BAD ROLE MODEL
In 1972 I started teaching sixth grade at Hall District Elementary School in Las Lomas, in north Monterey County. It was my first real teaching job, and the class was not very well-behaved. So, entering my second year I made some basic rules of integrity for the class: “No cheating, lying or stealing.” This gave a moral structure to the class and the students settled down and began to respect and eventually trust each other. By the end of the second school year, I was proud of their behavior in the (public) lunch line, and test scores were up. Today our country is increasingly run by a man who is a documented cheat (taxes, and wives), liar (over 30,000 documented during his first term) and has been caught stealing many times—from charities, and from contractors that worked on his hotels. So, I have a question for my MAGA friends: What happened to integrity?
Don Eggleston | Aptos
ECCO PROBLEMS
A bill that was recently fast-tracked in Sacramento will dramatically increase air and water pollution in the Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito County region unless it gets fixed before the end of the legislative session on Sept. 12. Many legislators have indicated they want to clean up SB 131, which will require support from Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, who represents this region. Legislators and environmental advocates are particularly concerned about the loosened environmental regulations for so-called “advanced manufacturing” projects allowed under this bill. If the bill takes effect as written, more heavily polluting projects will almost certainly be built in and near low-income communities and will likely contaminate groundwater and agricultural products in the region.
SB 131 was rammed through the legislature as part of a budget package in June with no opportunities for amendments. But there is still time to protect vulnerable communities before it takes effect. I hope you will consider writing a story about what’s at stake if SB 131’s advanced manufacturing exemption is allowed to go into law, and how area communities would be affected if it doesn’t get fixed.
The Monterey/Santa Cruz/San Benito region has already been hit by pollution from advanced manufacturing projects that have wreaked havoc on public health and put an undue burden on under-resourced communities. Projects like the Taylor Farms food processing plant in Salinas that burned in 2022, triggering a shelter-in-place order to protect from toxic ammonia gas, and the Pacific Scientific Energetic Materials Co., an aerospace and defense facility in Hollister that has been cited nine times for air pollution and hazardous materials handling, are two local examples of “advanced manufacturing” that have caused significant health impacts on residential communities.
The Moss Landing lithium battery storage facility and power plant that burned for several days in January is a clear example of an industrial facility causing an environmental disaster. This fire prompted thousands of people to be evacuated, shut down local schools, and contaminated local soils and drinking water with toxic heavy metals. Residents have reported feeling sick, and any crops grown nearby—as well as the agricultural workers in those fields—are at risk of contamination.
Under SB 131, this type of hazardous activity could be exempt from environmental review and mitigation, and already-overburdened communities will lose their ability to even be informed—let alone oppose or try to mitigate the negative impacts—of proposed projects before they’re approved and causing harm.
Environmental justice advocates are looking to Robert Rivas and other legislators in the Monterey region who represent communities most at risk of this type of pollution to clean up this mess. Cities like Salinas, Watsonville and Hollister could all see increased impacts if SB 131 takes effect as drafted.
In the absence of environmental review, history shows us industry will cut corners to increase profits, with devastating results. Time is short; the legislature must act quickly to fix this bill. Please let me know if I can connect you to experts who are ready and eager to speak to these issues.
Severn Williams | Public Good PR for CEQA Works
