California has reached another milestone in its efforts to expand the use of renewable technologies.
The state has surpassed 100,000 public and shared private electric vehicle chargers installed statewide, just weeks after unprecedented funding was approved to build a bigger, better network of charging and refueling infrastructure for zero-emission cars, trucks and buses — reported to be the most extensive network in the nation.
This is on top of more than 500,000 at-home chargers that Californians have installed for personal use.
Sales of zero-emission vehicles, or ZEV, have skyrocketed more than 1,000% in the last decade.
One in every four new cars sold last year in California were zero-emission. Last year, the state also surpassed its goal of selling 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles and its goal to install 10,000 fast chargers for electric vehicles — both ahead of schedule.
“No other state in the nation is doing as much as California to make our tailpipe-free future a reality,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom. “With more zero-emission vehicles sold last year than ever before and more than 100,000 public chargers installed, California dominates in this space.”
Building a bigger, better network
This milestone follows approval of a $1.9 billion investment plan that accelerates progress on the state’s electric vehicle charging and hydrogen refueling goals.
The plan details how the money will be spent with at least 50% dedicated to benefiting communities disproportionately impacted by pollution.
With this funding, the state expects to reach its goal of 250,000 public chargers in the next few years.
Also on Friday, Caltrans broke ground for a $450,000 Clean California transit project in Blythe that will transform a litter-strewn public space into a transportation hub that features a solar-powered EV charging station, among other things.
And last week, California celebrated the grand opening of a truck charging depot and 50 battery electric trucks, supported by $27 million in state funding.
The funding is part of the $48 billion dollar California Climate Commitment, which includes more than $10 billion for ZEVs and ZEV infrastructure.
The state has also received billions from the Biden-Harris Administration for clean transportation.
Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill to provide a dedicated source of funding for ZEV infrastructure through 2035.
On Thursday, Tesla announced that it opened its Supercharger network to non-Teslas for the first time, beginning with Ford, and will be opening to more in the coming months. This significantly expands public access to fast, reliable chargers in the state.
To improve the EV charging experience, the California Energy Commission (CEC) is developing first-in-the-world state regulations for charger reliability and reporting.
A stringent performance standard will apply to all new publicly funded infrastructure and the chargers will be required to disclose operational data to help drivers make more informed choices.
California’s ZEV record
Since the governor’s executive order in 2020 calling for a rule to require all new car sales to be zero-emission by 2035, ZEV sales have risen dramatically.
• 25% of all new cars sold in California last year were ZEVs, according to the California Energy Commission (CEC). • 1,846,874 total ZEV sales to date. • 34% of new ZEVs sold in the U.S. are sold in California, according to the Veloz EV Market Report. • If California were a country, we’d rank 4th in EV sales behind China, the U.S. and Germany. • Thousands of dollars in grants and rebates available for low-income Californians; learn more at www.ClimateAction.ca.gov.
As California enters the last month of the traditional snow season, recent storms have raised the snowpack to near average levels in most regions.
The Department of Water Resources conducted the third snow survey of the season at Phillips Station on Thursday.
The manual survey recorded 47.5 inches of snow depth and a snow water equivalent of 18 inches, which is 77 percent of average for this location.
The snow water equivalent measures the amount of water contained in the snowpack and is a key component of DWR’s water supply forecast.
Thursday’s results reflect continued improvement in the snowpack since the slow and dry start to the water year.
DWR’s electronic readings from 130 stations placed throughout the state indicate that the statewide snowpack’s snow water equivalent is 18.7 inches, or 80 percent of average for this date, an improvement from just 28 percent of average on January 1.
The statewide snowpack is currently only 70 percent of the critical April 1 average, when the snowpack is typically at its peak. An incoming storm is expected to bring several feet of snow to the Sierra Nevada this weekend.
“We are now in the last month of the traditional snow season and while conditions have dramatically improved since the beginning of the year, March will be critical in determining if we finish above or below average,” said DWR Director Karla Nemeth. “No matter how the season ends, we are ready to take advantage of the water we do have to benefit communities, agriculture, and the environment, and continue storing stormwater in our groundwater basins for future use.”
While California saw a number of storms in January and February that caused flooding in many areas of the state, the storms were warmer than average, dropping more precipitation as rain rather than snow, especially in Southern California.
Overall statewide precipitation is 103 percent of average for this date, running well ahead of the snowpack.
While surface water storage in California’s major reservoirs is currently 119 percent above average and the state continues to benefit from efforts to capture and store as much water as possible, the latest forecasts from DWR project snow runoff could be below average this spring due to the unusually dry start to the water year.
