September 16, 2016
By David Siders
The Sacramento Bee
In a measure to make the American River Parkway eligible for more state money, Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday signed legislation creating a conservancy program for the area.
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article102295977.html
September 3, 2016
By Brad Banan
The Sacramento Bee
Rob Burness, a local environmentalist [and ECOS board member] who worked in the county planning office for about three decades, said the contributions pay off for developers.
“When push comes to shove, the votes follow the money,” said Burness, a member of the Environmental Council of Sacramento. “If you were to look at the significant votes, and the campaign contributions made to supervisors, you would find that they very rarely vote against a contributor.”
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/investigations/the-public-eye/article99862347.html
The CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) workshop hosted by ECOS (Environmental Council of Sacramento) on August 15, 2016 went very well! Thanks to all who attended; we’ve received great feedback saying that it proved to very educational for our attendees.
Our topics included:
ECOS members reviewing CEQA basics and how to write comment letters with some of ECOS’s top Environmental Impact experts.
CEQA is an important tool which was put into place for public transparency and citizen power. We have a lot of work left to do to make our region more sustainable. ECOS can always use help reviewing CEQA documents and we encourage YOU to participate!
http://sacwildandscenic2016.brownpapertickets.com
An evening of short environmental films to inform, inspire and entertain!
The Wild and Scenic Film Festival stands out as a film festival that inspires and motivates community members to go out and make a difference locally and beyond. ECOS specially designs the Sacramento festival program to address issues that are relevant to our local community, featuring short films that look at themes of water conservation, sustainable development and energy, food and local agriculture, wildlife protection, environmental activism, and outdoor recreation. We continue to make this film festival a lasting and rewarding annual event to inspire communities in Sacramento to enjoy and protect wild and scenic places close to home. Over the years, the festival has become an important event in our community’s calendar and we aspire to continue bringing this service to our local residents and neighbors.
December 8th, 2016
https://www.ecosacramento.net/about-us/our-work/events/wsffsac/
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began its first Five-Year Review (FYR) of the cleanup actions within the Aerojet Superfund Site (Site) in Rancho Cordova, California. The purpose of a FYR is to evaluate whether the cleanup actions for the Site are protective of human health and the environment.
THE REVIEW PROCESS
Superfund law requires EPA to evaluate the protectiveness of remedial systems every five years until the Site has been cleaned up sufficiently to allow unrestricted access to the property. Upon completion of the review, which is due by September 30, 2016, a copy of the final report will be placed in the information repositories listed below and online at EPA’s web page. The Site will continue to be cleaned up and monitored during the review, and the next FYR will be in 2021.
CLEANUP
The Site covers 5,900 acres near Rancho Cordova. Since 1953, Aerojet and its subsidiaries have manufactured liquid and solid propellant rocket engines for military and commercial applications, and, have in the process, formulated a number of chemicals. In addition, the Cordova Chemical Company operated chemical manufacturing facilities on the Aerojet complex from 1974 to 1979. Both companies disposed of unknown quantities of hazardous waste, including trichloroethene (TCE) and other chemicals associated with rocket propellants and various chemical processing wastes. Wastes were disposed of in man-made ponds, landfills, injected into very deep wells, rainfall and other sources mixed with waste in soil and move down to groundwater, and by open burning. In 1979, volatile organic compounds were found off-site in private wells, and, in 1983 the American River. In January 1997, perchlorate was found in drinking water wells off-site. The most prevalent contaminants in groundwater are TCE, perchlorate, and N-Nitrosodimethylamine. The Site was divided into eight sections, or operable units, to assist prioritizing the cleanup plan schedule for this Site. The Western Ground Water Operable Unit (OU-3), Perimeter Goundwater OU (OU-5) and Boundary OU (OU-6) have Record of Decisions in place. The remaining OUs where cleanup decisions will be made are OU-1, OU-4, OU-7, OU-8, and OU-9. This review will primarily cover any interim and present cleanup actions on the Site for Western Ground Water OU (OU-3) and Perimeter Goundwater OU (OU-5), which are the only two OUs with remedies in place.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
If you would like to participate in the FYR process, please contact Jackie Lane, Community Involvement Coordinator at 1(415) 972-3236 or by email at lane[dot]jackie[at]epa[dot]gov no later than July 15, 2016.
CONTACT INFORMATION
For more Site information, please visit EPA’s website at web site above. For specific questions about the Site cleanup, please contact Lynn Keller, Remedial Project Manager at 1(415) 947-4162, email: keller[dot]lynn[at]epa[dot]gov.
Information repositories that house the Administrative Record are located at: Sacramento Central Library, 828 I St., Sacramento, CA 95814, (916) 264-2700; California State University, Sacramento, University Library, 2000 State University Drive, Sacramento, CA 95819, (916) 278-5679 and Superfund Records Center, 75 Hawthorne St. 3rd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105, (415) 947-8717.
Mailing address: PO Box 1526, Sacramento, CA 95812
Email: office [at] ecosacramento [dot] net
909 12th St., Suite 203, Sacramento, CA 95814