CDFW Enforcement, (916) 508-7095
Kirsten Macintyre, CDFW Communications, (916) 322-8988
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has completed forensics testing of the mountain lion killed by wildlife officials in Cupertino on Wednesday, Sept. 10. Test results from the department’s Wildlife Forensics Lab confirmed this was the same lion that attacked a six-year-old boy on Sunday, Sept. 7. The animal also tested negative for rabies through the UC Davis California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory.
DNA testing was necessary to confirm the lion dispatched by authorities was indeed the one they sought. Mountain lion saliva samples gathered from the boy’s shirt after the attack were a perfect match to the DNA taken from the lion.
The male cat was 74 pounds, about two years old and healthy.
From a long-time criminal defense attorney … This is fascinating. DNA testing in criminal cases, where time is of the essence, takes usually two weeks or more. Maybe criminalists should be sending their DNA tests to the CDFW?
Wild and Scenic Film Festival
Orchid and Spider
From Barbara Woyt. Can you spot the spider?