DWR recently increased projected allocations from the State Water Project, and the forecasted allocation is expected to be revised again next month based on recent storms.
“California has seen several extreme climate events so far this water year, including record rainfall in Southern California,” said Dr. Michael Anderson, state climatologist with DWR. “While this pushed statewide precipitation above average, the snowpack still has not caught up from the dry conditions earlier this winter and local conditions still vary significantly from region to region. The upcoming storm will deliver more snow, but the critical month of March will have to deliver enough snowpack to make up for the dry fall and slow start to the year.”
On average, the Sierra snowpack supplies about 30 percent of California’s water needs. Its natural ability to store water is why the Sierra snowpack is often referred to as California's “frozen reservoir.”
Data from these snow surveys and forecasts produced by DWR’s Snow Surveys and Water Supply Forecasting Unit are important factors in determining how DWR manages the state’s water resources.
DWR conducts five snow surveys at Phillips Station each winter near the first of each month, January through April and, if necessary, May. The next and possibly final survey is tentatively scheduled for April 2.
The cardiac risks of smoking marijuana are comparable to those of smoking tobacco, according to researchers at UC San Francisco, who warn that the increasing use of cannabis across the country could lead to growing heart health problems.
The study found that people who used cannabis daily had a 25% increased risk of heart attack and a 42% increased risk of stroke compared to non-users.
Cannabis has become more popular with legalization. Recreational use is now permitted in 24 states, and as of 2019, nearly 4% said they used it daily and 18% used it annually. That is a significant increase since 2002, when 1.3% said they used it daily and 10.4% used it annually.
“Cannabis use is increasing in both prevalence and frequency, while conventional tobacco smoking is declining,” said Salomeh Keyhani, MD, MPH, professor of medicine at UCSF and senior author of the study, which appears Feb. 28, 2024, in the Journal of the American Heart Association. “Cannabis use by itself might, over time, become the more important risk factor.”
Cardiac risks for those who never used tobacco
The researchers used data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a national cross-sectional survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to examine the association between cannabis use and adverse cardiovascular outcomes including coronary heart disease, heart attack and stroke.
They examined whether cannabis use was associated with coronary heart disease, acute myocardial infarction and stroke among the general adult population and among people who had never smoked tobacco.
Among the 434,104 respondents, about 4% were daily users, 7.1% were non-daily (about five days in the month) and 88.9% had not used any marijuana in the past 30 days. Among current users, about three-fourths said they mostly smoked it.
The study found that cannabis use was independently associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes, and the odds rose with the number of days per month that a person used it.
The study also examined the effects for those who had never smoked or vaped tobacco, finding that just smoking cannabis was associated both with stroke, and with the combination of coronary heart disease, heart attack and stroke.
“This is an important public health finding, particularly given our ongoing efforts to reduce the burden of heart disease in this country,” said David C. Goff, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Division of Cardiovascular Sciences at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), which is part of the National Institutes of Health.
The perception of risk needs to change
People who smoke cannabis often hesitate to disclose it to their physicians, in part because they don’t consider it as harmful as smoking tobacco, and many states, like California, first approved it for medical uses. The researchers noted it will be an uphill battle to change these attitudes.
“There is a multibillion-dollar cannabis industry that markets cannabis use as not only harmless, but good for you,” Keyhani said. “It can be a challenging discussion to have with patients because there is evidence that cannabis has some therapeutic properties. However, as suggested by this study, cannabis use also has significant cardiovascular risks.”
Co-authors: Additional UCSF co-authors include Stanton Glantz, PhD, and Amy L. Byers, PhD, MPH.
Funding: NHLBI 1R01HL130484-01A1 and National Cancer Institute (grant T32 CA113710).
Victoria Colliver writes for the University of California, San Francisco.
After 16 years studying Earth’s highest clouds for the benefit of humanity — polar mesospheric clouds — from its orbit some 350 miles above the ground, NASA’s Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere, or AIM, mission has come to an end.
Initially slated for a two-year mission, AIM was extended numerous times due to its high science return. While AIM has faced hurdles over the years — from software hiccups to hardware issues — an incredibly dedicated team kept the spacecraft running for much longer than anyone could have anticipated.
On March 13, 2023, the spacecraft’s battery failed following several years of declining performance. Multiple attempts to maintain power to the spacecraft were made, but no further data could be collected, so the mission has now ended.
