State regulators will consider escalating enforcement this week against a landowner accused of years of illegal dumping, grading and unmanaged cattle grazing along Little River, where fecal bacteria levels have remained high for more than a decade.The North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board will meet on Thursday in Crescent City to decide whether to refer the case to the California Attorney General’s Office, a rare step that could lead to judicial civil enforcement after years of violation notices and warnings.“We’ve known that there are elevated fecal bacteria levels in Little River for many, many years,” said Jen Kalt, executive director of Humboldt Waterkeeper. “It’s been documented for 15 years with various agencies giving notice of violation, and yet the landowner continues to act like they can do whatever they want, even though the river belongs to all of us.”Little River, which flows directly into Moonstone Beach, has been listed as an impaired water body under Section 303(d) since 2015 due to fecal pathogens. The designation requires state regulators to identify pollution sources and develop a plan to reduce contamination, a process that can take years and often involves multiple agencies.Humboldt Waterkeeper and the Surfrider Foundation have repeatedly raised concerns about contamination at the river mouth, where children routinely play in the water year‑round, and hundreds of local youth have learned to surf.The North Coast Regional Water Board, the California Coastal Commission, California Department of Fish & Wildlife, and Humboldt County Department of Environmental Health have issued numerous violation notices over the past 15 years for illegal dumping, grading and unmanaged grazing on a 226‑acre property upstream of Moonstone Beach.Kalt said the pattern of violations has persisted despite repeated directives to stop the damage and restore the riverbanks.“Something else needs to be done other than just sending letters with fines and requirements,” Kalt said. “Humboldt Waterkeeper completely supports the regional board’s proposal to refer the matter to the attorney general’s office and finally get some action on this.”Moonstone Beach remains one of Humboldt County’s most heavily used recreation sites, hosting surf camps, weddings, memorials and year‑round family gatherings. Kalt said the ongoing pollution threatens both public health and the river’s ecological value, noting that Coho salmon still spawn in Little River.The Water Board’s Thursday hearing marks the first time the agency has considered referring the matter to the Attorney General’s Office for judicial civil enforcement.The meeting begins at 9 a.m. and can be attended remotely. It will be held in person on Thursday at Elk Valley Rancheria, 2332 Howland Hill Road, Crescent City. The meetings are streamed at https://cal-span.org/Read Original Article
After a debate that focused on security and disability issues, Humboldt County’s Board of Supervisors approved changes to the county’s lighting ordinance in a 3-2 vote.At a July 27 special board meeting, changes to the coastal version of the ordinance were approved and staff was directed to apply the amendments to the inland version, which will go through Planning Commission review.Requested by the state’s Coastal Commission, the coastal version changes add a lighting restriction and apply it broadly.A limit of 2,700 kelvins – a measurement of light “temperature” or color – is applied to the coastal version with the change.The 2,700 kelvin range is considered as warm lighting on the yellow end of the spectrum as opposed to blue.Keep Reading
The Humboldt County Planning Commission is rolling up its sleeves on a considerable chunk of work – the Humboldt Bay Area Plan – and how to handle port terminal uses is an early focus of discussion.The extent of restricting heavy lift marine terminals – which will be necessary for wind energy but could also be used for other industrial purposes – was weighed as the commission held a June 16 workshop on the plan.During a public comment period, Jen Kalt of Humboldt Waterkeeper voiced support for the plan’s disallowance of support facilities for oil and gas drilling in a port overlay zone.The port overlay is a separate, higher-level policy project and at this point it includes facilities for offshore wind energy as well as “other permitted heavy lift port operations.”Waterkeeper is warning against the “other” operations part.“We’re really concerned that closing the door on one really heavy industrial extractive industry that would be devastating to the bay and our coast would just be replaced potentially with another one,” Kalt said.She added the plan can be changed in the future and “there’s really no reason to open the door to this kind of use right now.”Justin Mojonnier of Hog Island Oyster Company asked for “coastal food production overlays” on industrially-zoned land to protect the aquaculture industry.“I urge the county to continue to support sustainable industries like aquaculture instead of chasing large industrialized dreams,” he said.Much of the commissioners’ discussion focused on whether the heavy lift terminal policy should only allow support for wind energy.Some commissioners were reluctant to keep it that narrow.“They used to make ships here, so if they decided to make ships here again, they wouldn’t be able to do it because we took that out,” said Commissioner Peggy O’Neill on the allowance for other uses.Commissioner Noah Levy said the narrow focus is useful to “signal that we don’t want this to be used for a major cargo shipping facility.”But there was pushback on that from Commissioner Todd Fulton. “We’re dying for jobs,” he said. “Yes, it’s a very sensitive bay, I’m with you on that, but I’m not comfortable restraining ourselves from anything done in the future.”After more discussion, commissioners agreed to revisit the policy language later.Another topic under debate is high density housing of more than 30 units per acre.Keep Reading
