We had our third Dioxin Education Committee meeting on Monday, November 3rd at the Southside Community Center at 5 pm. Twenty-one people were present.
We begin with an introduction by our chairperson, Linda Draper. We then had the new attendees introduce themselves, and followed that by approving the minutes from our October 13th meeting.
I then read from a chain email that went from Patrizia Hironimus to Zeke Lundar to Chris Nelson to Linda Draper. An excerpt from it read, “As far as the EJ issues go, industrial activities need to happen somewhere. South Oroville is a polluted slum. Why not use it for industrial uses?” That quote was from Zeke. He later apologized to Linda in the same email thread for having said that, but I read it to the group because I think we need to be aware of the perception that might be out there in the surrounding communities about South Oroville.
Next, we discussed the ad about the biomass plant that our group intends to publish in the ER before the next town hall on December 8th. Don Noble has taken the lead on this endeavor. He reported that we can get a full page ad in the ER for $507. Don will pay for it, and we can all chip in to reimburse him. Several people donated at the meeting including Pastor Thompson, Linda Draper, Alma Short, and myself. If you would like to help with this expense, please text Don at 530-990-2987.
Kathy Brazil then reported on the Environmental Justice criteria from the California Environmental Protection Website, and Patricia cited the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment on the data needed to designate an area as disadvantaged or marginalized.
We then had a long discussion with attendee Brian Wong about the environmental concerns about the proposed plants. Brian shared with the group what his stakes are with the proposed projects and what his hopes are for the future of Oroville. Several of the attendees expressed their hope that the proposed projects could be paused while more information is gathered.
Patricia, the director from the Butte Environmental Council, gave BEC’s response concerning the environmental impacts of the proposed projects. She particularly pushed back about the previous town hall because it was so one sided in favor of the biomass plant.
There was a long discussion among the group members about the history of Oroville and what is best for the future. In the end several attendees thanked Brian for attending the meeting and for his willingness to answer many questions. Brian recommended that we get together with Skipper Clark, who has met with Brian, and come up with as many meaningful questions as possible before the next town hall meeting on December 8th. Bonita Malone volunteered to head up a committee to do this. If you would like to help Bonita with this, you can text her at 818-414-9247.
We adjourned the meeting a little after 6 pm. Our next meeting will be on Monday, December 1st at 5 pm at the Southside Community Center.
Bill Bynum
Secretary, Dioxin Education Committee