“AIM was dedicated to studying the atmospheric region that borders between our atmosphere and space,” said AIM mission scientist Diego Janches, of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “AIM’s help understanding this region has been of critical importance to providing insights on how the lower atmosphere affects space weather.”
Known as night-shining or noctilucent clouds, they are seen at twilight in the summer months, typically at high latitudes near the North and South Poles. Before the mission, scientists knew these types of clouds varied with latitude, season, and solar activity, but didn’t know why.
This mission was launched to understand the variations and study why the clouds form and their links to climate change by measuring the thermal, chemical, and other properties of the environment in which the clouds form.
“NASA’s AIM has been an incredibly successful mission,” said Scott Bailey, AIM principal investigator and professor at Virginia Tech. “It has answered core questions that have helped us understand how noctilucent clouds and atmospheric gravity waves vary over time and location.”
Over the years, AIM made many big discoveries. Data from the mission has thus far led to nearly 400 peer-reviewed publications. This includes findings on how these clouds can be created by meteor smoke and water vapor from rocket exhaust, how events near Earth’s surface can trigger changes in the clouds, and how ice high in the atmosphere can cause mysterious radar echoes, which are created in certain regions of the atmosphere during the summer.
As the mission progressed, scientists realized AIM’s data could also be used to study undulations in the air called atmospheric gravity waves. These waves transfer momentum and energy as they travel through the atmosphere. They link weather events at Earth’s surface with atmospheric disturbances that occur far away from the initial event, including in the uppermost part of the atmosphere where they can disrupt GPS signals.
“We’ve had many difficulties, but we’ve still gotten an incredible amount of data from AIM because of our really excellent, heroic, and hardworking team that comes through every time,” Bailey said.
AIM’s first hurdles started only months after launch in 2007, when the telecommunication receiver started to malfunction intermittently. With a clever use of radio signals, the team was able to reprogram the spacecraft to communicate in Morse code, which allowed it to maintain communications even after the receiver stopped working.
While communication with the spacecraft became thousands of times slower than planned, AIM was still able to make its measurements and send home 99% of the data it collected.
Shortly thereafter, the spacecraft again encountered a mission-threatening issue. The spacecraft repeatedly sent itself into safe mode, which effectively shut down the spacecraft and required a time-consuming series of tasks to reboot.
But again, the engineers were able to upload new software to the spacecraft to circumvent the issue and keep AIM functional. The new software patch has prevented over a thousand such incidents on the spacecraft since.
In 2019, AIM’s battery started to decline, but through great effort and ingenuity, the mission operations team maintained the battery power, enabling the spacecraft to continue returning data. In early 2023, the battery experienced a significant drop-off in performance which meant the spacecraft could not regularly receive commands or collect data.
Unfortunately, this hardware issue was not one that could be repaired remotely, and the satellite finally ceased collecting data in March 2023.
“We’re saddened to see AIM reach the end of its lifetime, but it’s been amazing how long it has lasted,” Bailey said. “It’s given us more data and insight into noctilucent clouds and atmospheric gravity waves than we could ever have hoped for.”
Though the spacecraft has seen its last night-shining clouds, scientists will continue to study AIM’s data for years to come. As for the spacecraft itself, it will slowly lose orbital height and burn up upon atmospheric re-entry in 2026.
“There are still gigabytes upon gigabytes of AIM data to study,” said Cora Randall, AIM deputy principal investigator and senior research scientist at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder, Colorado. “And as our models and computational capabilities continue to improve, people will make many more discoveries using the AIM datasets.”
On Thursday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced millions of Californians will receive an average of $146 in credits on their April gas and electric bills.
The California Climate Credit — automatically applied to Californians’ bills every April and October — is a direct result of the state’s nation-leading cap-and-trade climate program that requires polluters to pay for climate action.
Since 2014, California households have already received an average of $971 in combined automatic April and October climate credits on their utility bills, totaling more than $14 billion statewide.
“Every year, California’s nation-leading climate laws deliver real climate action while giving you money back on your utility bills,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom. “This relief will support millions of California families.”
California will provide a total of $2.7 billion in credits — $1.6 billion for electric customers, $1 billion for natural gas customers, and $160 million for small businesses.
The credits range from $32 to $175 for electricity bills — with most set to receive $55 to $86 — and approximately $58 to $86 on natural gas bills for residential customers of PG&E, Southern California Edison, San Diego Gas & Electric, Southern California Gas Company, Bear Valley, Liberty, PacifiCorp and Southwest Gas. Californians can check how much their credit will be here.
