News

What is dirtying the water?   Baykeeper, shellfish company team up to identify contaminants  

12/26/14

 Coast Seafoods Company and local environmental organization Humboldt Baykeeper are teaming up once again to identify the sources of contaminants within local waterways that spill into Humboldt Bay, presenting a danger to the local shellfish industry.

  “The oyster industry has to stop harvesting — on average 30 days a year — when the rain flushes E. coli into the North Bay, so (Coast Seafoods) has been concerned about water quality in the bay (tributaries) for years,” Humboldt Baykeeper Director Jennifer Kalt wrote in an email to the Times-Standard. “The bay itself has very low E. coli when it’s not raining — if it didn’t, there wouldn’t be a thriving oyster industry here.” While the two have worked together on similar projects observing E. coli concentrations in Humboldt Bay, they have yet to seek out and quantify the source of the pollutants. To accomplish this, Coast Seafood will be price matching all funds raised by Humboldt Baykeeper until Dec. 31 to help pay for the study due to state funding being more difficult to acquire for the project. 

Billions of Fish Killed Illegally, Greens Claim

11/24/14

Billions of fish and hundreds of protected species are killed each year by power plants' water intakes, which federal agencies allow in defiance of laws, environmentalists claim in court.

The Sierra Club and seven other environmental groups sued the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Nov. 20 in Federal Court.

They claim the defendants issued biological surveys supporting a rule authorizing water cooling intake structures at thousands of power plants, though the systems kill billions of fish each year.

Conservatives complain, appointment withdrawn

10/29/14

Facing a backlash from a small group of conservatives, Fifth District Supervisor Ryan Sundberg has withdrawn his appointment of environmentalist Jen Kalt to the McKinleyville Municipal Advisory Committee (McKMAC).

Kalt’s appointment to the McKMAC was previously heralded by Sundberg as an effort to bring balance to the McKinleyville committee.

But soon after his Oct. 7 announcement of the appointment, Sundberg began hearing grumblings from conservative individuals, whom he declined to name.

Kalt appointed to McKMAC

10/16/14

Deciding on a new appointment to the McKinleyville Municipal Advisory Committee (McKMAC), Supervisor Ryan Sundberg has said he is striving for balance to ensure the committee’s recommendations have credibility.

At the Oct. 7 Board of Supervisors meeting, Sundberg announced that Committee Member Tim Hooven will be resigning and Jen Kalt of Humboldt Baykeeper will be his replacement.

Regional board recommends 6 North Coast waterways for impairment listing

8/15/14

The North Coast Regional Water Quality Board on Thursday recommended that six local waterways be federally listed as impaired due to high fecal bacteria concentrations, paving the way for those streams and rivers to obtain government-backed pollution control plans. “I’m pleased that the regional board took this action, which is a first step to addressing water quality impairments in the North Coast region,” board Executive Officer Matt St. John said.