After nearly 16 years of failed enforcement efforts at a McKinleyville-area ranch, state water regulators are turning to the California Attorney General’s Office to resolve a laundry list of alleged environmental violations impacting Little River near Moonstone Beach.The 226-acre property, owned by the Vern C. McGaughey Trust, has been the subject of dozens of warning letters and violation notices from the California Coastal Commission and the North Coast Water Quality Control Board over unpermitted solid waste disposal, unauthorized grading, inadequately controlled grazing “resulting in widespread fecal waste” and bacterial pollution in Little River, as stated in numerous documents shared with the Outpost.While the state’s concerns largely focus on unpermitted activities within the channel of Little River, local environmental groups worry that bacterial runoff from the property could pose a threat to people recreating downstream on Moonstone Beach.Ken Bareilles, a local attorney representing 88-year-old Vern McGaughey, largely disputes the allegations, though he does admit that his client failed to secure the permits necessary to work in Little River’s channel. Bareilles called concerns of fecal bacteria in Little River “bullshit,” adding, “It’s an ag zone; cows and horses poop everywhere out there.”***Humboldt Waterkeeper and the Surfrider Foundation are among the environmental advocates calling for the Attorney General’s Office to get involved in the case. In a joint letter to the water board, the groups highlight water quality concerns in Little River, as well as potential impacts to endangered salmonid species and people who recreate at Moonstone Beach.“Little River was designated as impaired by pathogens in 2015,” the letter states. “Numerous studies have confirmed high levels of pathogenic bacteria in the river. Since then, numerous violations of local and state regulations designed to protect water quality and aquatic health have been issued to the property owners. It appears that no actions to remedy the violations has been taken, despite the ongoing impacts to public health and safety.”***“We have received complaints from members of the public regarding children experiencing vomiting and diarrhea after playing in Little River; horse and cattle carcasses in the Little River channel; and plastic erosion control fabric covering streambanks and pieces floating downstream,” the letter continues. “We have also fielded numerous calls and emails over the years from people wondering if it’s safe to recreate in Little River and in the surf near the mouth.”Something important to note about Little River is that its condition changes on a week-by-week basis, as detailed in the Little River State Beach Report Card. At the beginning of July, for instance, the beach scored an A+, but this week it’s at a B.Jen Kalt, executive director of the Humboldt Waterkeeper, said conditions on Little River tend to be affected by rainfall.“Every time it rains a significant amount, stormwater pollution carries fecal matter into the river, and the county advises that people stay out of the water for 72 hours after major rain incidents,” Kalt said during a recent phone interview. “Once the fecal bacteria and viruses aren’t in the guts of warm-blooded animals anymore, they start to die off.”“People, a lot of times, freak out when they find out that Little River has this kind of pollution, but it’s a good rule of thumb no matter where you are to be really cautious [after a rainstorm], especially with children, because they are so likely to swallow water,” Kalt continued. “If you have any kind of open wounds on your body, that can be really dangerous for infections, especially for people who are immunocompromised.”Kalt wants to see a true resolution to the issue, not just more threats of punitive action. If the water board decides to forward the case to the Attorney General’s Office, she hopes the state will order the property owner to “fix the damage and stop the continuing abuse” of Little River.The North Coast Water Quality Control Board will discuss McGaughey’s case at its next meeting on Thursday, Aug. 6. The board will meet at the Elk Valley Rancheria (2332 Howland Hill Road) in Crescent City at 9 a.m. Read the full agenda for instructions for remote attendance. Those who wish to speak during the meeting should register in advance.Read More
This Tuesday, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors considered a petition from Planning and Building Department staff to address public concerns regarding data centers, detention centers and onshore oil and deep-sea mining facilities. The board considered temporary moratoriums, outright prohibitions and other regulatory frameworks for each type of facility.Ultimately, supervisors instructed staff to return with items that would prohibit onshore support facilities for deep-sea mining and oil operations as well as private detention facilities. The board also instructed staff to return with a temporary moratorium on future data centers, with supervisors citing concerns that an outright ban might be too broad and preclude developments like the Eureka Cable Landing Station in Arcata, a relatively small-scale facility that has been considered a boon to the area’s economy and infrastructure without the serious deleterious effects that many communities have reported experiencing from data centers.The board could not move forward on Tuesday with any “action to disallow, writ large, these uses,” Supervisor Natalie Arroyo clarified. Those prohibitions and the moratorium will return to the board of supervisors in the future.Public inputSeveral speakers addressed the topic of data, detention and onshore sea-mining support facilities (though attendance may have been limited as the topic was in the seventh hour of the supervisors’ meeting).Jennifer Kalt, executive director of Humboldt Waterkeeper, called to thank the board for considering regulations on offshore mining support facilities and urged the board to enact a prohibition. She noted that a renewed appetite for expanded offshore oil leasing off the California coast — as well as known deposits of valuable deep-sea minerals off the Humboldt County coast — made an ordinance particularly necessary and timely.Sabra Steinberg, a “longtime resident of Humboldt County,” spoke on the subject of data centers. She sadi that the Union of Concerned Scientists recently hosted a webinar on the subject and noted that, while there are currently six bills working their way through the state legislature, there are very few regulations currently in place to protect citizens from issues like “24-hour-a-day noise, the commandeering of water … and skyrocketing electricity rates for communities.”Krista Boardman, an Arcata resident who works in Eureka’s visitor center, told the board that she discusses life in Humboldt County with visitors and residents all day; she never hears people discuss an appetite for extractive industry or data and detention centers.“We know why people love Humboldt. We know why we love Humboldt,” Boardman said. “… I ask that the board pursue a temporary moratorium and prohibit detention facilities, data centers, offshore and deep-sea mining in order to reassure our community, protect our environment, create a blueprint for other communities and to create a legacy that we can be proud of.”McKinleyville resident Jeff Dunk said, “I think it’s a good idea to, as the previous speaker said, be proactive on some of these things. You don’t want to install a seat belt when you’re in the middle of a car crash. It’s too late, and with some of these things, it is too late for other communities.”Keep Reading