Californians do not need to do anything to get the credit. The California Climate Credit comes from the State’s Cap-and-Trade Program managed by the California Air Resources Board. The credit on utility bills represents the consumer’s share of the payments from the State’s program.
But there’s more to the cost of food than what we pay at the store. Producing, processing, transporting and marketing food creates costs all along the value chain. Many are borne by society as a whole or by communities and regions.
Exploring these lesser-known costs is the first step toward reducing them. The key is a method called true cost accounting, which examines the economic, environmental, social and health impacts of food production and consumption to produce a broader picture of its costs and benefits.
Trillions of dollars in uncounted costs
Every year since 1947, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has released an important and widely read report called The State of Food and Agriculture, known in the food sector as SOFA. SOFA 2023 examines how much more our food costs beyond what consumers pay at the grocery store.
Using true cost accounting, the report calculates that the global cost of the agrifood system in 2020 was up to US$12.7 trillion more than consumers paid at retail. That’s equivalent to about 10% of global gross domestic product, or $5 per person per day worldwide.
In traditional economics-speak, hidden costs are known as externalities – spillover effects from production that are caused by one party but paid for by another. Some externalities are positive. For example, birds, butterflies and insects pollinate crops at no charge, and everyone who eats those crops benefits. Others, such as pollution, are negative. Delivery trucks emit pollution, and everyone nearby breathes dirtier air.
True cost accounting seeks to make those externalities visible. To do this, scholars analyze data related to environmental, health, social and other costs and benefits, add them together and calculate a price tag that represents what food really costs.
The Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems at Arizona State University, which I direct, recently conducted a true cost accounting study of cow-calf operations in the Western U.S., in partnership with Colorado State University. It found that the climate costs of these operations are very high – but that solving for climate change alone could threaten the livelihoods of 70,000 ranchers and the rural communities in which they live. A true cost accounting approach can illuminate the need for multidimensional solutions.
In many ways, true cost accounting is a modern and improved version of cost-benefit analysis, a method embedded in governmental decision-making in most advanced economies around the world. This approach quantifies expected rewards and costs associated with taking a particular action and then compares them to see whether the action is likely to produce a net gain or loss for the public.
Advocates of true cost accounting assert that its more nuanced approach will address shortcomings in traditional cost-benefit analysis – particularly, failing to consider social and health externalities in depth. The hope is that because these two methods have many similarities, it should be relatively easy for governments to upgrade to true cost accounting as it becomes more widely adopted.
True costs of food vary across countries
The 2023 State of Food and Agriculture report reveals some clear patterns. Of the $12.7 trillion in worldwide hidden costs that it tallies, 39% are generated by upper-middle-income countries and 36% by high-income countries.
For wealthy countries, 84% of hidden costs derive from unhealthy dietary patterns, such as eating large quantities of red meat and heavily processed foods, which is associated with elevated risk of heart disease, cancer and other illnesses. Getting sick takes people away from work, so these health effects also reduce productivity, which affects the economy.
In contrast, 50% of the hidden costs of food in low-income countries are social costs that stem from poverty and undernourishment. SOFA 2023 estimates that incomes of poor people who produce food in low-income countries would need to increase by 57% for these workers to obtain sufficient revenue and calories for productive lives.
The fact that many U.S. farmworkers lack access to health insurance also generates costs, since hospitals treat them at public expense when these workers fall sick or are injured.
Food production also has environmental costs. Nitrogen runoff, ammonia emissions, deforestation, water pollution and greenhouse gas emissions combined represent about 20% of the global hidden costs of food production. Other environmental costs, such as those associated with species loss and pesticide exposure, are not included in the SOFA analysis.
Should food cost more?
The first question people ask me about true cost accounting is whether using it will make food more expensive. Some advocates do argue for pricing food at a level that internalizes its hidden costs.
Consumers are encouraged to pay these higher prices. When they do, the store shares the proceeds with two nonprofit organizations that promote land and wildlife conservation and poverty reduction in Africa.
Rather than raising prices, I believe the most effective way to address the hidden costs of food would be to change government policies that provide $540 billion in agricultural subsidies worldwide every year. Of this amount, 87% goes to support production systems that produce cheap food, fiber and biofuels but also generate social and environmental harms. Examples include subsides that promote chemical fertilizer and pesticide use, overuse of natural resources and cultivation of emission-intensive products such as rice.
