2/22/18
Seven cities and community services districts have backed the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District’s appeal of a controversial Mercer-Fraser Company project that seeks to build a cannabis manufacturing facility along the Mad River near Glendale.
The water district is appealing the Humboldt County Planning Commission’s January approval of the project, claiming it has the potential of contaminating drinking water for 88,000 county residents because of its proximity to one of the district’s water pumps on the Mad River.
This month, the boards and city councils for all seven of the water district’s municipal customers — Eureka, Arcata, Blue Lake, and the McKinleyville, Manila, Fieldbrook-Glendale and Humboldt community services districts — voted to support the appeal.
“It shows that 100 percent of our customers are concerned about the issue,” Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District General Manager John Friedenbach said Wednesday, “and that they’re concerned about the quality of the water supply for the constituents and that it’s a serious issue for the Board of Supervisors to consider.”
When the appeal will go before the Board of Supervisors is up in the air. County Planning and Building Director John Ford said that there is no date set for the appeal.
