Leak at So Cal Gas facility exposes nationwide problem of aging gas infrastructure at hundreds of sites

By Miriam Raftery

January 17, 2016 (Los Angeles)—The news sounds like the plot of a disaster thriller movie, but it’s real.  The worst environmental disaster since the BP oil spill, a methane gas leak that began Oct. 23 at a storage well in Aliso Canyon in northern Los Angeles has pumped over 85,000 metric tons of methane into the air.  According to the Environmental Defense Fund, each day of the leak spews as much climate pollutant into the air as 4.5 million to 9 million cars. 

The leak at the site operated by Southern California Gas (a Sempra Energy company that also supplies San Diego’s gas) is endangering health and safety of residents as well as contaminating the environment and pumping a powerful climate pollutant into the atmosphere.   But it may soon get a lot worse. 

A Los Angeles Times investigation reveals that efforts to plug the leak has been halted—after a backwash from those efforts caused a crater 80 feet long, 30 feet wide and 25 feet deep, leaving the wellhead itself exposed and now at risk of a catastrophic blowout. Access to control valves are cut off, documents revealed.  Should a massive explosion and fire occur with a 10-mile-long plume of methane over suburban neighobrhoods, the scenario would be horrifying.

By Miriam Raftery

January 16, 2016 (San Diego) – The National Park Service has announced it must change the names of some of its most iconic landmarks due to a copyright claim filed by Delaware North, the former park concessionaire.  Items slated for name changes include the historic Ahwahnee Hotel and Wawona Hotel (both Native American names),  as well as Curry Village, Yosemite Lodge and Badger Pass http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/article54736110.html).

Top scientist claims evidence of neonicotinoids harming bees was silenced by agrochemical companies

By Brigitte Garcia

January 13, 2016 (San Diego’s East County) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this week issued a ruling that neonicotinoids used on cotton and citrus crops harm bees -- but the same pesticide used on other crops does not, Associated Press reports. Some bee experts have argued that neonicotinoids are a major cause of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). The controversial statement pleased neither environmentalists concerned over bee declines, nor Bayer, the maker of neonicotinoids.

Photo credit:  thebadastronomer | Flickr

East County News Service

December 16, 2015 (Paris) - World leaders from 195 nations have signed a landmark climate change accord in Paris.  The goals are ambitious, but there is no binding mandate to reach them.  That’s because the U.S. refused to agree to mandates, since that would have required approval by Congress, a politically unachievable feat given current control by Republican leadership that denies climate change is a problem.

By Dan Bacher

Reprinted from EcoReport; originally published at https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2015/12/10/18780871.php

Photo: Indigenous leaders challenged California Governor Jerry Brown's support of pollution trading and fracking after he spoke at Paris Climate Summit on December 8. Photo courtesy of Rae Breaux.

December 14, 2015 (Paris)--"REDD is a carbon offset mechanism which privatizes the air that we breathe and uses forests, agriculture and water ecosystems in the Global South as sponges for industrialized countries pollution, instead of cutting emissions at source," said Tom Goldtooth, Executive Director of the Indigenous Environmental Network. "REDD brings trees, soil, and nature into a commodity trading system that may result in the largest land grab in history. It steals your future, lets polluters off the hook and is a new form of colonialism. NO to Privatization of Nature!”

At the end of his keynote address at the World Climate Summit in Paris on Tuesday, December 8, Indigenous leaders heckled Governor Jerry Brown, challenging him on his support of controversial carbon trading polices that represent “a new form of colonialism” that could potentially cause genocide.

By Esau Sinnok, Arctic Youth Ambassador

Source: U.S. Department of the Interior

December 10, 2015--Close your eyes and picture your best memory with your family and friends. If you're like me, that memory is filled with the warmth and comfort of a familiar home. I hope that, unlike me, you are never asked to put a price on that home because of the effects of climate change.

Welcome to Shishmaref, Alaska, population: 650. We're a small Iñupiaq community where everyone knows each other. Shishmaref is a barrier island that has been eroding and flooding for the past 50 years -- even before disruption from climate change was widely recognized.

Over the past 35 years, we've lost 2,500 to 3,000 feet of land to coastal erosion. To put this in perspective: I was born in 1997, and since then, Shishmaref has lost about 100 feet. In the past 15 years, we had to move 13 houses -- including my dear grandma Edna’s house -- from one end of the island to the other because of this loss of land. Within the next two decades, the whole island will erode away completely.