U.N. agencies have urged world leaders to redirect these subsidies to reduce negative impacts – a strategy they call “a multibillion-dollar opportunity to transform food systems.” While it may seem that eliminating subsidies would raise retail prices, that’s not necessarily true – especially if they are repurposed to support sustainable, equitable and efficient production.
Using true cost accounting as a guide, policymakers could reallocate some of these vast sums of money toward production methods that deliver net-positive benefits, such as expanding organic agriculture, agroforestry and sustainable fisheries. They also could invest in training and supporting next-generation food and agriculture leaders.
By creating transparency, true cost accounting can help shift money away from harmful food production systems and toward alternatives that protect resources and rural communities. Doing so could reduce the hidden costs of feeding the world.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — In an action that Board Chair Bruno Sabatier called a “milestone,” the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved the purchase of a property to be the site of a new park in Cobb.
The vote was 4-0 to purchase the 13-acre property at 16540 State Highway 175 for $300,000, with a second unanimous vote to approve a resolution accepting the grant deed recordation. Supervisor Moke Simon was absent.
Public Services Director Lars Ewing said the Cobb area is one of the few, if not the only, general plan areas in Lake County without a community park.
As an introduction to the brief public hearing for the purchase, Ewing gave an overview of the process that led to the final action at Tuesday’s meeting.
In February 2023, the board granted conceptual approval of the property purchase and appointed a negotiating team, Ewing said.
The Cobb community has had an ongoing desire to have a park of their own, which Ewing said is referenced in their draft area plan along with a draft parks, recreation and trails master plan.
After the board’s conceptual approval of the purchase, Ewing said Public Services staff worked on a variety of things — including a preliminary title report, an appraisal that valued the property at $390,000, septic and building inspections, hazard tree assessments and removal of abandoned vehicles.
Ewing said that, ultimately, the property’s owner, the Robert Vardanega Revocable Trust, accepted the county’s $300,000 purchase offer.
He thanked county staffer Celia Hoberg, — who has a background in real estate work — for her efforts in the process.
Ewing said that in June the Lake County Planning Commission determined the acquisition to be in conformity with the Lake County General Plan and categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act.
County staff has had tribal consultation with the Middletown Rancheria and the Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians at a conceptual level and also have worked with a landscape architecture firm to prepare a preliminary concept plan for potential park development, Ewing reported.
The board approved $1 million for the project. With the purchase, closing costs and appraisals, Ewing said they have $650,000 to $670,000 left over, which won’t cover all of the construction costs. There also are planning, environmental studies and design still to do.
Ewing said the intent is to get it to a point that infrastructure and other necessities are in place so they can open the park to the public. That will be phase one. For phase two, Ewing hopes to secure grant funding.
Following the purchase approval, Ewing said Public Services staff will initiate a public outreach process to develop both an interim and long-term park use plan, continue consultation with both tribal nations, refine the concept design for future park use by the public, and perform appropriate environmental resource surveys/studies, all with the intent to progress to a public opening of the property.
Ewing said the property is in an area where the county doesn’t have a maintenance yard, so there will be an impact with annual costs, which he said he would discuss with county administration.
Supervisor Jessica Pyska, in whose district the park site is located, said there has been a “big push” to complete the process. She recognized Hoberg for her work, with Ewing adding that Hoberg was “the workhorse” of the project.
Supervisor Michael Green said he was excited to support it. Sabatier agreed.
“Parks is economic development and it’s what attracts people to want to live in areas,” Sabatier said, adding that not having one is definitely a disservice to attracting people to want to build and live in a community. He said he’s looking forward to seeing how it develops.
During the discussion, Sabatier noted wanting to try to connect the new park’s trails to Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest. Pyska said county staff is working on that.
The only public comment at the meeting came from longtime Cobb resident Robert Stark, who assured the board that the park project is thoroughly supported in the community.
In the 49 years he’s lived there, Stark said it had been a longtime wish. “The community is very enthusiastic about this.”
Pyska moved to approve the purchase agreement, which Green seconded and the board approved 4-0. Pyska then offered the resolution to accept the grant deed recordation, also approved unanimously.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced a third and final wave of more than $1 billion for cleanup projects nationwide at over 100 Superfund sites as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, one of them in Lake County.
This funding is made possible by the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and will launch new cleanup projects at 25 Superfund sites nationwide, including California’s Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine in Clearlake Oaks, Lava Cap Mine in Nevada City, and Southern Avenue Industrial Area in South Gate.
