Here are the notes from the DEC Working Group meeting on May 18th:
Present: Celeste Garcia (facilitator), Bill Bynum (secretary), Don Noble, Linda Draper, Douglas Fischer, Bonita Malone, and Kathy Brazil.
We began with a report on the phone conversation that Celeste and I had with the environmental lawyer that Chad Hanson recommended. Just that morning we had talked for about an hour with him to introduce ourselves, our committee, and our concerns. The lawyer provided us with a free consultation, and he heard our concerns and gave us his recommendations. He stressed that we needed to come up with a detailed administrative process that the city will follow going forward. He said that we needed to find out what the next stage is and what the permitting process is. That will allow us to address any EIR or CEQA concerns before it is too late. Once we find out that information, we can contact him again and then he will be able to give us some idea of how much time it might take for him to help us. Linda has already reached out to the city to get the information we need.
Next, we discussed our website (dioxineducation.org) and the video by Shaye Wolf that is on it. We agreed that we need to get as much content on the website as possible in order to help educate the public about the dangers of biomass to the environment. We brainstormed about how to get people and organizations to view the video. We also discussed making a flyer that can be handed out to the public to make more people aware of the dangers of biomass.
The upshot is that Shaye Wolf, from the Center for Biological Diversity, and Chad Hanson, the director of the John Muir Project of Earth Island Institute both agree and make strong scientific arguments against the use of biomass plants that require the “thinning” of our forests. Biomass plants are simply bad for our climate and should be opposed.
We decided to put off possible fundraising plans until we find out more about what the legal challenges might be going forward.
Our next working group meeting will be on Monday, June 15th at 3 pm at the Southside Community Center. We still need representatives from the NAACP (disadvantaged community advocates), BEC (dedicated to protecting the land, air, and water of Butte County through environmental education and advocacy),
and the Sierra Club Blue Oak Group (environmental conservation and the enjoyment of the natural world).
Respectfully submitted,
Bill Bynum,
Secretary, Dioxin Education Committee