Legal action taken to address backroom dealing and  approval of Carlsbad Gas Plant 

East County News Service

Photo:  Gas power plant in Ruskin, Florida

December 7, 2015 (San Diego)--Earthjustice, an environmental legal organization representing the Sierra Club, filed an appeal today in California’s First District Court of Appeal challenging the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC)  decision that would allow San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) to build a controversial gas-fired power plant in Carlsbad.  The environmental groups call the CPUC’s action a “carbon polluting power grab.”

By Miriam Raftery

December 1, 2015 (San Diego) – While world leaders met in Paris at a global climate summit on Monday, San Diego City Council’s Environmental Committee also convened –and voted unanimously to send an ambitious climate action plan to the City Council.

By Suzanne Potter, Public News Service

Photo credit: Laura Musikanski/Morguefile

November 29, 2015 (San Diego)-- Environmental organizations are mobilizing to fight one of the state's three biggest power companies over an issue known as "community choice aggregation," a movement by cities to create nonprofit agencies to buy and sell power to consumers.

San Diego Gas and Electric just announced it is forming a separate marketing entity to lobby against the idea. By law, the utility can't use ratepayer money for that purpose.

County News Service

November 21, 2015 (San Diego’s East County)--Do you really want to go shopping on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving? What with the congested parking mall lots, the crowds and the lines; you might want to consider Green Friday instead.

County Parks and Recreation has declared Friday, Nov. 27 Green Friday to prompt families to spend more quality time together by discovering the “Upside of Outside.”

County Parks has 124 parks and preserves spread throughout the County with locations ranging from the beach to the valleys, the mountains to the desert. Altogether you’ll find more than 350 miles of trails, scenic vistas, numerous playgrounds, picnic tables galore, fountains, historic sites, lakes, creeks, ponds and more.

Warner Springs Ranch Habitat and Cultural Conservancy oversees protection of the resort currently under renovation

November 16, 2015 (Warner Springs)--Warner Springs Ranch Resort has formed the nonprofit Warner Springs Ranch Habitat and Cultural Conservancy to protect and manage the property’s numerous historic, cultural and natural assets.

East County News Service

November 14, 2015 (La Mesa)--Winners of La Mesa’s K-8 Our Planet, Our Home Environmental Literacy and Art Contest have been announced. Mayor Arapostathis has kindly agreed to hand out the awards at the Block Party on November 14 at 11:15 a.m. at the Farmer’s Market site on Allison Avenue near La Mesa Blvd, and the winning flat artwork will be exhibited for one month in the foyer of the La Mesa Library.

The contest is a cooperative effort of the City's Environmental Sustainability Commission, the La Mesa Urban Trails grant from the County, the La Mesa-Spring Valley School District and the La Mesa Library branch. Sponsorship and prizes for the contest were contributed by SDGE and the Water Conservation Garden.

Hear our recent interview on KNSJ with Bruce Wilcox, manager of Environmental and Salton Sea programs: https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...

 

November 9, 2015 (Salton Sea)--The Salton Sea is an ecological disaster poised to get even worse in three years, when water flowing into the lake from the Colorado River is scheduled to be shut off. Already, the inland lake smells like rotten eggs, contaminated by toxic run-off. As it evaporates, pollutants threaten air quality in both Imperial and San Diego counties. It also threatens the many migratory and waterfowl birds in this rich but vanishing habitat.

But this week, the tide is beginning to turn. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is beginning the first restoration project at the Salton Sea along Red Hill Bay on the southern shore. The project will flood 420 acres of exposed lakebed with water from the nearby Alamo River and the lake, creating wetland habitat for migratory birds and also keeping toxic dust out of the air, while still leaving room for energy companies to tap the region’s vast geothermal potential.

Photo:  John Bolthouse, at San Diego Concert Band performance in the Garden

November 7, 2015 (El Cajon)--The Water Conservation Garden today announced the departure of John Bolthouse, who has served as the organization’s Executive Director since February 2012. The Garden’s board of directors extends its deepest gratitude for Bolthouse’s innumerable contributions to The Garden over the years.

“John has truly been a visionary for our organization, leading The Garden into a new era,” said The Garden Board of Directors President Elyssa Robertson. “His planning, forethought and efforts over the past 3 years have provided us with the framework and clear vision for The Garden’s continued success. On behalf of the board of directors and Garden staff, we wish John the absolute best for his next exciting venture.”