“Thanks to unprecedented funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, EPA is delivering significant investment to achieving the goal of long-term protection for communities living closest to contaminated sites,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman. “With our Superfund cleanups, we are taking firm action to protect the health, safety, and environment of communities throughout California and the Pacific Southwest.”
“Californians shouldn’t have to worry about the safety of their drinking water, soil, or food supply, but residents near mining and manufacturing sites face significant health risks,” said U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla. “Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, millions of dollars are coming to California to help clean up hazardous waste in these communities — and I will keep fighting to hold polluters responsible so that taxpayers aren’t footing the bill for cleanups.”
Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding announced today, three new cleanup projects in California will start.
Today’s announcement will fund mining waste cleanup at the Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine site in Clearlake Oaks, located on Elem Colony of Pomo Indians land.
This cleanup will help protect nearby residential areas, safeguard residents’ long-term safety and health and make on-site mine areas safe for limited use by Elem Indian Colony residents for hunting, fishing, foraging, and transit to nearby lands.
The site was mined intermittently for sulfur and mercury between 1865 and 1957 and now contains about 2.5 million cubic yards of mine waste, which stretches along 1,300 feet of shoreline in the Oaks Arm area of Clear Lake.
Mine waste at the site has contaminated soils, surface water, and groundwater and has left mercury in sediments at the bottom of Clear Lake that have built up in fish.
EPA told Lake County News that its Region 9 requested $30 million for the Sulphur Bank cleanup, but the final allocation has not yet been determined.
Superfund breaks projects into “Operable Units,” or OUs, to delineate geographic areas/stages of the project.
For Sulphur Bank, there are 3 OUs. They include:
OU-1: the mine itself, Herman Impoundment (the flooded mine pit in the center of the site), and the impacted residential soil areas on the Elem Indian Colony and to the south of the site. This has a cost estimate of $94 million.
OU-2: Clear Lake and its sediments: EPA continues to study Clear Lake (OU-2) to understand how it might best address the mercury contamination in the lake. EPA anticipates the proposed plan for the lake and sediment cleanup is several years away.
OU-4: the North Wetlands and study area. OU-4 was created in 2021. EPA said it is still evaluating the contamination in this area and anticipates a cleanup plan in several years.
In other projects, at the Lava Cap Mine site in Nevada City, California, funding will be used to construct a wetland treatment plant to treat water discharging from the former mine area. The chemicals of concern at this site are arsenic, manganese, and iron. Arsenic is a known carcinogen. Iron and manganese are not considered risks to human health but can cause taste, odor, color, and staining problems when carried in water. The treatment plant will use processes, including metal precipitation, settling ponds, and lime addition, before downstream discharge. Lava Cap is a 33-acre former gold and silver mine just east of Grass Valley, California, operated from 1861 to 1943.
Finally, cleanup will begin at the Southern Avenue Industrial Area site in South Gate, where approximately 1,400 cubic yards of contaminated soil pollute the soil and groundwater. For decades, the now sectioned-off parking lot served as the site of an industrial facility for hot-melt carpet adhesive tape, contaminating the nearby soil with volatile organic compounds (VOC) like lead and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). These VOCs linger in the soil to this day. Cleanup will prevent future VOC exposure, which can cause a variety of health effects including: eye, nose, and throat irritation; headaches and loss of coordination; nausea; and damage to the liver, kidneys, or central nervous system. Some VOCs are suspected or proven carcinogens. PCBs exposure can alter thyroid and reproductive function and increase the risk of developing cardiovascular and liver disease and diabetes.
In addition to the new cleanup projects, this investment supports the continued operation of a cleanup effort initially funded by prior Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – investment at the Argonaut Mine Superfund site in California.
At the Argonaut Mine site in Jackson, California, mining operations occurred from the 1850s to 1942. Portions of the site's soil still have high levels of arsenic, lead, mercury, and other metals and remain off-limits to the public.
Since 2013, EPA has been working to understand and address the contamination at the site, removing the soil from a nearby lot and several residential yards in 2013 and removing soil in addition to capping a slope at Jackson Junior High School in 2015. Thanks to earlier funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, EPA undertook a short-term cleanup known as a removal action at Argonaut from June 1, 2022, to November 2023. This removal action addressed the highest concentrations of contamination, which posed a risk to nearby community members if they accessed the site.
That prior cleanup cost approximately $25 million and moved 130,000 cubic yards of mine waste and contaminated soil/bedrock. The area of work covered 28 acres and consolidated all tailings and contaminated soil into a landfill on top of existing tailings and was capped with layers of clay, rodent barrier (gravel or stainless-steel wool), and composted soil that is 3.5 feet thick. Other areas not part of the landfill were also capped to prevent water percolation into the subsurface and as a barrier to remaining place waste.
