Group items tagged

Stop shale oil trains along Feather River watershedLake Oroville provides water for 25,000,000 people and 750,000 acres of farmland in California.When a railroad tank car laden with toxic Bakken shale crude oil derails, ending up in the Feather River, all of the water in Lake Oroville will be poisoned.Bakken fracking oil is contaminated with hundreds of highly carcinogenic, toxic and poisonous chemicals that would instantly mix with the water in Lake Oroville, rendering all of the Lake Oroville water unfit for consumption by people or irrigating crops. The longer this contaminated water is in Lake Oroville the more of it will seep into and destroy our groundwater. If contaminated water in Lake Oroville reaches the Thermalito Afterbay it would seep into the shallow aquifer west of the afterbay. The afterbay actually leaks big time underground into the farmland west of the afterbay.

The oil industry will not allow this highly explosive Bakken oil in their pipelines because it would blow up their pipelines. That is why Bakken oil is being shipped by train. Also, the new reinforced Bakken oil railcars have already been involved in oil spills. The liability from this catastrophic event would bankrupt Union Pacific and force its operation into government receivership. There are alternatives to energy. There are no alternatives for water.Demand that toxic Bakken shale oil trains are not allowed along the Feather River watershed, because your economic future is actually over with the first Bakken shale oil spill into the Lake Oroville watershed.— John Scott, Butte Valley

Chico >> Butte Environmental Council will kick off its three-part Citizen Science Series Saturday with an On-Water Citizen Science Adventure. The council’s Watershed Program is partnering with the Forebay Aquatic Center and Outdoor Education for All to give a tour of the fall-run Chinook salmon in the Lower Feather River Watershed.

Last spring the Citizen Science Series highlighted the Big Chico Creek from the confluence of the Sacramento River to the forested spring headwaters. This fall series will feature other watersheds of Butte County, including an upcoming tour of Butte Creek Canyon.

The council’s Watershed Program seeks to protect and enhance the ecological integrity of watersheds throughout Butte County. The council is working on projects in the Big Chico Creek, Little Chico Creek, Butte Creek and Feather River Watersheds to foster watershed education, restore habitat, and advocate for responsible water management.

Sightings of Rocky Mountain elk are increasing in Butte County, the Butte County Fish and Game Commission heard at its quarterly meeting in Oroville.Elk have been seen near Snag Lake at Butte Meadows and near Humbug Valley. These much bigger animals will out-compete deer, according to California Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist Henry Lomeli.

The commission also heard grant funding request presentations from 11 local organizations, including Barry Kirshner Wildlife Foundation, Bidwell Wildlife Rehab, Paradise Park and Rec Kids Fishing Day, Oroville Kids Fishing Day, Chico Kids Fishing Day, Paradise Lake Kids Fishing Day, Gridley Kids Fishing Day, Gaines and Associates, Lake Oroville Florida-strain Bass Project, Feather River Recreation and Park District, and Butte Environmental Council.

Flowers placed on a stump of a tree removed by PG&E at the Oroville Cemetery as part of the utility’s Pathways Pipeline Project. As the tree-removal work continues in Butte County, efforts are be made to avoid or ease the controversy that happened in Oroville.

Chico >> No one wants another Oroville tree fiasco.Butte County, PG&E and other stakeholders are working together to try to prevent another controversy surrounding tree removals planned to take place around Chico as part of the Pathways Pipeline Project. Final tree removal numbers and locations have not been established but both the county and PG&E pledge that communication is a critical factor.

“We are very hopeful we can have a collaborative process and the public can be very informed,” said Paul Hahn, Butte County’s chief administrative officer. “There will be no quick decisions and trees are not going to just start disappearing.”

Oroville >> People are wearing raincoats and watching water run down the gutter. However, the recent rains do not mean the end of California’s four-year drought.Butte County’s water resources scientist Christina Buck said the local rainfall is still only at about 89 percent of average for this time of year. That’s based on rain through last week and beginning Oct. 1, which is the start of the “water year.”

Carol Perkins, a water advocate for Butte Environmental Council, told the members of the Water Commission that she hopes when those groundwater jurisdictions are established, they will consider watersheds, rather than existing water use boundaries. Some examples of watersheds are Butte Creek, Big Chico Creek and the Feather River, she said. “This might give groundwater dependent farmers a more prominent voice in this process,” Perkins said.“As it stands right now, our only voice is the county for those areas.”

Oroville >> Marking the one-year anniversary of the removal of trees from in front of Oroville Cemetery, community members lamented the loss of the elder trees but celebrated coming together.Pastor Kevin Thompson told the group of 65 people that had gathered on the Feather River Boulevard sidewalk that the trees didn’t have to come down.“When you look at the before and after photos, our hearts truly break at what took place,” Thompson said.The last of 13 elder sycamore and elm trees were removed on Feb. 5, 2015, ending more than two months of protests against the removal led by the community group Save Oroville Trees. Efforts included protests, occupying the site and seeking relief from court, but PG&E ultimately prevailed.

Robyn DiFalco, the outgoing executive director of the Butte Environmental Council, said she was proud that Oroville residents mobilized in the face of the tree removal. She said their actions led to few trees being removed in Chico and along the Midway north of Durham and PG&E agreed to help pay to maintain replacement trees.

The Butte County Fish and Game Commission held its quarterly meeting Tuesday in Chico. CDFW biologist Tracy McReynolds reported that only 129 steelhead have returned so far to the Feather River Hatchery. This low number means that there will likely not be any excess eggs to continue the popular steelhead planting project into the Thermalito Afterbay.

The commissioners also finalized the 2017 financial grants: Butte Environmental Council-$1,000;