Thousands of contaminated sites exist nationally due to hazardous waste being dumped, left out in the open, or otherwise improperly managed. These sites can include toxic chemicals from manufacturing facilities, processing plants, landfills, and mining and can harm the health and well-being of local communities in urban and rural areas.
This new investment is the final wave of funding from the $3.5 billion allocated for Superfund cleanup work in the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
So far, EPA has deployed over $2 billion for cleanup activities at over 150 Superfund National Priorities List sites. EPA has been able to provide as much funding for cleanup work in the past two years as it did in the previous five years while delivering on President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which set a goal to deliver 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.
EPA is committed to continuing this work, advancing environmental justice, and incorporating equity considerations into all aspects of the Superfund cleanup process. More than one in four Black and Hispanic Americans live within three miles of a Superfund site.
These investments are restoring the health and economic vitality of communities exposed to pervasive legacy pollution. Thus far, nearly 80% of the funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has gone to sites in communities with potential environmental justice concerns. Out of the 25 sites to receive funding for new cleanup projects, more than 75% are in communities with potential environmental justice concerns based on data from EJSCREEN.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a letter to the California Public Utilities Commission that seeks to stop a plan by AT&T to withdraw landline phone service to residents around California, including many in Lake County.
The action by the Board of Supervisors came a week after Congressman Mike Thompson led a bipartisan letter to CPUC President Alice Bushing Reynolds urging the CPUC to reject AT&T’s petition to end access to landline services, as Lake County News has reported.
AT&T filed a document with the CPUC in December seeking relief from its “carrier of last resort,” or COLR, obligations across the state. It’s seeking an expedited process in its request.
The CPUC website for the proceeding explains a carrier of last resort as “a telecommunications service provider that stands ready to provide basic telephone service, commonly landline telephone service, to any customer requesting such service within a specified area. At least one telephone company in a specified area is legally required to provide access to telephone service to anyone in its service territory who requests it. This is known as the Carrier of Last Resort (COLR) obligation, which ensures that everyone in California has access to safe, reliable, and affordable telephone service. AT&T is the designated COLR in many parts of the state and is the largest COLR in California. Where AT&T is the default landline telephone service provider means that the company must provide traditional landline telephone service to any potential customer in that service territory. AT&T is proposing to withdraw as the COLR in your area without a new carrier being designated as a COLR.”
Deputy County Administrative Officer Matthew Rothstein presented the draft letter to the board on Tuesday afternoon.
He explained that AT&T’s proposed withdrawal as carrier of law resort would impact much of Lake County.
The letter notes that in rural areas where population density is low, “the market frequently leaves residents with few quality, affordable telecommunications options. For numerous Lake County residents and rural Californians, Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) is a critical lifeline, and the most reliable means to access 911 and 211 services.”
The letter raises the “considerable dangers” AT&T’s proposal creates for communities in high fire areas that don’t have “reliably continuous alternative services.”
It continues, “Plainly, COLR relief should not be considered without meaningfully addressing the vulnerabilities it would create. Winter storms of recent years have likewise left communities with damaged landlines and without cell service for periods of time. Thousands of Lake County residents living in rural communities rely on telecommunications to manage medical and other critical needs.”
The letter notes that AT&T says it will maintain service for landline customers “during a transition period to newer technologies,” but not providing “meaningful assurance service will be continually available in the future. Natural disasters and other events frequently damage communications equipment and infrastructure, and there is no guarantee of timely repair. While emerging technologies may be promising, availability and adoption in rural communities typically significantly lags more population-dense areas.”
Following that statement, the letter asks for the CPUC’s “engagement and commonsense regulation is essential to ensuring no California communities are left with zero telecommunications options.”
Another concern the letter raises is that AT&T fails “to adequately consider the relative difficulty vulnerable customers (such as those of advanced age, medically vulnerable and economically disadvantaged individuals) may have in accessing alternative services.”
The board’s letter asks that the CPUC reject AT&T’s application and insist that more adequate measures are undertaken first when it comes to planning for vulnerable communities.
“Taking away a tool that meaningfully promotes public safety without first replacing its functionality is clearly wrong, and antithetical to the State’s interest in well serving ALL residents,” the letter said, concluding with asking the CPUC to put vulnerable Californians first and reject the proposal.
Supervisor Jessica Pyska moved to approve the letter, with Supervisor Michael Greene seconding and the board approving it 5-0.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — County officials reported Thursday that Lake County Animal Care and Control is suspending its after-hours on-call services.
The reason: Lake County Animal Care and Control is currently understaffed and so unable to provide those customary services, officials reported.
Effective Friday, March 1, those services will be suspended while new staff is onboarded and trained.
County officials reported that work has already begun to train one newly hired animal control officer and recruit for the remaining vacancy.
After-hours on-call services will resume when staffing levels allow for safe operation, the county reported.
If injured stray dogs and cats are found outside of Animal Care and Control’s business hours, they can still be taken to a local veterinarian to receive care.
“Our contract answering service will still be receiving after-hours calls during this time,” said Lake County’s Animal Care and Control Director Jonathan Armas. “Any calls received will be documented, and an officer will respond the next weekday.”
Any further questions can be directed to Lake County Animal Care and Control during regular business hours, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., at 707-263-0278.
“We appreciate the community’s understanding and are committed to providing the best possible services within resource and staffing limitations,” said Armas.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — A powerful storm system bearing down on California is expected to arrive on Thursday, bringing large amounts of snow in the Sierras as well as snow in parts of Lake County and the rest of the North Coast.
The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning and high wind advisory for Lake County, where rain showers are expected through Sunday.
Snow also is in the Lake County forecast for Sunday, when snow could fall as low as the 2,000 foot elevation mark.
The severity of the incoming storm has prompted the National Weather Service to issue a rare blizzard warning for the Sierras from Thursday through Saturday.
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said itscrews are readying to respond to expected power outages.
The company reported that an initial wave of moderate to heavy rain and gusty winds is expected in the northern part of its service territory during the day Thursday, with more widespread rain and gusty conditions on Friday.
Low- and middle-elevation snow impacts are expected Saturday into Sunday, with several feet of snow above 5,000 feet and six-to-12-inches possible down to 2,000 feet, PG&E reported.
PG&E said it is pre-staging crews and materials and is prepared to use helicopters, snow cats and four-wheel drive to gain access to hard hit areas. However, the company said customers in remote areas should prepare for extended outages given the unique circumstances of this storm.
The company urged people to be prepared, including remembering not to touch downed wires, to use generators safely, use flashlights and not candles, have a backup phone, have fresh drinking water and ice on hand, secure outdoor furniture, turn off appliances and wait until after the storm has passed to conduct clean up.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday announced that the California National Guard supported counter-drug operations in 2023 that led to the record seizure of 62,224 pounds of fentanyl in California and the state’s ports of entry.
Since 2021, fentanyl seizures supported by CalGuard have increased by 1066%.
“Fentanyl is a poison, and it does not belong in our communities. California is cracking down — increasing seizures, expanding access to substance abuse treatment, and holding drug traffickers accountable to combat the immeasurable harm opioids have caused our communities,” said Gov. Newsom.
“The California National Guard is committed to combating the scourge of fentanyl,” said Major General Matthew P. Beevers, adjutant general of the California National Guard. “These extraordinary seizure statistics are a direct reflection of the tireless efforts of the highly trained CalGuard Service Members supporting law enforcement agencies statewide.”
Total fentanyl seized has risen dramatically each year, from 5,334 pounds, valued at $64.1 million in 2021, to 28,765 pounds valued at $230 million in 2022 and 62,224 pounds valued at $649 million in 2023.
Cracking down on illegal drugs being smuggled into California, Governor Newsom last year increased the number of CalGuard service members deployed to interdict drugs at U.S. ports of entry along the border by approximately 50%.
CalGaurd’s coordinated drug interdiction efforts in the state are funded in part by California’s $30 million investment in 2022 to expand CalGuard’s work to prevent drug-trafficking transnational criminal organizations.
The amount of fentanyl seized in California in 2023 is enough to potentially kill the global population nearly twice over. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, a lethal dose of fentanyl is 2 mg.
Since Gov. Newsom took office in 2019, California has invested over $1 billion to crack down on opioid trafficking and enforce the law, combat overdoses, support those with opioid use disorder, and raise awareness about the dangers of opioids.
The Governor’s Master Plan for Tackling the Fentanyl and Opioid Crisis provides a comprehensive framework to deepen the impact of these investments — including through a CalRx effort where California will allocate $30 million to support partners in developing, manufacturing, procuring, and/or distributing a naloxone nasal product under the CalRx label and through new legislation to address the next wave of the overdose crisis.